Kristýna Brázdová: The Painted Veil / Barevný závoj

Přečtete si esej studentky ateliéru Kristýny Brázdové o hudbě ve filmu Johna Currana Barevný závoj (2006). Text zveřejňujeme v původním anglickém znění, jelikož vznikl v rámci autorčina studijního pobytu na polské filmové škole Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School.

I chose to analyse a fragment of the film The Painted Veil. The majority of the film’s story takes
place in China and it follows the fate of a couple that got married for wrong reasons and now
they are finding a way to understand each other in the middle of the cholera epidemic. The film
is based on a book by William Somerset Maugham but from my experience the book is sharing
a different message in a way. The fragment I chose is in the second half of the film when Kitty
and Walter Fane, the main characters, are on their way to forgive each other the past mistakes
and start their relationship again.

At first, I am going to mention different scenes in which the piece Gnossienne n. 1 by Erik Satie
is used and how it is relevant to the chosen fragment. Next I am going to focus on the selected
fragment and try to apply to it the theories that we talked about during our lectures. I am also
going to draw my own conclusions based on additional resources and my screenwriting and
viewing experience.

In my opinion, the composer, Alexandre Desplat, uses leitmotif technique, because the piece
Gnossienne n. 1 by Satie appears at specific moments during the film and it slightly changes its
meaning depending on the context but still holds connection with previous situations when it
has been used. The Gnossienne is not Desplat’s original piece, therefore we can say that it is a
case of adopted music.

We hear it for the first time in one of the first scenes of the film. The story starts with the
couple’s journey to Mei-Tan-Fu where they are going because of the cholera epidemic – Walter
Fane wants to make himself useful as a doctor there and he is taking his wife with him to punish
her for her affair with another man. As they are waiting in the rain in the middle of nowhere,
the Gnossienne n.1 starts as Kitty is reflecting her past and we get to a flashback of their meeting
two years earlier in London, when Kitty was just a foolish girl having arguments with her
mother over her future and Walter was desperately in love with her. Later, Kitty is playing the
Gnossienne on her piano in her family’s salon. With that scene, we can get an association with
Kitty and this piece of music and we also realise that music plays an important role for her as a
character. Gnossienne also plays silently in the background when Walter proposes to Kitty in a
flower shop. And Kitty, because she desperately wants to escape from her family, accepts his
offer even though she is not particularly fond of Walter.

Then we get a break from Gnossienne for a part of the film until we reach a point when Walter
and Kitty are already in Mei-Tan-Fu, he is busy in a hospital and she is suffering from
heartbreak and loneliness. Her character is slowly changing because she starts to understand
how superficial she used to be and she suddenly sees her husband in a different light because
of all the sacrifices he makes for those who need him. As her opinion of him changes, she tries
to improve their relationship only to get hurt by his words during an argument. She shuts the
door and we stay with Walter as he hears her crying from the other room. It is at this moment
when we hear the Gnossienne again. And we get his perspective which is in contrast with the
original book, because in Maugham’s novel, we only get Kitty’s perspective. That is one of
the biggest adjustments that were made regarding The Painted Veil adaptation. By hearing the
Gnossienne while watching Walter’s face, we are reminded of his love for her that we saw in
one of the first scenes. We can feel his slowly growing compassion even though he is still full
of anger at the woman he once loved. This scene in particular is what makes this film stand out
compared to the book, in my opinion. Instead of witnessing only one character evolve and grow,
we see both of them. And according to Zofia Lissa’s theory, this can be seen as an example of
music as the basis of empathy.

Another scene similar to this one takes place in a monastery where Kitty goes to help nuns with
orphan children to make herself useful. She plays an out of tune piano to entertain them when
suddenly Walter passes by and starts watching them. Then one of the nuns encourages Kitty to
play something more calm and tells Walter to stay and listen, even though he suddenly feels
uncomfortable. Kitty plays the Gnossienne, it feels slower and heavier, perhaps it’s because of
the instrument that she plays. The memory of her in London flashes before Walter’s eyes which
can be also seen on the screen. I may be wrong but I feel like this flashback was unnecessary
because the memory of the piece is so strong that we can remind ourselves of the past scene
even without the visual representation but it might be just my impression because I already saw
the film more than once. The piece is used in a very interesting way because it’s not easy to
qualify its function as a pure association with a character, a place or a specific time in the past.
It’s not just a representation of love either. Because the characters start at very different places
and their development is complex. That is why I hesitate a little bit when characterising the
music score with leitmotif technique because it is not all that clear. But again referring to Zofia
Lissa’s theory, this moment can be interpreted as music as a representation of memory.

By going through all the preceding scenes that have the Gnossienne in their musical layer, I
finally reach a point in the film where I chose the fragment for my analysis. The scene starts
with Kitty leaving the house to go for a walk to help herself get through a hangover and probably
also to think about what happened last night. Walter and Kitty made love for the first time since
her affair which was a visual representation of the process that they went through emotionally
as well – from love on one side and indifference on the other, through mutual hate to the moment
of reconciliation. Kitty goes outside with her parasol, lightheartedly encouraging her bodyguard
to accompany her. While she walks we hear tones played by flute. The instrument expresses
the calmness and tenderness of the scene. The use of flute is also interesting because the
composer, Alexandre Desplat, used to play flute as one of several instruments before he settled
on composing.

