Madame Bovary (TV 2000)

A young woman in her late teens, a reader of novels and with high hopes of romance and passion, marries a widowed country doctor. Although he dotes on her, she is soon bored and discontent.... See full summary »

Director:

Tim Fywell

Writers:

Gustave Flaubert (novel), Heidi Thomas (screenplay)

Stars:

Frances O'Connor, Hugh Bonneville, Eileen Atkins

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Frances O'Connor	...	Emma Bovary
Hugh Bonneville	...	Charles Bovary
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eileen Atkins	...	Marie Louise
Desmond Barrit	...	Guillaumin (episode 3)
Keith Barron	...	L'heureux (episodes 2, 3)
Adam Cooper	...	Vicomte (episode 1)
Hugh Dancy	...	Leon
Marian Diamond	...	Sister Marie Paul (episode 1)
Claire Hackett	...	Madame Homais (episodes 2, 3)
Jenny Howe	...	Sister Evangeline (episode 1)
Barbara Jefford	...	Marquise (episode 1)
Stanley Lebor	...	Binet
Mary MacLeod	...	Madame Lefrancois (as Mary Macleod)
Roy Macready	...	Vincart (episode 3)
Phillip Manikum	...	Lestiboudois

Storyline

A young woman in her late teens, a reader of novels and with high hopes of romance and passion, marries a widowed country doctor. Although he dotes on her, she is soon bored and discontent. First, she gives her imagination to a law student in town, and next she takes a lover. When he refuses to run away with her, she takes up again with the law clerk. Her spending on dresses and furnishings mounts; these debts and her ill-advised professional counsel to her husband bring his ruin.

---

Plot Keywords:

debt | doctor | convent | amputation | formal ball | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

Details

Official Sites:

PBS [us]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 February 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bovaryné

Filming Locations:

Ashridge Park, Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), WGBH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min 158 min (2 parts)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Leon: I'm pouring myself into you, Emma.

---

Connections

Version of Madame Bovary (1937)

User Reviews

The book is much better

The book - I read it one day before I watched the film on DVD - is (as often) much better. It sounds like a cliché but it's a fact. It's difficult to understand the motives of Madame Bovary and one simply needs hundreds of pages to describe what's going on in her mind.

Of course the movie omits many details of the original story. Yet the actors who perform the personages of Bovary, Homais, Lheureux and many minor roles are cast well. However, Frances O'Connor is not a credible Madame Bovary. I think it is difficult to find a actress for this complicated character. I could not help imagining that Emma Thompson might have been a much more sympathetic and understandable Emma Bovary.

Yet I think the BBC deserves a 7 out of 10 for this attempt to represent Flaubert's masterpiece.