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27 April 2007

The Painted Veil

What's there not to like about Edward Norton? Did you see him in Rounders? I think he does a good job of playing such varying characters. And, he looks so good in a 1920s tux.

What I don't like is Naomi Watts, who always seems to play a spoiled girl and/or sleazebag. This movie was no different.

The interesting thing about this movie was the depiction of the cholera. Which I have been reading a lot of lately, in my readings of the Crimean War. (I help a blind PhD student read books and things.) I had no idea that the cholera was so messy. Hmm.

Oddly enough, after seeing this movie, I had the intense urge to read the book. A few years ago, I read Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge as well as Of Human Bondage, both of which I really liked. I like stories set in bygone times and/or around war. I think I would like The Painted Veil, too. But unfortunately, the book probably now has a dustjacket with Naomi Watts on it, which is something I definitely wouldn't like. I can't say I like it when they take a classic book and sex it up for sales.

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