Comparative Study Analysis: “The Painted Veil” (Novel & Film) using Feminist Film Theory

This post is presented partially as the requirement of final assignment for Literary and Film Studies lecture, which is entitled, Comparative Study Analysis: “The Painted Veil” (Novel & Film) using Feminist Film Theory. I investigated the differences that reside in its novel and film. Here it is then!

SUMMARY

The Painted Veil is a 1925 novel by William Somerset Maugham (January 25, 1874-December 16, 1965). He is an author of novel and short stories, as well as prominent playwright from Britain. The title of this novel is taken from a piece of sonnet by Percy Byshe Shelley that begins with “Lift not the painted veil which those who live/call life.”

Kitty Garstin is a very beautiful woman and loves to have fun, do a lot of things, and try new things. She knows that she is beautiful, and that's why she behaves spoiled and arrogant. Everyone loves her, including her mother who is also almost depressed when Kitty refused all marriage proposals from rich and handsome men in town. Her mother thinks she is completely out of her mind, while her younger sister, who is not so pretty, is willing to postpone her marriage, just for the sake of Kitty.

But when her mother was overwhelmed with the arbitrarily attitude of Kitty, her father then took part in the matchmaking process. Her father secretly invited a bacteriological, who is also a doctor, Walter Fane. After several times dancing together, Walter fell in love with Kitty. He immediately proposed to Kitty, though Kitty still does not love Walter. Just because Walter had to rush back to Hong Kong, the reason why Walter married Kitty though he really loved her. Meanwhile, Kitty, who does not love Walter, accepted his proposal and went to Hong Kong so that it can reduce the depression from all of the complaints pointed by her mother, who often nags for her being so arrogant and selfish.

The story on the novel begins with Kitty being frightened. She was having an affair with Charlie Townsend, a Secretary Assistant of the colony, who also has a family. When Kitty heard a voice from the outside of her room, Kitty thought the person who was trying to open the door handle is her husband. Surely she did not want to get caught by Walter. At that time they had lived in Shanghai. Walter, who is a rigid, stiff kind of man, looks too boring for Kitty. Until that moment Kitty could not fully love Walter.

But of course, Walter knows about her affair. He feels humiliated, although he never showed it to Kitty. Walter actually understands the decision he made to rush in marrying Kitty. But at least he knew that Kitty was a stupid, shallow and empty-headed woman. Not to mention arrogant and spoiled. But he still loves Kitty. Walter also knows the main purpose of Kitty accepting his proposal. And it is considered to Walter as narrow-minded, dirty and very nasty kind of mind. Yes, Kitty accepts Walter's proposal only because of fear and shame to be considered as an old hag if she refuses. But he still loves Kitty, wholeheartedly until Walter who has grown accustomed to his solitude follows every silly wishes from Kitty for she was too bored just to stay at home alone. But Walter never demands her to love him back. He is just grateful that he has been allowed to love Kitty.

One time Walter invited Kitty to discuss a plan related to his jobs. Walter invited Kitty to join him in Mei-tan-fu, a remote village in China which is exposed to virulent cholera epidemic. Kitty refused to participate, but Walter threatened. Walter then opened a case of infidelity done by Kitty and Charlie. And how despicable it is for him for nearly two years to let that affair happened. When she was pressed like that, Kitty argued, "If a man does not have what it takes for a woman's love, then it is the fault of the man, not the woman." Walter then understood and filed divorce papers if Kitty did not want to participate. Kitty again refused because it is shameful for her since Walter would send a letter of divorce with adultery reason. Finally, Walter gave her a condition, that he would allow Kitty to divorce him only when Charlie also wants to divorce Dorothy, his wife, and then marries Kitty.

Kitty was very confident. Therefore, she can be free from Walter and be with a man she loves, Charlie. Just at the moment Kitty met Charlie and told him the condition, Charlie refused by reason Dorothy could never be divorced. This relates to the nature of the narcissistic from Charlie and his fear to lose great positions in China. Divorcement was a shameful kind of thing at that time. It would ruin someone’s reputation. Kitty was miserable and decided to follow Walter to go to the remote village of China. During her time in that village, Kitty still did not open her heart for Walter. Even she felt Walter deliberately wanted to kill her slowly (due to cholera and malnutrition). But in the end he remained surrender because she finally understood why Walter punishes her like that.

