Did anyone else notice this? There is no scene in the movie where Kitty expresses contrition for her infidelity. She does say she is sorry at the end, but only when Walter is dying. why didn't she have feel remorse for her actions and earlier cruelty towards Walter even before he was on his deathbed?
shareI think it was implicit in her actions and speech.
shareany specific scenes/dialogues that you would point out to?
shareWell, there's the ending when she confronts the man she was having the affair with. That was pretty pointed, although not really aimed at her husband.
There were her actions when her husband got sick, and her actions with the orphanage. She wanted to help, and to show she was being part of the partnership.
There are others.
Charlie was a low-life and Kitty found that out even before she was remorseful about her affair. So her resentment towards Charlie cannot be viewed as something that was the result of her transformation.
Her actions at the orphanage was shown as her way of doing something about the monotone that has been thrust upon her.
During the silly little microbes scene, I thought there might be some dialogue concerning how she felt about herself over her affair. But there wasn't any.
Forgive my cynicism. This movie has a lot of love. But I think the screenplay was not intending to show Kitty as a transformed person during her life in China, unlike the book, where there is no love, but the transformation of Kitty was clearly stated.
I'm not sure Kitty ever needed to transform. She was kind of flighty to begin with, and still had that little groupie-girl thing going on, which is why she bedded the bad boy. I think she was always mature enough to see what she was doing, but wanted to have fun regardless, because her husband was no fun. I think she knew there was a serious side to life, but knew she wasn't quite ready for it.
That's just my gut opinion.
Kitty's character in the movie was actually more remorseful than how the book described her.
I did notice her lack of regret when watching the film but accepted it as a try at faithfulness to the true character described in the novel.
It shows the realistic thread of growth in that it is rare that people ever fully change and that selfishness is central to most.
Kitty's character in the movie was actually more remorseful than how the book described her.
I did notice her lack of regret when watching the film but accepted it as a try at faithfulness to the true character described in the novel.
It shows the realistic thread of growth in that it is rare that people ever fully change and that selfishness is central to most.
Well, by the end she deeply loved and cared for her husband, and she was there for him through his death. I don't know if she was thinking "Oh, I feel sorry for cheating on him" as such, exactly, but I don't see that it matters. I didn't view her adultery as that wrong because she didn't even really want to marry Walter in the first place, she was basically forced into it, Walter saw her and wanted her and asked for her hand in marriage, and her family married her off at the first opportunity. He knew that she didn't want him. I mean, I wasn't focusing so much on any perceived "remorse" on her part for the infidelity as the huge change in their relationship and how much she really cared about and appreciated him later on.
Someday you will name me, then gently place those burning holy roses in my hair.
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In the book she never expresses any love for him and in fact, goes back to Hong Kong (in the book it was Hong Kong not Shanghai) and takes up with Charlie again. Then she goes back to England after deciding Charlie doesn't care about her. The movie is highly romantic; much more than the author describes. I think they should have stuck to the book but that wouldn't have sold the movie.
shareI do see a great expression of remorse, when she tells him she is pregnant.....
shareThe book was about a selfish woman learning about compassion and sympathy. I liked that Watts stayed true to the original vision of the character.
Kitty wasn't sorry about her affair with Charlie. But she did come to regret the heartbreak she caused in Walter and how it destroyed him. She was too late when it came time to really become friends with the man she married.
But the greatness of the story is that Kitty realized the mistake she made with Walter and connected it to the larger aspects of her life. She realized that she mistreated her family as well. The book ends with her trying to redeem the one relationship she can save with her father.
That's exactly it, I think.
Once upon a time there was a magical place where it never rained. The end.
Why would she feel remorse? She got what she wanted.
shareI'm watching it right now. Not only is she weeping, but she says, "I'm sorry!"
And when he says "forgive me," she replies "forgive YOU? There is nothing to forgive."
I'd say she's plenty remorseful and very much in love--with her husband.
This! Exactly this!
shareYes, true love isn't about first sight passion, but character. In this case, true love came when Kitty finally realized the noble character of Walter. Her remorse stemming from that she realized how she responded to his nobility unfortunately with infidelity also further sparked her love for Walter.
share