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 & 3 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	...	Léon 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:

character name as title | emma bovary character | doctor | wedding | widower | 

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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:

Мадам Бовари

Filming Locations:

Lyons-la-Forêt, Eure, France

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,942,424

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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Goofs

During the ball, the music is "The Blue Danube" by Johan Strauss, composed in 1866. However, the action is taking place in 1837.

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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

Remade as Madame Bovary (2014)

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Soundtracks

Lucie de Lammermoor
Music by Gaetano Donizetti (as Donizetti)
Performed by M.J. Coignard-Helison

User Reviews

Unnecessary Remake of a Tragic Romance

In the Nineteenth Century, the widower countryside Doctor Charles Bovary (Jean-François Balmer) meets Emma Rouault (Isabelle Huppert), the spirited daughter Mr. Rouault (Jean-Claude Bouillaud) that is his patient and farmer, and sooner they get married to each other. They move to Tostes and sooner Emma feels bored with the simple lifestyle of her husband. Charles moves to Yonville to please his wife and she feels astonished with the ball of the Marquee. During an agricultural fair, Madame Bovary meets the womanizer Rodolphe Boulanger (Christophe Malavoy) that seduces her and they have a love affair.

When her naive husband falls in disgrace after an unsuccessful surgery of the clubfoot Hippolyte (Florent Gibassier), Emma despises him. She meets Boulanger with more frequency and spends a large amount using the credit with the Merchant Lheureux (Jean-Louis Maury) expecting to leave Charles and travel with Boulanger to Rouen. However, her lover sends a letter to her ending their affair and travels alone.

Emma gets ill and during her recovery, she travels with her husband to see an opera in Rouen, where she meets the young Leon Dupuis (Lucas Belvaux) that becomes her lover. When her debts with the trader Lheureux reaches eight thousand francs, Emma tries unsuccessfully to get a loan to avoid the execution of the pledge. Hopeless, she takes a dramatic ultimate decision.

I had seen "Madame Bovary" by Claude Chabrol for the first time on 14 May 2000 and I found it a great version of the Gustave Flaubert's novel.

However the magnificent original version of 1933 of the tragic romance "Madame Bovary" by Jean Renoir was released in Brazil a couple of years ago on DVD and I have recently seen it.

Today I have just watched again the very well made 1991 version of "Madame Bovary" on DVD, but after watching the Jean Renoir's version, I found Chabrol's remake absolutely unnecessary since it does not add anything to the 1933 first version. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Madame Bovary"