I Am Not Madame Bovary

It is no secret that I enjoy Asian cinema tremendously, and when I got the chance to watch "I Am Not Madame Bovary", I naturally jumped at it. I had no idea what this movie was about, nor did I know who was starring in it.

I managed to sit through 31 minutes into this ordeal before I just gave up out of sheer and utter boredom. The storyline never really kicked up into any gear that had any kind of appeal to it.

And furthermore, the movie is presented in an unfathomably horrible round frame presentation. And it was a major nuisance to watch that on the screen. And it was definitely a big part of why I just gave up on the movie. Why director Xiaogang Feng opted for this round frame presentation is something that just eludes me.

The acting in the movie was adequate from what I managed to witness throughout the 31 minutes I managed to sit through.

I have no intention of returning to watch the rest of "I Am Not Madame Bovary" (aka "Wo bu shi Pan Jin Lian") solely because of the boredom that it instilled in me and because of the annoying round frame presentation.

I Am Not Madame Bovary (Chinese: Wo Bu Shi Pan Jinlian) (2016) Director: Xiaogang Feng First Seen: 1/24/25 6/10 Stars

Wronged gal seeks revenge in circles and rectangles.

Tale that spans decades- side plots, excess characters, much too long and gimmicky!

An underdog tale told with charm, humor, panache, and a poignant end.

One versus corrupt regime, filmed amidst a lush China!

#Somonka #PoemReview

A traditional poem taking two stances in two stanzas. In fact, it's basically two tankas written as two love letters to each other (one tanka per love letter). This form usually demands two authors, but it is possible to have a poet take on two personas.

Cinematography is absolutely stunning in this, justly lengthy, portrayal of a woman's quest to gain justice for a wrong, multiplied several times, by uncaring bureaucracy. It is not until the end that we discover exactly why this woman is determined to revoke and repeat a divorce that everyone else insists is valid. She is cast as the indecent woman, a Madam Bovary, but she most definitely is not. She's not mad either, which is what you and all the other characters in the film are lead to believe. It takes patience to uncover the small piece of missing information that makes sense of all. Patience is richly rewarded in this thoughtful and closely observed film - almost to the extent of forensic examination through a microscope.

Possibly the most daring artistic attempt from Feng Xiaogang, the film tells the story of a peasant woman's petition from the countryside to Beijing because she felt that her divorce was unfair, and differentiate the local and central scenes with a round black and a square black frame respectively. The audience is separated from means of stage play, and the circle frame is wrapped by the square then, and they finally disappears. However, Zhang Yimou's classic "The Story of Qiu Ju" is in the forefront, and Liu Zhenyun's script and even Fan Bingbing's performance limit the result. The film matches Chinese mainstream and overly beautify the from-top-to-bottom bureaucratic culture.

This is a fun if somewhat lengthy satirical window (literally) into Chinese bureaucracy and one crazed woman's battle against it.

Full of fun characters and quirky scenes. Fan Bingbing is superb and unrecognisable as the loony but determined hero.

Worth the watch.