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Madame Bovary

Play trailer Poster for Madame Bovary PG-13 1991 2h 10m Drama Romance Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
63% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Emma Rouault (Isabelle Huppert), a beautiful young woman who craves romance and luxury, marries warmhearted but unfashionable doctor Charles Bovary (Jean-François Balmer). After attending a lavish party, Emma becomes fed up with her dull marriage and decides to take part in secret trysts with her dashing neighbor, Rodolphe Boulanger (Christophe Malavoy). But she's too naive to see through Rodolphe's lies and too frivolous with her money, and soon finds herself both in debt and heartbroken.

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Madame Bovary

Critics Reviews

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Budd Wilkins Slant Magazine 03/02/2022
Arrows Lies and Deceit box set offers five of Claude Chabrols finest efforts from the 1980s and 1990s in a handsome new package with hours of bonus materials. Go to Full Review
Adam Mars-Jones Independent (UK) 11/14/2017
Part of the problem is that the book is full of somehow lacerating details, which a loving director must reproduce but can't help transforming into their opposites: there's no such thing as a dull antique. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
3/4
[Isabelle Huppert] has played many other, more extroverted, even cheerful roles, but Chabrol was quite right to find Emma Bovary within her. Go to Full Review
Terry Francis Southern Voice (Atlanta) 05/09/2023
1.5/4
Claude Chabrol's exquisitely crafted film of Flaubert's novel is quickly undone by the half-hearted, mock-ironic tone of the director toward his own material, and by a disastrously misconceived performance by the gifted Isabelle Huppert. Go to Full Review
Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 01/05/2023
Scene for scene, the new Bovary is a parroting and monotonous recitation of the text, without a flash of imagination. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Imran Khan PopMatters 05/31/2022
Perhaps an effort in vanity, but still one worth visiting to see how a professional of the seriocomic thriller manages a classic of French realist literature. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Dani G 02/06/2024 "Emma marries a dull country doctor". And that's the best definition for the film: DULL. If you like "custome dramas", then maybe this is for you, no matter the story See more 06/15/2022 Among the snoozefest genre, this takes 3 stars. In the book there are always features that can be considered as an adjunct to the already-known plot, but this movie is just vapid. See more 02/06/2022 Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary has been made numerous times, as early as Albert Ray's 1932 film Unholy Love to Jean Renoir, Gerhard Lamprecht and Vincente Minnelli making their own versions. There are three BBC series — in 1964, 1975 and 2000, as well as Hans Schott-Schobinger's 1969 version (starring Edwige Fenech!), Alexandr Sokurov's Save and Protect, the Hindu film Maya Memsaab, Sophia Barthe's Madame Bovary and even David Lean's loose adaption, Ryan's Daughter. Emma (Isabelle Huppert) faced a single life on her father's farm until he sets her up with Dr. Charles Bovary (Jean-François Balmer), yet he bores her. And even moving to the city does nothing for her interest in him and everything for her interest in others, like Léon (Lucas Belvaux), a court reporter who can discuss all of the culture that she adores as well as giving her the physical love that she needs. Yet he's soon gone and she moves on to other men, like the wealthy Rodolphe Boulanger (Christophe Malavoy), but when he leaves her after four years, she finds her way back into Leon's arms. However, to court him again, it takes money. So she secretly uses her husband's cash — and a secret deal with shop keeper Lheureux (Jean-Louis Maury) — to pay for clothing, a hotel and gifts. Their home is seized and sold and even the lawyer who should be helping her only wants her for sex. So — spoiler warning for a book written in the 1850s — she takes poison and dies a long and agonizing death, followed by her husband dying from grief and their daughter being sold into factory work. So you know, basically a heartwarming film that'll brighten any day. See more 08/17/2018 Stunning acting by Huppert, and the supporting cast was great, too. Having read the book and watched several versions of the film, this is one of the truest to the original by Flaubert. Highly recommended. See more 12/03/2017 The lusciousness of rustic French geography and fashion and Isabelle Huppert's rhapsodic performance in Claude Chabrol's allegedly loyal adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's erotic classic evokes poetic sensibilities for a romantically restless woman stifled by the boredom of a mediocre marriage and seduced by carnal lust and material greed. See more 03/15/2015 I know it's a 1991 production, but sorry to say, it's just tedious. See more Read all reviews
Madame Bovary

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Movie Info

Synopsis Emma Rouault (Isabelle Huppert), a beautiful young woman who craves romance and luxury, marries warmhearted but unfashionable doctor Charles Bovary (Jean-François Balmer). After attending a lavish party, Emma becomes fed up with her dull marriage and decides to take part in secret trysts with her dashing neighbor, Rodolphe Boulanger (Christophe Malavoy). But she's too naive to see through Rodolphe's lies and too frivolous with her money, and soon finds herself both in debt and heartbroken.
Director
Claude Chabrol
Producer
Marin Karmitz
Screenwriter
Claude Chabrol, Gustave Flaubert
Distributor
Samuel Goldwyn Company
Production Co
MK2 Productions
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Drama, Romance
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 25, 1991, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Nov 11, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.9M
Runtime
2h 10m
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