Kitty then joined with French nuns who are willing to stay there for treating cholera patients. Over time, Kitty gets wiser. In fact, she realized that Walter is actually a very nice person. Even when Kitty found out that she is pregnant for two months, and the baby is not Walter's, Kitty still does not feel guilty, even Walter accepts the harsh reality. In addition to all of the praises from people around the village for Walter who is willing to work hard taking care of the patient and find the solution to prevent the spread of the disease, Kitty still hates him, until Walter died because of cholera. However, until the very end of it, both the novel and film, there are touching differences. If in the novel, Kitty still cannot love Walter. And it is different story in the film. In it, Kitty had grown love long before Walter died. They make up, and forgive one another over their mistakes, until Walter died. In this scene, there would be tears of those who saw the movie. They would cry and feel morose. 

In the novel, Kitty eventually returned to the city and met Charlie. She even had time to make love with Charlie, while in the film is different. Kitty resents Charlie when they met for a second chance. But she realized that she was very despicable as it is. Then she decided to move, accompanying her father who got a new job while raising her daughter (not a son, like in the film), so that in the future her daughter would not be as naive and selfish as she was.

INTERNAL ELEMENTS

This film is just like other films, coming with some internal elements that build up perfectly the story, and they are ranging from genre, mode of address, narrative, characterization, setting, mood and tone, iconography, as well as themes.

Film studies talks about the literary aspects found in a film. It is the basic theory in order to use the aspects of a film to analyze it deeply. Film studies also deal with academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, critical, and historical approaches to films. Film studies explore the narrative elements, artistic, economic, cultural and political implications of a film.

Literary aspects of a film are different with cinematic aspects in a film. Literary aspects are ranging from types of film, film genres, theme, characterization, point of view, setting and plot, just like other literary works. They have their own language and vocabulary in displaying moving pictures or the product of film per se. 

Here are some internal elements found in the film:

Type of Film

Start from the type of this film, The Painted Veil is a novel adaptation film from the same title of novel, which is written by W. Somerset Maugham in 1925. This novel has been adapted for the screen three times. The first one came in 1934 with the same title, the second one came in 1957 with the title, The Seventh Sin, and the last one is in 2006, which is discussed in this analysis. 

Novels are frequently adapted for films with a purpose to appeal an existing commercial audience. The popularity of this book makes it worth adapting to screen. Other reasons are like enhancing the life of the author so that audience can analyze the reasons why such characters are picked through swimming deep into author’s background life. It is then challenging to bring the story to screen since the question of faithfulness is often raised. The faithfulness between novel and the screen becomes producing it worth deep interpretation. Thus, some differences between enjoying it through its novel and film can be experienced and analyzed to see which one is lacking and vice versa.

Genre of Film

The genre of this film is romantic drama, which explores the complex side of love. Films with romantic drama genre center on some obstacles which prevent the love of two people. The types of obstacles are like a family’s disapproval, the changing feelings of one, forbidden love, unrequited love, to one’s own psychological restraints. The plot dwells in finding the way to get out of these obstacles to eventually experience real love eternally. 

The Painted Veil is considered as romantic drama because of an obstacle found in the movie. Walter loves Kitty with all of his heart, while Kitty loves Charlie and even cheating behind Walter. Gradually, Kitty learns the real meaning of love. The love that she finds is in Walter’s heart. How he struggles himself in taking good care of cholera patients become a new definition of lover based on Kitty’s perspective. Although the ending of this story found in novel and film are different, there is still connection, for Kitty learns she cannot be such a selfish person when the condition of her romance life makes Walter sacrificed a lot, until he really died on his way reaching Kitty’s heart. And when he is really gone, Kitty learns that she has been such a selfish person.

Mode of Address

A concept based out of film is the definition of mode of address. Technically, it is the way for most of filmmakers thinks about their audiences, like who they are going to be. Loosely speaking, it is the analysis on power relations between the audience and the subject of the film. Most of filmmakers also try to display the mode of address through their movies, whether the issue brought up there, is about race, superiority of one another, feminist issue or adult content whatsoever. Once the audience gets the message implicitly attached during the movie, then they can really take out of what the filmmakers are trying to tell to them. Then the audience can really communicate and involve with the text. Then generally mode of address is brought up with certain issues like gender, age, experience, social culture, class issue, and so on.

