I love this movie so much

How sad is this?

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Story of a girl who marries young bacteriologist for wrong reasons, about their journey to epicenter of cholera in some province in China and even harder journey towards mutual understanding and love. Quite a moving story and yet I'm not moved at all. Either I became cold-hearted over night or this essentially strong story isn't told in a strong enough way. I never heard of this director before, but cast is really great. In leading roles we have Naomi Watts and Edward Norton and they are the main reason I saw this movie in a first place. The most prominent side roles belong to Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan), Toby Jones (Dr. Jenkins in Wayward Pines, Dobby in Harry Potter) i Diana Rigg (Olenna Tyrell in GOT). Those actors themselves make this movie worth watching, but don't expect too much. Nice drama for one watching and nothing more than that.6/10The last scene is so cliche it made me wanna throw up.

This film is the result of a partnership between the US and China. The script is a cheap romance, in which a futile girl marries without love and betrays her husband, a doctor who truly loves her. From there, they live a marriage that only exists formally and things get worse when they go to a secluded hamlet in China, where an epidemic of cholera broke out. The country's political situation will also cause problems, as China, recently transformed into a republic with the deposition of the last emperor, becomes a troubled country, with internal conflicts and a huge aversion to foreigners.The plot adapts to the cinema an absolutely dry and heartless novel, but it does so in a way that's sometimes a bit melodramatic. I understand the intention: to increase the dramatic effect, the writer sweetened the story and altered it a bit, to make it more digestible. That's good but, just like when making a cake, we have to be careful not to overdo the amount of sugar. Unfortunately, sometimes it abuses the sugar but, at the same time, the epidemic and the misery of the people help to bring the film to a more realistic background and cut through this excessive sweetness. Thus, everything becomes more balanced, harmonious and pleasant. The political part of the plot, however, seem to be totally out of context and never fit into the overall story. I say this because this didn't make any difference in the story itself. It's totally dispensable. What happened here? Did the writer decided not to develop this subplot or Chinese CP demand that the film speak of this issue in a sort of political-historical revisionism? If the later was the true, it was something that did not really interest. China, however it tries to look like a westernized country, will only be truly modern with free and multiparty elections, a free press and freedom of opinion. None of these things exist behind the polluted and ultra-modern image that China likes to show us, and there is no smoke curtain strong enough for the Chinese dictatorship to hide that.Edward Norton and Naomi Watts are two well-known and talented actors. The two have already seen their names on the list of Oscar-nominated actors. They worked very well but Norton's character is more able of captivating public's affection, while she will have a long atonement ahead. Anyway, Watts was able to show the moral and psychological evolution of her character, and that was difficult even for a good actress. The remaining cast, unfortunately, is remarkably insignificant. Toby Jones is good enough but has little to do, as can Diana Rigg and Liev Schreiber. Better than them are the scenarios and cinematography. China has shown in this film some magnificent landscapes, which the film has been able to explore. The soundtrack has some excellent piano pieces of a mournful and sad tone, which harmonizes with the mists, disease and love affairs that are the core of the story itself.

Watched this last night on Netflix. At first, was annoyed by Naomi Watt's heavy Australian accent bleeding through her British character's, along with Ed Norton's very weak accent.Once they went to China, everything changed. The scenery (filmed in Guilin, Guangxiprovince) is MAGNIFICENT. Interesting to watch the characters go fromloathing one another to a sort of reunion. Definitely worth a watch.Love the scenery, costumes, music, and melancholy lighting. Would haveliked to see more of Waddington.Jeez, I have to add more lines to my review. Most people have the attention span of a goldfish, IMDb! What else is there to say...wish I saw more from the Chinese character's points of view, so they weren't just stereotypes , i.e. Chinese Peasant #1. Would have liked to known more about the experiences of the French nuns--what gives them pleasure? How about seeing the local foods? There was a humorous scene where Dr. Fane meets up with a Chinese warlord--reminded me of the Supreme Leader of North Korea. Good movie, definitely if you can get though the dreary English scenes--where I wish more character development had occurred--you will love it. And Lieve Schreiber makes an excellent DOUCHEBAG character!

A British medical doctor (Ed Norton) fights a cholera epidemic in a small Chinese village, while being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife (Naomi Watts).How this all came together is interesting and not in the order you might expect. Actor Edward Norton became involved with the project in 1999. Norton explained his attraction to the project, "It's very much a story about people getting beyond the worst in themselves and figuring out how to look at each other honestly, forgive each other for their failings and get to a better place... When I read it, I was very affected by it because in it I saw my own failings." The actor suggested casting Naomi Watts for the role of Kitty, which did not happen until Watts proved herself a bankable star with her performances in Mulholland Drive (2001) and 21 Grams (2003). When Watts joined the project, she recommended director John Curran, with whom she had collaborated on the 2004 film We Don't Live Here Anymore.Overall, I really enjoyed this film. It was shot beautifully, and it captured the imperfections of humanity. Watts' character has clear moral failings, but in some ways, so does Norton's. Rather than release his wife, he keeps her trapped... to what end? Surely he gets no joy from this. I could do without the love scenes, but I suppose that is to be expected in a film about infidelity.Initially, the cholera outbreak and Asian-English relations are sort of background elements, but it is interesting how they ultimately become bigger in their own way. How Watts and Norton interact is somewhat less important than how either of them interact with the cholera patients...