Unveil the Painted Veil
The background of "The Painted Veil" was in a small village, in China, in the 1920s. It talks about a doctor whose name was Walter and his wife, Kitty, went to this village because of the cholera epidemic. The title of the movies, "The Painted Veil" is a metaphor.
At the beginning, when Walter first saw Kitty, he fell in love at once. Unfortunately, Kitty did not love Walter. However, when Kitty heard her mother talking about her, "I've given up on her", she was shocked and wanted to be away from her mother. Therefore, Kitty married Walter. Kitty, did not show her real thought, which was that she married Walter not because of love, but because she wanted to escape. This is a "veil". Then, Kitty went to Shanghai, where Walter was working. Once, they went to a theatre. There was an actress who sang the Opera, and she had the painted veil on her face. She spoke Chinese, so Charlie could tell Kitty a story, which was not true because Kitty could not speak Chinese. English-speaker could not understand what she meant and nobody knew the real face under the painted veil. It is the metaphor of the whole movie.
When Walter knew Kitty fell in love with Charlie, he had a talk with Kitty. "I knew you don't love me. You just wanted to leave your parents. But I hoped something will change". He unveiled the veil of Kitty, saying he knew she did not love him. He gave Kitty a choice, either go to the village, where people were getting cholera, or get divorced. Finally, Kitty went together with Walter because Charlie did not want to divorce her wife. One day, Kitty unveiled Charlie's painted veil through talking with Mr. Waddington, the neighbor of Kitty and Walter. She knew that Charlie usually made love with different women, and he was not as good as he looked like. There were some nuts in that village, and they looked very kind. They taught and gave food to the children, who were extremely poor. In fact, they did not do kind things. They just bought children from the poor families, and they tried to convert those children to Catholics. They had the painted veil as well.
After Kitty and Walter went to the village, Walter almost did not talk with Kitty any more. Mr. Waddington talked to Kitty, "Your husband never looks at you. He looks at the walls, the floor, his shoes." Kitty said "He has a great deal on his mind". Kitty asked Walter to not despise her, and Walter said, "No, I despise myself". Walter used apathy to cover up his love towards Kitty. When Kitty played the piano, Walter was listening outside the room. He remembered the first time they met. At first, when Walter met Kitty, he was just attracted by Kitty's beautiful look. He did not really know Kitty. Kitty was like a woman who was under a painted veil. Now, Walter began understanding Kitty gradually. At night, when Kitty and Walter went back to their house from Mr. Waddington's house, something changed. Walter went through the door, which was the "veil" between Kitty and Walter, and kissed Kitty and made love with Kitty. The veil between them was unveiled gradually.
When Kitty knew she was pregnant and had a rest on the bed, Walter unveiled the gauzy curtain of the bed. This is also a metaphor. When Walter knew Kitty's child maybe was not his, he said "It doesn't matter". The "veil" between Kitty and Walter was unveiled totally. Walter showed his deep love to Kitty. Unluckily, Walter got cholera suddenly, and after Kitty took care of him the whole night, he died in the morning. They buried Walter. It was a new "veil" between Kitty and Walter because Kitty did not have the chance to tell Walter if she loved him. Kitty's child was a "veil" too. We did not exactly know whose child he was.
To conclude, it is clear that "the painted veil" was through the whole movie. It was a metaphor of people's real thought. If people have the veil, covering their faces, others will never know their real opinion. When people life their painted veil, they can understand and know each other well.
