Madame Bovary (1933)

Soon after the death of his first wife (whose dowry was inadequate), Charles Bovary, a country doctor in Normandy, marries Emma Rouault, who is well-endowed in every sense. In her new home,... See full summary »

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writers:

Gustave Flaubert (novel), Jean Renoir

Stars:

Max Dearly, Valentine Tessier, Pierre Renoir

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Max Dearly	...	Homais
Valentine Tessier	...	Emma Bovary
Pierre Renoir	...	Charles Bovary
Robert Le Vigan	...	Lheureux (as Le Vigan)
Alice Tissot	...	Charles Bovary's mother
Pierre Larquey	...	Hippolyte (as Larquey)
Monette Dinay	...	Félicité
Louis Florencie	...	Parish Priest (as Florencie)
Romain Bouquet	...	Solicitor
Christiane Dor	...	Madame La François
Georges Cahuzac	...	Rouault (as Cahuzac)
Héléna Manson	...	Héloïse Bovary (as Hélène Manson)
Léon Larive	...	Prefect (as Larive)
Henri Vilbert	...	Dr. Canivet (as Vilbert)
Allain Dhurtal	...	Surgeon

Storyline

Soon after the death of his first wife (whose dowry was inadequate), Charles Bovary, a country doctor in Normandy, marries Emma Rouault, who is well-endowed in every sense. In her new home, Emma finds conflict with her mother-in-law, a husband uninterested in the social whirl, and general discontentment; thereby proving an easy conquest for philanderer Rodolphe. Other lovers follow. Does tragedy await?

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Plot Keywords:

classic literature | adultery | adulteress | based on novel | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

17 November 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

La signora Bovary

Filming Locations:

Paris Studios Cinéma, Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nouvelle Société des Films (NSF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Madame Bovary (1974)

User Reviews

Peas in a Pod: Emma and Dedee

Although the opening shot makes good use of mobile framing, most of the film has a more tableau feel. The sweeping pans are more tied to character psychology based on their habit of reframing and thus constructing psychological space. Angular shots (convo with clergy, faint outside window) further a sense of transcendental subject positions arranged for identification with character psychological effects. The exteriors are picturesque and painterly especially through naturalist oblique staging. There is a great depth of field and camera positions are arranged with obstructions in the mise-en-scene lending to the sense of an unobtrusive apparatus. The alternating shot scales within a scene are traditional and like Carrefour one gets a sense that this Renoir film is a hybrid of stylistic systems. Problems are compounded in this regard not simply through the film being an adaptation of Flaubert's work but also through Emma's character being so close in characterization to what we know of Dedee (Catherine Hessling). I imagine that Renoir was torn during the production of Madame Bovary. On one hand he may have felt that expressing his personal life through an adaptation that was conducive for such sentiment had a cathartic effect while on the other hand he was marring the development of his stylistics and not adequately purveying an even approach to character portrayal. The effect is that the spectator is neither fully engaged nor fully bored - creating an awkward wishy-washy response. This is not Renoir's most profound film.