Madame Bovary

PG-13

Released Dec 25, 1991

2h 10m

Drama

Romance

List

63%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

60%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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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Dani G

"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

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/24

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Claude Chabrol's adaptation of Flaubert's classic is often misguided and so fast-paced that it loses track of its most subtle nuances, never quite grasping the true essence of the book - Isabelle Huppert, on the other hand, carries her character on the right tone, resulting in delightful moments.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

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Claude Chabrol

Director

Isabelle Huppert

Emma Bovary

Jean-François Balmer

Charles Bovary

Christophe Malavoy

Rodolphe Boulanger

Jean Yanne

M. Homais

Lucas Belvaux

Leon Dupuis

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Budd Wilkins

Slant Magazine

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.

Mar 2, 2022

Full Review

Adam Mars-Jones

Independent (UK)

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.

Nov 14, 2017

Full Review

Steve Davis

Austin Chronicle

Rated: 3/5

Apr 11, 2001

Full Review

Terry Francis

Southern Voice (Atlanta)

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.

Rated: 1.5/4

May 9, 2023

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Scene for scene, the new Bovary is a parroting and monotonous recitation of the text, without a flash of imagination. [Full review in Spanish]

Jan 5, 2023

Full Review

Imran Khan

PopMatters

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.

May 31, 2022

Full Review

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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
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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