She reaches the river where she sees Walter haggling with a Chinese man over pieces of
bamboo. We hear the sounds of plucking strings of a violin (at least that’s what I imagine) which represents the curiosity with which Kitty approaches the two men by the river. Walter
and Kitty exchange a few words, both probably trying to process the new situation, the feeling
of peace after months of resentment. And they, for the first time since coming to Mei-Tan-Fu, do something amusing together. While watching the couple sail on the river we hear the
Gnossienne again, this time getting a new meaning, no longer referring to the past feelings and
moods of the characters but creating a new, vibrant memory. The melody fits wonderfully with
the flowing of the river, corresponding with the visual layer. The piece feels somehow calm
while having a recognisable rhythm. It also expresses oriental influences which goes perfectly
with the location of the film – the influence is very subtle but still noticeable. Without hearing
the dialogue (or reading many pages of a novel), the music and the images tell us openly what
has changed between Walter and Kitty. Instead of barely looking at each other hoping the other
would cease to exist or standing opposite of each other like in a duel, they sit next to each other
on the raft, fulfilling a famous quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “Love does not consist of
gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.” They are interested
in the same thing (which in this case is the water distribution system that can save the village).
Creating unity in the moment of bliss which is a reward for the viewer after watching them
suffer for such a long time.

But the very nature of film is dependent on conflict, turbulence and constant change. That’s
why we cannot dwell in the moment of peace when everything between them has fallen into
place. So the mood changes drastically within the same melody that was expressing the
calmness of the shared moment. The music helps us to take in the fact that we are suddenly in
a different moment in time (so the piece has a structural function as well). Kitty dances happily
with orphan children. Their movement is in synchronisation with the music’s rhythm even
though it is non-diegetic. The Gnossienne has a metre similar to waltz, even though it is not a
typical waltz either. The metre that is slightly off corresponds with Kitty breaking the dance, running to the corner of the room, feeling nauseous. The soloist’s interpretation (Lang Lang) of
the piece changes as the following notes are hit with bigger force and then the music suddenly
stops, creating suspense, as the screen goes black. Here we can see Siegfried Kracauer’s theory
applied because the following silence creates dramatic tension. Then we can see the same corner
of the room, empty, without Kitty and the children, leaving us uncertain for a little longer and
wondering if she has fallen ill with cholera.

In the next part we get to know the truth, along with Kitty, when the nuns tell her that she is not
ill with cholera but she will be having a baby. It is a shock for her as this is not the right timing
for such a big change. This part shows Desplat’s sensitive approach to the use of music. Even
though the music of the film is very significant, there are many scenes that are completely
without music as Desplat leaves room for actors’ and actresses’ performances that don’t need
an additional emotional layer supported by the music.

The same approach is also shown in the next part where Walter visits Kitty after hearing the
news that she has been feeling sick. Walter’s emotions change from worry to excitement and
then to doubts and disappointment when he realizes that it’s possibly not his child. He is
reminded of their past conflict and we as the viewers are feeling tension together with Kitty,
unsure whether everything is going to go bad again or if Walter is going to finally forgive her
all her past failures. Walter’s character development expressed through his decision to let go of
the past once and for all is supported by gentle music where timbre plays an important part –
piano still represents hints of sadness and melancholy while strings bring hope and tenderness
to the situation.

This scene is followed by another one that I wanted to include because it shows another
interesting aspect of Desplat’s work. In this scene, we can see Walter’s efforts come into fruition
because the windmill that he came up with to supply the village with clean water is working in
the end. Desplat uses violin, piano and flute to create a fast melody that mimics the sound of
streaming water that can be seen in the visual layer. Maybe it can be interpreted as a slight nod
to Bedřich Smetana’s famous composition Vltava, which also uses flute sounds at the beginning
to give the illusion of streaming water. This also falls to Zofia Lissa’s theory in the category of
the musical stylization of real sounds. I think that the work with timbre of different instruments
is something that is characteristic for Desplat’s composition (it can also be heard in the music
for The Grand Budapest Hotel for example). Even though the music and the whole context of
the scene seem cheerful, there are also serious undertones. I think that this layer is played by
cello but I am not so sure about that. As the situation progresses, the music continues but the
cheerfulness suddenly changes into gravity because when one problem is solved we can see
another danger emerging on the horizon. And it all happened during the same composition.
That to me is a very interesting example of musical dramaturgy that is in a way a parallel to the
scene that I described earlier (when Kitty and Walter become close again and suddenly the
danger of possible illness and then potential conflict about pregnancy creeps in). When Walter
is trying to stop people from another contaminated village, we can hear some sort of
glockenspiel or triangle and violins, cello, piano and also some brass instruments. The music
helps to underline the dramatic nature of this scene using timbre and also fast tempo to create
an unsettling feeling in the viewers.

According to Claudia Bullerjahn’s theory, I would say that for the most part the music in this
fragment co-creates the atmosphere of the film while also clarifying the emotional processes of
the characters. In the second part of this fragment where the film focuses on Walter and his
efforts to stop the epidemic, the music uses the dramatic function.

In conclusion, I would like to underline that in this fragment we can see several things which
are typical of Alexandre Desplat’s work: lyricism (the scene when Kitty and Walter are on the
raft), influence from classical music of the 20th century (including Erik Satie’s composition)
and strong orchestration (the part with windmill and villagers approaching). Also this film to
me is an example of a successful book to film adaptation that doesn’t hold on too tightly on the
original text in order to create a truly cinematic story that can stand successfully on its own.

Even though I focused mainly on music and characters’ emotions in this essay there are many
other aspects that co-create this film and make it whole. But thanks to the lectures on Music in
movies, I can have a growing appreciation of aspects of films that would otherwise slip from
me unnoticed.