This film dwells in adult romance, so to get a chance for conflicts to be appeared in the film, the author brings up some mode of address like gender superiority and feminist. Apart of the importance for a romance film to explicitly show adult content, the gender superiority can be experienced still by the audience. As for the film, Kitty seems trying so hard to break the rules prevail in society at that time. For instance is when Walter planned to file divorce paper with infidelity reason. Kitty knows it very well that she would be humiliated if Walter really do that. That is one of things that disgust her the most.

In addition, the novel provides the reader to predict Maugham’s mode of address in context to Kitty. With the third person of point of view, it is quite hard to really get to know what is exactly inside of other characters’ minds. Kitty tells about the entire story by herself. Then Kitty’s decision about accepting Walter’s proposal, refusing to even try to love Walter and making love with Charlie behind her own husband can be interpreted by the audience as a selfish decision due to disgust feeling towards social condition at that time which was too stiff. The story in the novel then feels so judgmental from Kitty’s point of view. 

Then the mode of address that appears between the film and the audience is feminist issue. Deep inside of her, she disgusts the rules prevail in society at that time where everyone seemed over-dramatize her for if Walter really divorced her with that kind of reason and she was okay with that. Society seemed being too judgmental in taking infidelity’s case and in understanding a woman’s decision to postpone her marriage plan until 30-something. Imagine watching this movie as an advertisement, the first impression would be unrequited love, in which most of the audiences would have experienced it. Thus, it makes the mode of address constructed well.

Iconography

Iconography is actually the iconic things which appear in a film to indirectly communicate with the audience. For example, a film is considered as a cowboy movie, when on most of the scenes, there are a lot of decorations and goods which are related to cowboy, like galloons, hats, guns, spurs, horses, jails, and so on. These things become dominant, thus it becomes an easy way to describe a large idea mostly about the genre. Formerly, iconography originated in art. Art students discovered the color, composition, images, and technique of a painting to be paired with previous work by other artist. Thus, when they could not find the sameness, and consider it as a new perspective or images, then they called it as iconic. So it is allowed to define iconography as those particular signs that can be associated with particular genres.

As for The Painted Veil, from the title, it is easy to discover the iconic things appeared since the beginning of the story until the very end of it. The veil itself is literally a veil in which in marriage is in white color. But the title says ‘Painted’, which also means the purity of marriage is betrayed. It can be connected to the film, which also tells about adultery and betrayal. But a veil sometimes can be defined as a cover for a face. And in the end of this film, when Kitty makes up with Walter, she mostly uses white Chinese umbrella in beautiful decoration and embroidery. This also shows how Kitty has learnt a lot about purity and loyalty while she was seemingly punished through living far from civilization. That is only one icon of this film that can be found easily. There are still more, though, and they are ranging from costumes, decorations, objects, sceneries, and so on, and here they are:

1. Veil: A cover which shows purity of marriage. Though it has been stained by betrayal, Maugham decided to keep it painted, as by seeing this, people will learn from the mistakes (stain) and paint it into something new and beautiful. According to Edward Norton as the cast of Walter Fane about Painted Veil: “We often fall in love with the illusions we have of about a person rather than who they really are. That is the ‘painted veil’ that is in front of our vision of the truth and when those illusions get torn away it can be process of disenchantment and pain.”

2. Mountain scenery: A lot of mountain scenery dominate the film. It shows the connection between the film and the whole story; good scenery bring back purity. This also shows the setting of film, which is in rural or remote village in China.

3. Hats: Kitty wears hats almost all the time, especially when she went out with Walter. Hats, in 1920s, dominated fashion lifestyle. Upper class women tend to use hats as the symbol of royal. Kitty, who comes also from upper class family, looks beautiful in every hat she wears.

4. Vintage Decorations: As the movie sets on 1920s era, the decorations show partially the genre of this film, which is drama romance in 1920 era. The domination of classic items like nightstand, canopy bed, and vanity is decorated in white and other pastel colors.

5. White-Neat Costumes: When the occasion does not require night gown, the casts use white-neat costumes. It is for the lighting importance too. 

6. Intermediate English Saxon Dialogues: Kitty and Walter sometimes use formal language in order to fit with the language used in 1920s.

7. Music and Sound: Since it is a romance film, the music and sound is rather melancholy. But there is time when Kitty plays upbeat music, and it is when she feels happy.

