Negative Positive
Title: Screenplay?
Review: This beautifully produced motion picture should have worked. the cinematography, the talented cast, the music, the backdrops. And all of this is beautifully done. What is missing is life, elan. Some activity would have been nice. Once, the good doctor confronts his wife about her infidelity, nothing much takes place. Yes, there's a cholera epidemic in the midst of some of the most stunning scenery on earth. Yes, two previously irreconcilable spouses, probably never in love in the first place, somehow find each other as well as a mutual purpose in life, and should go on to spend a fulfilling life together.The problem seems to lie within the screenplay, which is curiously flat, devoid of emotion. This film simply fails to draw the viewer in. You can learn a lot about the cholera outbreaks in early 20th century China, but it's difficult to care except in the intellectual sense.
Is the review positive or negative? 