This is an interesting movie: starring two foreign movie stars, also joined by Huang Qiusheng and Xia Yu, who are familiar with us; the story takes place in China in the 1920s, where two British people experience the true meaning of marriage and love.
The beginning of the story is China in 1925. Two British people came to a certain county in China (judging from the picture, the scene should be in Guilin). However, the heroine Kitty is constantly recalling: she was born in an upper-class family in London, she was pampered since she was a child, and her parents expected her to leave home early. She also seemed tired of the boring social life of the upper classes. It just so happened that her father introduced her to a bacterial doctor, Walter, who presided over a laboratory in Shanghai. In fact, the two seem to have made a mistake at the beginning of their union: Walter does seem to have fallen in love, yet he clearly understands that Kitty agreed to marry him because he wanted to stay away from his parents and the upper class. His naive, quiet personality, and his hard-working style are obviously not suitable for an upper-class lady like Kitty. Not long after coming to Shanghai, Kitty met Charlie, the British vice consul in Shanghai, while watching a Peking opera. This person is humorous and funny, and tells Kitty about Susan's misfortune during the play - Kitty seems to see his own misfortune in it. The two soon had an affair, and Walter quickly learned of it. In 1925, he finally found an opportunity for revenge: a large-scale cholera outbreak broke out in a county in the southwest, and he was going to volunteer. Obviously, he was going with Kitty. If Kitty refused, he filed for divorce. He knew Kitty and Charlie. When Kitty approached Charlie asking him to divorce his wife and marry her, Charlie suggested that the position of vice consul was important to him, and it seemed that his wife's family was his political backer. Kitty understood immediately, and resolutely went with Walter to the place where the cholera occurred. This brings us back to the beginning of the film.
The cholera outbreak site is beautiful, but the living conditions are extremely difficult. Their personal safety is under constant threat from China's anti-imperialist patriotic movement and cholera. Kitty soon couldn't take it anymore, and she regretted that she shouldn't have been here in the first place. I do nothing at home every day, eat dinner with Walter at night, but have nothing to say. However, in the contact with Walter, the more important thing is that she gradually developed a love for Walter from others' evaluation of Walter. And volunteering at the monastery changed her so much that she realized she was a useful person. Meanwhile, Walter is changing. However, fate always loves to play tricks, just when the two of them are in true love, Kitty is pregnant! According to the date of pregnancy, Walter is definitely not the biological father of the child. Walter forgave Kitty, however, and the two came to a full understanding at this point. But the tragedy finally showed its true colors at this time: Walter contracted cholera and died dozens of hours later.
The ending of the story is intriguing: Kitty and her son are visiting a flower shop in London, where Walter proposed to her. When I came out of the flower shop, I came across Charlie unexpectedly. Apparently they hadn't seen each other for a long time. In their conversation, the film tells us about the little boy: his name is Walter, and he is five years old. When Charlie intends to meet Kitty again, Kitty says goodbye to him. Obviously, she has grown up.
Overall, this is a sad but memorable story. My question, though, is that if Walt doesn't get revenge on Kitty, in other words, he doesn't take Kitty to such a hellish place, will their lost love be able to return? Perhaps it was the poor mountains and rivers that made them "have to" have in-depth exchanges, and thus a true love developed. In addition, it seems that the heroine confuses reverence with love to a certain extent: when she hears that Walter is putting his own safety in the treatment of cholera patients, she begins to change her attitude towards Walter and develop a sense of admiration. However, love built on such a foundation will certainly not last long. Fortunately, their love story continued, and finally there was love that understood each other. The previous incomprehension and conflict, as Walter put it, stemmed from "the quality we were looking for in each other. It was silly."
Love has always been an eternal theme of human beings. However, in "The Veil", in addition to this theme, there are actually some expressions of the old China in the 1920s, which we can appreciate as Chinese. I think there are three main aspects: one is the manifestation of patriotism and anti-imperialistism in China at that time. At the time of the May 30th Movement, the British authorities shot and killed Chinese worker Gu Zhenghong in Shanghai, which led to a high level of anti-imperialist sentiment among the people. Even in the market town where the cholera broke out, young students with high vigour and enthusiasm were posting anti-imperialist slogans. The group of young students also threatened Kitty, but thanks to Walter's timely arrival, an incident was averted. There is also a regiment leader (played by Huang Qiusheng) who has returned from Russia with deep patriotism and nationalism. He hopes to drive all foreigners out of China and overthrow all warlord forces. "China belongs to the Chinese. ". Because of this, he is hostile to Walter, but he is still progressive, because Walter came to heal and save people, and eventually gave his life for it. Does the film imply that such soldiers are China's hope? The second is the portrayal of the political situation in China at that time. Of course, the film does not describe how the central government is, but in this place in Guilin, the warlord factions are quite complicated. When Walter sought the help of the local Overseer in order to force the common people to bury the bodies to control the source of the disease, the Overseer replied, "I want my people to die, no way!" Walter originally wanted to ridicule the Overseer, but Captain Huang Qiusheng showed that at this time. His political wisdom: if the Overseer's troops leave it alone, his army will be happy to take over the area (presumably the head of the regiment belongs to the Central Army). This was the wisdom of those who were well versed in Chinese politics at the time, and it was beyond Walter's understanding. The third is the collision between Chinese traditional customs and Western medicine. In order to control the source of infection, Walter closed the wells in the town and used the power of warlords to force the burial of corpses and keep them away from water sources, which undoubtedly violated traditional customs. In Chinese people's view, the soul of the deceased cannot ascend to heaven without dying at home for several days. Coupled with the influence of anti-imperialist ideology, the conflict caused by this is fierce. We can understand the difficulty of replacing burial with cremation in rural areas. Interested friends can go and see Mr. Yang Nianqun's research on medical history, which is very interesting. Of course, in this film, Walter finally won the trust of the Chinese.
The last thing I want to mention is Walter's own comments on Western mission. When Kitty said the nuns were great, took in many children, raised them, educated them, and saved many people. Walter, who has always been a naive person, said at this time that the nuns have their own purpose for taking in the children: mission. Of course, after the mission, Walter did not go any further. If we combine the two evaluations into one, this is a relatively complete picture of Western Christianity coming to China.
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