Characterization

As for the characterization in The Painted Veil, there are some important characters which mostly appear in the film, and they are:

1. Kitty Garstin/Fane: She is an Englishwoman, who comes from a very proper family (upper class). Spoiled enough since she was kid, so her mother put a great amount of pressure on her as the effect. She is so naive lacking sensitivity. It was about using her natural beauty to get a man from high social status and excellence in his job. She is forced to marry a rich and smart man. Although Kitty has natural beauty, but her romance life doesn't go well as planned. She always finds any man she has ever dated with didn't meet her standards. Apparently, she puts a higher standard in almost everything, including finding the right man. This thing makes her as a frivolous and a bit shallow woman. When she was twenty five, which in the era this age made her desperately old; she decided to give up on finding an ideal mate. She marries Walter Fane, government bacteriologist. She decided to follow her husband to move to Hong Kong. This character is considered as protagonist and a round character. She has developed somehow into a better person. At the first time she loathed Walter, Hong Kong and even Mei-tan-fu, but in the end she gradually grew feelings towards the orphans in Mei-tan-fu, the nuns, and Walter. In the end, she becomes a new woman, who is left by her husband, but it doesn't make her to go back to Charlie. She decides to raise her own son, instead, although she knows, Charlie is the biological father of her son.

2. Walter Fane: He does not come from a proper family, but Kitty’s father loves him for being a government officer specialized in bacteriology. He has stable job and apparently he needs to move out to Hong Kong to conduct some research about cholera. He is a very kind man. He loves Kitty harder than Charlie. He once said that he hates himself for loving Kitty so hard even after she betrayed him. He doesn't speak a lot, but when he speaks, he nails it. He is a stiff man. He cannot express his feelings well. He has no expression. This side of him which bores Kitty the most. But he is also a round character. He goes through some developments. He learns to forgive Kitty after seeing sincerity of Kitty when she plays piano and takes care of the orphans in church with the nuns. He seems lacking sensitivity, but he actually cares. He is intelligent, with a cold passive-aggressive nature.

3. Charlie Townsend: He is the man whose affair with Kitty would bring down his reputation. This is why he stays flat during the film, by enjoying the affair only without willing to have serious commitment with Kitty. He is a narcissist whose wife is a possessive one, the daughter of prominent people in town. This is why Charlie marries Dorothy, his wife. His appearance doesn't make any big deal, but he plays important role since his appearance makes an interesting plot which also shapes this film as a romance drama one.

This film dwells in the relationship of these three characters. There are some other characters, but they don’t play important role. Like her mother, her appearance only in the beginning and also the officer who befriends with Kitty during in Mei-tan-fu. 

Setting

There are two kinds of setting, and they are physical and social settings. Thus, in this film, the settings are;

1. Physical Setting: This is where the story takes place. It is much like stage scenery from a play, so it should be general, such as Tropic Ocean, or very specific like the address of a street. The physical setting in this film is Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mei-tan-fu, China in the 1920s era. It takes place in Britain too, but mostly the story goes on in Mei-tan-fu, a rural village deep in the forest of China. The climate is humid, which makes the characters should adapt well with the drastic changing.

2. Social Setting: It dwells in problematic setting which builds up the story. It also concerns in a description of a location, which provides the location and time of social interactions occurred. Behavior and beliefs that dominate the society in which the characters live are also included in this social setting. This type of social setting can be one of triggers in creating conflicts as it also includes family relationships, political systems, class structures, gender roles, moral values and race relations in all part of social environment. As for the film, the social setting is when the civil uprising against British colonization where the tensions running high, where Westerns were banned all over Asia. This is why the arrival of Walter and Kitty in rural village like Mei-tan-fu also becomes another conflict in which the people at there think about them as evils and need to be terminated. They have trust issue with strangers and even foreigners. The people at there think Walter plan to take any resource from their village. With the cholera invasion, they rely on water, while the river and any well at there have been contaminated with cholera. This is because of the belief that they cannot bury their relatives’ bodies before 49 days. That is why they keep the body inside of their house and gets contaminated because of that too. But they gradually welcome Walter especially after he makes a flute by the river to filter the water from the mountain.

Themes

Theme is considered as an abstraction of the story. It discusses topics, subject matter like social cultural, professional, sexual, moral, and political. Theme is also considered as the message from the author. Theme is usually about big ideas like friendship, trust, freedom, and so on. As for the literature itself, theme is usually about its view about life and how people behave. 

