The Painted Veil (John Curran, 2006) is quite possibly one of the most restrained films I've ever seen in every sense. The performances of the two leads (Edward Norton and Naomi Watts) are understated with surprisingly little dialogue while the colour palette of the film invokes the feeling of a sepia photograph with muted colours and soft lighting. In short it looks gorgeous but some viewers may be put of by the fact it is a slow burner but it is well worth watching the whole thing. It follows the story of a young woman in the 1920s who marries a quiet doctor to escape her critical mother. When he takes her back to Shanghai she begins an affair with an associate. After her husband finds out he moves them both to a cholera infected village.
The movie revolves around the development of the two leads. Neither of them are particularly likeable people at the start of the film and by the time they reach the village their treatment of each other has grown more cruel. Slowly however, against a backdrop of political instability and human tragedy, the relationship develops. It is a rewarding watch, especially in relation to other period dramas I'd seen recently (Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar is particularly disappointing in terms of pacing) and is oddly romantic in a restrained way.
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