Madame Bovary (1991)

In nineteenth-century France, the romantic daughter of a country squire (Emma Rouault) marries a dull country doctor (Charles Bovary). To escape boredom, she throws herself into love ... See full summary »

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Gustave Flaubert (based on the novel by), Claude Chabrol (adaptation)

Stars:

Isabelle Huppert, Jean-François Balmer, Christophe Malavoy

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Isabelle Huppert	...	Emma Bovary
Jean-François Balmer	...	Le docteur Charles Bovary
Christophe Malavoy	...	Rodolphe Boulanger
Jean Yanne	...	M. Homais - le pharmacien
Lucas Belvaux	...	Leon Dupuis
Christiane Minazzoli	...	La veuve Lefançois
Jean-Louis Maury	...	Merchant Lheureux
Florent Gibassier	...	Hippolyte
Jean-Claude Bouillaud	...	Le père Rouault - un paysan - le père d'Emma
Sabeline Campo	...	Felicité
Yves Verhoeven	...	Justin
Marie Mergey	...	La mère Bovary - la mère de Charles
François Maistre	...	Lieuvain - le conseiller de la préfecture
Thomas Chabrol	...	Le vicomte
Phillippe Abitol

Storyline

In nineteenth-century France, the romantic daughter of a country squire (Emma Rouault) marries a dull country doctor (Charles Bovary). To escape boredom, she throws herself into love affairs with a suave local landowner (Rodolphe Boulanger) and a law student (Leon Dupuis), and runs up ruinous debts. This film version closely follows Flaubert's novel and includes most of the famous scenes, such as the wedding, the ball, the agricultural fair, the operation on the clubfoot, and the opera in Rouen.

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Plot Keywords:

love | debt | doctor | clubfoot | surgery | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

25 December 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bovaryné

Filming Locations:

Lyons-la-Forêt, Eure, France

Box Office

Gross:

$1,942,424 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

MK2 Productions, CED Productions, FR3 Films Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In its original French version, one of the masculine voices overheard by Emma during the great Bail sequence is director Claude Chabrol's voice saying: "Mais qu'il en soit fait selon votre desir, ma chere... Lucien!".

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Quotes

Le docteur Charles Bovary: [after his wife's death] Fate's the one to blame!

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Connections

Version of Madame Bovary (1947)

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Soundtracks

"La chanson d'Emma"
By Dominique Zardi

User Reviews

An impossible task?

I agree with the consensus here that this film adaptation is largely unsatisfying. However, I question whether Flaubert's masterpiece can ever be translated graciously to the screen. I suspect that a novel famous for having every word exactly in place, and whose appeal lies as much in the relentless poetic flow of its prose as in the brutally frank psychological characterization of its heroine (and a few other characters!), may be forever out of the reach of other media, and might best be left to pursue its own life on paper.

I also agree that Ms. Huppert's portrayal is cold, but I've always seen Emma as being that way. After all--she's nuts. Crazy people are seldom full of human warmth. Emma Bovary is among the select handful of fictional characters neurotic enough to have given their names to a pathological condition (in this case, bovarism).

It's always possible to admire a movie for its visual beauty, and this one wins hands-down in that category.

But if you want the full impact of the wretched, wrenching story--you have to go back to the book. I applaud Mr. Chabrol for trying, even if he didn't succeed, to make a perhaps impossible adaptation.