This film has a topic about betrayal. Thus, it makes the theme of it dwells in freedom. Everything happens for a reason. This betrayal comes for a reason. The conflicts have started since Kitty wanted to be free from what to do and not what to do, rule by her own mother. She tries to free herself from the overbearing and condescending mother. Then she runs thoughtlessly into a loveless marriage, just to please society’s demand towards her. And then when she frees herself from the boredom of married life, she throws herself into a passionate affair with a selfish, narcissist womanizer, Charlie Townsend. After that, when she is trapped with the shameful discovery of her affair, she is forced to face the journey with death risk. She must follow Walter’s demand to move to the centre of the cholera epidemic at Mei-tan-fu. For days and months in Mei-tan-fu, she tries to free herself, but nothing she can do, until she finds light in helping the French nuns to take care of orphans.

Narrative

It is a similar formula of plots and structures, sequences, episodes if there is any, obstacles and conflicts which tell the entire story in a film, especially. As it has been known that a narrative is actually a story which is created in a constructive format, so it describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events. If it is a film or any other literary works, there must be narrative structure in each of it. That is why it also includes plot in the investigation. 

As for this film, it uses flashback or analepsis plot, which is an interjected scenes which take the narrative back in time from the current point of the story. Here is the plot structure of The Painted Veil film:

Exposition: The story begins when Kitty and Walter arrive in Mei-tan-fu. And then the plot moves to Kitty’s memories about the very first time she met Walter. 

(Flashback: London, 2 years earlier)

Event 1: Kitty was walking down the stairs of her house which was holding a ball. From afar, Walter’s eyes couldn't stop gazing Kitty’s figure from above. And then Walter followed her here and there. Therefore, he braved himself in asking Kitty to dance. Kitty agreed.

Event 2: In the morning she was asked by her younger sister about the guy whom she danced with last night. Kitty answered it plainly as if nothing really special happened. Her mother then pressed her by questions whether the man she danced with last night fall in love with her or not and also, whether Kitty loves him or not. Kitty felt upset as this scene really shows the relationship between her and her demanding mother. And then her mother warned her about the time which is running out. It shows that Kitty must take things seriously, especially about marriage. Kitty left the scene when her mother asked about her father who couldn't go supporting her anymore.

Event 3: Kitty welcomed Walter by the door. Walter bought a present and Kitty was feeling upset, she couldn't be meaner, so she grabbed the present and just leave it in the nightstand near front door of her house. She took a stroll with Walter.

Exposition: The story goes back to the scene where Kitty and Walter arrive in Me-tan-fu. They took land road, which means they would be carried by the villagers. Kitty felt so depressed to be carried by a lot of people using a carriage. Then she recall back to the previous flashback.

(Flashback: London, 2 years earlier)

Event 4: Kitty and Walter walked down somewhere and Kitty asked about his job and stuff. Kitty didn’t seem interested finding out his job as bacteriologist. Then Walter proposed her in a flower shop.

Event 5: When Kitty went back home, she heard her mother talking on the phone saying that she had given up on her since a long time ago. She was proud with Kitty’s younger sister who made success by marrying a reputable man, although she needed to wait for Kitty to marry first. Kitty was shocked and then thinking about accepting Walter’s marriage proposal. 

Event 6: Walter and Kitty have arrived in Shanghai and had fun. But most of the time, Walter spent time at his laboratory, leaving Kitty staying at home alone. After months living together, Kitty then found out how boring Walter was. He spent a lot of time reading books, writing notes and stuff. He didn’t care or even ask whether Kitty was comfortable leaving in separate place from her parents.

Rising Actions: (Still in flashback plot) it was raining cats and dogs in Shanghai. Kitty seemed bored and asked Walter to accompany her playing cards, while in fact, Walter asked her to invite The Townsends ball. They two then invited the invitation. This is the first time Kitty met Charlie Townsend along with his wife, Dorothy. From this scene, Kitty spent laughter with Charlie. They talked casually as if they had met before. This thing sparked love between them. Then they continued to keep in touch and spend time on bed together. This adultery activity between Kitty and Charlie went for months without Walter’s knowing. 

