The Painted Veil (2006 film)

The Painted Veil is a 2006 American drama film directed by John Curran. The screenplay by Ron Nyswaner is based on the 1925 novel of the same title by W. Somerset Maugham. Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Toby Jones, Anthony Wong Chau Sang and Liev Schreiber appear in the leading roles.

On a brief trip back to London, earnest, bookish bacteriologist Walter Fane Edward Norton is dazzled by Kitty Garstin Naomi Watts, a vivacious and vain London socialite. He proposes she accepts only to get as far away from her mother as possible, and the couple honeymoon in Venice. They travel on to Walters medical post in Shanghai, where he is stationed in a government lab studying infectious diseases. They find themselves illsuited, with Kitty much more interested in parties and the social life of the British expatriates.Kitty meets Charles Townsend Liev Schreiber, a married British vice consul, and the two engage in a clandestine affair. When Walter discovers his wifes infidelity, he seeks to punish her by threatening to divorce her on the grounds of adultery, if she doesnt accompany him to a small village in a remote area of China. He has volunteered to treat victims of an unchecked cholera epidemic sweeping through the area. Kitty begs to be allowed to divorce him quietly, but he refuses, stating Why should I put myself through the smallest trouble for you? She hopes Townsend will leave his wife Dorothy and marry her. When she proposes this possibility to Charles, he declines to accept, despite earlier claiming to love Kitty. ........

Source: Wikipedia