Saturday, January 06, 2007

Movie Log: The Painted Veil

We got the kids out of the house and to sleepovers at the respective grandmothers' on Friday night. (The kids love to do this, and the grandmas almost as much, but timing and logistics are sometimes difficult to arrange.) So The Wife and I were going to see something in a theatre, since we had a free night. The Good German? Only in the city. Letters from Iwo Jima? Ditto. Little Children? The Wife wasn't as hot on it as I was. So we compromised on The Painted Veil, which looked good and which was a period piece. (As The Wife said herself, she'll see anything if it's a period piece.)

It turned out to have more in common with Little Children than I expected, but that was fine. It has the every-shot-a-painting look of the classy slow-moving Merchant-Ivory style of film, but the message is about the opposite of the Merchant-Ivory movies I've seen (which always seem to come down to "follow the instincts of your heart, and everything will come out right"). This one is more about shutting up, knuckling down, and doing what you're supposed to do. (With a side lesson in blackmail and emotional cruelty.)

...and that much has sat here, as a draft, for about a week. I guess I should admit I don't have anything more to say about this movie, and just post the darn thing.

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