Climax: Kitty assumed Walter still does not have any idea about the affair between her and Townsend. Until one day, Walter asked Kitty whether she wanted to accompany him to go to rural village in Mei-tan-fu. Kitty refused, and then Walter brought up the affair thing to Kitty. He threatened to divorce Kitty with adultery reason. Kitty was outraged with Walter threatening her. Kitty couldn’t love him as much as she loved Charlie, so she asked whether he would divorce her quietly. But then Walter asked her back, on what grounds Kitty would divorce him? It was her who did the adultery, not Walter. Finally Walter gave her two choices for Kitty to choose: Giving her two choices: 

- Joining him on a treacherous journey to a remote, cholera-infested village, Mei-tan-fu where he has volunteered his expertise.

- Endure the disgrace and embarrassment of a public divorce because of adultery.

Kitty then chose to follow Walter.

(The flashback has stopped here. Back to the first exposition, where Kitty and Walter have just arrived in Mei-tan-fu)

Falling Action: While in Mei-tan-fu, Kitty gradually learned about loyalty from the French nuns who take care of orphans although Walter thinks they do that purposely so these kids become Catholics. But Kitty did not think that way as she replied Walter with his own condition, risking his life to help people get through the cholera epidemic. This is the scene where Kitty suddenly fell in love again with Walter, and they have forgiven each other. When the two were so madly in love, Kitty was found out having a baby for almost two months. Walter understood if the baby was not his. He was willing to accept the baby and Kitty. Until Walter was died during his struggle to fight the cholera contamination.

Resolution: Life goes on, and so does Kitty. After burying Walter’s body in Mei-tan-fu, she went back to Shanghai. In the last scene, she held a young boy, who is apparently her son, and she named him Walter. She met Charlie, and even Charlie asked Kitty to take a stroll with him. But Kitty refused and left Charlie confused. When her son asked about Charlie, Kitty said that he is not an important person.

Mood and Tone

Since The Painted Veil is a romantic drama film, the mood or the emotional the film or text creates for the audience is ranging from positive mood words to negative mood words that describe this film thoroughly. The atmosphere felt by the audiences or the readers that is aroused in a film is also the definition of mood. Here are the two positive and negative mood words appeared in the film:

Positive Mood Words: determined, passionate, loving, dreamy, excited, flirty, joyous, vivacious, warm, touched, and sentimental.

Negative Mood Words: aggravated, anxious, intimidated, irritated, lonely, melancholic, nauseated, nervous, overwhelmed, painful, confused, cynical, depressed, disappointed, discontented, embarrassed, enraged, envious, exhausted, pessimistic, rejected, restless, scared, frustrated, heartbroken, hopeless, sick, stressed, tense, terrifying, threatening, uncomfortable, vengeful, indifferent, gloomy, grumpy, somber, serious, distressed, morose, and moody.

From the list above, this film is then considered as romantic drama film, which in the plot, the mood that can be felt by the audiences is evolving in negative. It is normal since the film itself talks about betrayed love.

As for the tone, which is the author’s attitude toward a subject, this film also shares some positive and negative tone words, as follow:

Positive Tone Words: affectionate, casual, celebratory, cheerful, comforting, compassionate, confident, contented, and delightful.

Negative Tone Words: angry, annoyed, anxious, pessimistic, threatening, unfriendly, unsympathetic, antagonistic, pathetic, embarrassed, forceful, sarcastic, scornful, tense, upset, demanding, depressed, gloomy, enraged, cold, desolate, disappointed, disliking, and disrespectful.

FILM THEORY

Cinema studies or film theory is defined as an academic discipline. It aims to explore the essence of the film. It also provides some conceptual frameworks in order to get better understanding about film’s relationship to reality, individual audiences, society and other arts in larger scope. But it should not be confused with general film criticism or even film history. 

There are several film theories that can be used to identify one film to another. Some theories, such as Apparatus theory, Auteur theory, Feminist film theory, Formalist film theory, Genre studies, Marxist film theory, Philosophy of language film analysis, Psychoanalytical film theory, Screen theory, and Structuralist film theory. Since film theory borrows the disciplines of philosophy, art, social science and so on, it is then best to analyze this film using feminist criticism. Although film is considered as a new medium of literary work, the probability for this work analyzed using certain literary criticism is available.

