Madame Bovary | | Cast : | Isabelle Huppert, Jean-François Balmer | | Director : | Claude Chabrol | | Studio : | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | | Format : | Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | December 25, 1991 | | DVD Released Date : | September 07, 2004 | | Language : | French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | October 23, 2004 | | Summary | Egad! - a French Merchant Ivory movie...only worse! | Content
 | The French have made many magnificent historical films, for example Ridicule, Colonel Chabert & Queen Margot. But this one is really awful. The acting is stagy. The script is choppy. Huppert, although in her late 30s here, looks at least 50. She's supposed to be a naive young impulsive country doctor's wife. But Huppert is not young, she's not country & she is definitely not naive. She's just very boring.
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| Rating | | | Date | August 31, 2004 | | Summary | The Madame of Bad Decisions | Content
| This film is a French adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's classic tale of human bondage, "Madame Bovary."
I expected this adaptation to be better than others I have seen simply because it was done by the French, but sadly the film does not hold up to Flaubert's original work. Isabelle Huppert does a so-so job as the lead character, the great sufferer, Madame Bovary. Huppert does not show enough passion and emotion for my taste though, the original character is consumed by suffering and desperately stabs at whatever form of relief comes her way, but Huppert doesn't quite get any depth out of this performance. She looks lovely in her period costumes however. Madame Bovary succumbed to adultery, debtful spending habits and even suicide while being married to Dr. Bovary and never feeling passionately satisfied with her life. The character is both the ultimate victim of her own circumstances and that of the stigma society held over women of her time. In the classic novel she screams for understanding and compassion but here Huppert only manages to stir a selfish and self-absorbed creature lacking any decent humanity.
Contrasting to the Madame is Dr. Bovary, played decently by Jean-Francois Balmer, who manages to bring a sorrow to the dutiful man who cowers at the Madame's feet. Malavoy is sweet and hardworking much as I imagine the original character to be and also sadly unsuspicious of his wicked wife's activities at his expense. The enigmatic and suave character of Rodolphe Boulanger is played by the handsome and convincing Christophe Malavoy. Malavoy is seductively charming and maliciously evil at the same time, the perfect match for Mrs. Bovary!
I enjoyed this film for the French aesthetic value but feel the need to dust off my old classic novel and re-read the story as written by the master, Flaubert. I enjoy the message contained in this story about the sin of excess and lack of reason behind decisions, interestingly enough this 1856 novel could use a few more readings in today's world. The film is good but the novel is GREAT, enjoy both for the experience.
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| Rating | | | Date | January 11, 2004 | | Summary | flatter than the DVD | Content
| Anyone who claims to have liked this movie can only have said so after
having read the book. Without the book as background there is no point of watching this movie. It was loyally re-enacted but skipped through scenes of the book like a skipping stone over water,
never getting below the suface. The cinematography for a movie about passion
was flat. The lighting was probably done with two hardware
store flood lamps. The scenes were layed out like a low budget neighborhood cultural center production. No great scores. No ones eyes ever meet. Never a breathtaking moment. I just rented this movie after spending
the last week getting through the book. I wasn't moved by the book's plot but I had imagined a movie adaptation enhancing the storyline. I love Isabelle Huppert but she was totally miscast for the role. She's way too old and there's nothing provincial about her. See her instead in Merci Pour le Chocolat. I was expecting something along the lines of The Piano, but got instead someting along the lines of a cardboard box. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 10, 2004 | | Summary | flatter tham the DVD | Content
| Anyone who claims to have liked this movie can only have said so after
having read the book. Without the book as background there is no point of watching this movie. It was loyally re-enacted but skipped through scenes of the book like a skipping stone over water,
never getting below the suface. The cinematography for a movie about passion
was flat. The lighting was probably done with two hardware
store flood lamps. The scenes were layed out like a low budget neighborhood cultural center production. No great scores. No ones eyes ever meet. Never a breathtaking moment. I just rented this movie after spending
the last week getting through the book. I wasn't moved by the book's plot but I had imagined a movie adaptation enhancing the storyline. I love Isabelle Huppert but she was totally miscast for the role. She's way too old and there's nothing provincial about her. See her instead in Merci Pour le Chocolat. I was expecting something along the lines of The Piano, but got instead someting along the lines of a cardboard box. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 12, 2002 | | Summary | C"EST MAGNIFIQUE... | Content
| This is an excellent adaptation of the Gustave Flaubert novel of the same name. Isabelle Huppert is superb as the central character, Emma, a prosperous farmer's daughter, who marries a doctor, Charles Bovary (Jean Francois Balmer). He is a kind and gentle soul who adores her and wants nothing more than to make her happy. The problem is that he does not know how. Even Emma does not really know what would make her happy. This is the story of Emma Bovary and her unhappy, wasted, shallow life. She is a woman who on the surface seems to have everything, an adoring, doting husband, a lovely, healthy daughter, an attractive well appointed home. Yet, she is unhappy. She loathes her husband, finding him pedantic and dull. She has little time for her daughter and seems to have little motherly instincts. What worldly goods she has never seem to ber enough. Seeking fulfillment, she takes lovers who always seem to fail her in the end. She mistakes passion for love and never fails to be disappointed when that love turns out to be fleeting, blind to the love that exists under her very own roof. As her unhappiness and dissatisfaction grow, so does the beauty of her wardrobe. Beautifully gowned and accessorized, Emma Bovary is as beautiful as she is shallow. She spends what she does not have on passing fripperies, only to have her world eventually come crashing down around her. She takes the easy way out of her self inflicted misery and, in doing so, consigns those who had the misfortune to truly love her to a doomed existence. Claude Chabrol deftly directed this arresting period piece, exacting wonderful performances from the entire cast. Isabelle Huppert is perfectly cast as Emma Bovary with her icy beauty and gives a performance that is on the money. Jean Francois Balmer is also notable for his portrayal of her doting and supportive husband. This is an excellent, value priced film, one that is well worth having in one's collection. Period piece lovers will especially enjoy this film. |
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