Under the umbrella of feminist film theory, feminist theory reinforces or undermines the political, economic, social and psychological oppression towards women, which are displayed partially either it is from actual events or not through film and any other literary works. It also deals with the social and cultural aspects in literary works, especially for works which reveal the role, influence and position of women. As Tyson (1998: 83) states, “Broadly defined, feminist criticism examines the ways in which literature (and other cultural production) reinforces or undermines the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women.”

With the umbrella, feminism, there are a lot of movements which fight for the equality between male and female. It was all started since the development of more complex conceptions of gender and subjectivity as well as the third-wave feminism. Feminist literary criticism has taken a variety of new routes. The feminist literary criticism as it has been known until today is indeed the direct product of the ‘women’s movement’ of the 1960s. This was literary movement since the beginning, in the sense that it realized the significance of the images of women promulgated by literature, and saw it as vital in order to combat them as well as question their authority and coherence.

COMPARING TEXT-FILM MEDIA

After analyzing both media, novel and film, there are differences found. Thus, the differences make each medium uniquely worth analyzing. Generally, comparative study is a study in which a participant is randomly assigned to one of two different treatment groups in order to compare the effects of the treatments.

To find out the differences between the media, it is better if each medium is analyzed through its weaknesses and strengths. After getting the information about what is lack in each media, the comparison between the same literary works can be found easily.

Film

As for the film, The Painted Veil is Warner Independent's latest release from the executive producer, Bob Yari (The Illusionist, Crash) and director John Curran (We Don't Live Here Anymore, Praise). Basically, like previous explanation about this movie, it tells about the destruction and reconstruction of a relationship. It precisely tells about a spouse, who has an affair, and also about how a relationship can be rebuilt again from nothing. Most of people would agree by the astounding directed film. It was set deep in a remote Chinese village in the 1920s. In spite of its credibility, this film also shares weaknesses. 

Strengths: This film is filled with prominent actors like Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. The beautiful landscapes in the backdrop of China and the great performances from Norton and Watts, great soundtrack and partially nail some conflicts in the novel well. The execution to bring literary work to visual literacy has been accomplished very well. To sum it all up, the strengths are:

- Great cinematography resulting in great scenery.

- The film is filled with great actors.

- People easily get the plot of the story.

- People will be easily carried away with the overwhelming feelings from the characters.

- Great soundtrack.

- Great execution in part of cinematic eclectic.

Weaknesses: This film seems lacking in plot. If it is compared to the intensity of anger and fiery love in novel, this film lacks all of it. Well, yeah this film is filled with prominent actress like Naomi Watts and a great actor like Edward Norton, but the plot of this film is just too long. The conflicts which appear in this film are not covering with some stated in the novel. The lengthy of narratives and boring scenes make me, as the reader and audience for both medium pick novel as the best choice to feel the anger and freedom-thirst possessed by Kitty. Here are the weaknesses in a brief:

- Lacking in plot.

- Lengthy narrative.

- Lacking in conflicts between Kitty and her mother.

- Boring scenes.

- Painfully describe the villagers in remote China like stereotyping.

- Limited time.

- Not fully cover the plot.

- Different resolution compared to novel.

- The film doesn't show the death of Kitty’s mother.

- In the film, the child of Kitty and Walter is a boy, while in novel, it is a girl.

- The film doesn't share the same resolution with the ones in the novel. The novel ends with Kitty and her daughter sets off her old house to move to a new town with her father. She decides to raise her daughter in the best way she could, of course different than her mother. She also decides to give the best service to the only parent she has, her own father.

- The film doesn't show the make out and make love session of Kitty and Charlie Townsend as soon as Kitty buries her husband and goes back to Shanghai. 

- The film shows how resentful Kitty when she met Charlie again after arriving in Shanghai.

- The film doesn't share Kitty’s feeling after the death of her husband. In the novel, Kitty remains loveless towards Walter, even after he was dead. But in the film, before Walter died, he and Kitty have forgiven each other and gradually grown love towards each other.

Novel

This novel is written by William Somerset Maugham. It has some strengths and weaknesses too, as follow:

Strengths: People get the complete story, overwhelming feelings from characters without being afraid of limited time. Therefore, the readers can also get more details about each character, conflict and the story itself from novel. Here are the complete strengths from the novel:

- People get complete story.

- Well-written by the most prominent author.

- Reading the novel with well-written kind of writing style, the readers will immediately feel the tension of anger, love and disappointment from the characters.

- It leaves the readers with better understanding to also involve in getting the moral lesson.

Weaknesses: I don’t think this novel has any weaknesses. In fact, the novel says it all as it becomes the guidance for the filmmaker to capture what is written inside through moving pictures or we can call it as film. Having read Maugham’s story, I was taken aback by the sweep and passion of this book and how strict the society at that time. The conflicts I found in the novel are taken differently than the social condition that I always find every single day. There is no taboo in having adultery. Adultery has been doing everyday by a lot of unmarried couples. Thus, reading this novel brings back that kind of feeling, where freedom must be taken with highest responsibility. In addition to Maugham as a homosexual, he can then read deeply, the feelings of Kitty at that time, where freedom cost her arms and legs. It was very expensive. This is also why this novel is considered as feminist work. 

ANALYSIS BASED ON THEORY

The analysis of this film based on feminist theory would dwell in freedom. This is because Kitty doesn't have what it takes as freedom. The freedom revolves in choosing the man she loves, doing what she wants to do no matter how old she is, avoiding the roles of traditional female stereotypical prevailed at that time, choosing the right time for her to get married and settle down, and also the sickening gender stereotypes prevail at that time. Here are the evidences of why this film is considered as feminist film:

Freedom in Choosing a Man: At that time, around 1920s in Britain, women must be well-behaved women apart of which class they come from. Kitty Garstin, as a spoiled, pretty and immature young girl, in the age of 25 years old is forced to attend a lot of engagements planner with a lot of suitors ranging from handsome to smart men in town. Kitty is a pretty girl, and she knows that. As soon as she was asked to dance by Walter, her mother insisted her to get married soon. Her parents, especially her mother did not understand Kitty’s feeling. She cannot marry the man she doesn't love.

Freedom in Doing What She Loves: This evidence can be seen when Kitty wanted to play piano as soon as she arrived in Shanghai. She was in charge of being beautiful and doing the roles as a housewife, so she doesn't have any more time to do what she loves to do.

Freedom in Breaking Female Stereotypic Roles: Stereotyping is what a lot of feminists have been dwelling into for almost centuries. It leads to nowhere, even up until now. As for the film, the female stereotypic roles prevail in society force Kitty to be sensitive, pretty all the time, well-behaved, put her family above anything else, and keep good image of her family and herself. This thing can be seen when Kitty is so afraid with Walter’s threat about filing a divorce paper for Kitty with adultery reason. All of the good images that she has been keeping all this time would waste in vain if that really happen. This is why she chose to follow her husband. 

Those are the evidences found in the film. But it would be a long list if I analyzed it from the novel. For being a homosexual, Maugham swims into the deepest feelings of Kitty in contrast to what I have always seen as the emotional reserve from his male characters. This also can be seen as the product of Maugham’s homosexuality living in an era when this thing became a top secret and had to be kept hidden. 

And that’s it, for a while. To give Maugham a credit for a well-written story, I give this novel 5 stars, but only 4 stars for the film. The Painted Veil film has a very distinctive visual look that goes hand-in-hand with the theme and mood - it's even captured perfectly on the poster, too. It is easily to observe. And that kind of achievement is exhibited only from passionate independent filmmakers. I can clearly see the camera work is superb - this is clearly an artful film - but the director's storytelling and the long, mundane scenes made this a laborious film to watch.

CONCLUSION

The moral lesson that can be taken into account is that I love the novel, but the film is also good enough due to giving enjoyment visually. This film is considered as a feminist film, which focuses on the role and position of a woman, named Kitty Fane. She is trapped with roles and stereotypes which prevail at the time resulting in her to fail in settling down with a man she really loves. It is such an unfortunate, when she loves Charlie Townsend, but he already has a beautiful wife and he cannot do anything with the fact that he makes love with Kitty too. It is such a filthy thing that a woman could do, for having an affair with another man but her own husband. Kitty is also trapped by the fact that she cannot do anything about it. She must stick to the roles assigned to her, which she has to be a loyal wife, even though she doesn’t love Walter. Even after the death of his husband, she still thinks, women are disadvantaged with the roles and stereotypes prevail in society. That is why she thirsted for freedom. 

By doing comparative study between the novel and film, I can see clearly why the film must balance everything without leaving the point of the story. It is then agreeable for the film to focus on cinematographic things rather than focus on displaying each conflict. This is due to the limited time. So it is also a great job for the filmmaker to bring The Fanes in real life.