Gemma Bovery

Like Chabrol,who reportedly "made the movie Flaubert would" ,it was filmed on location in the green landscapes of Normandie and even in the cathedral of Rouen .Like my good friend Writers Reign aka Leon points out in his insightful review,women directors make more and more their presence felt in the French cinema;to think that in the early fifties,there was only ONE female artist frequently making movies ;no it was not Agnès Varda,it was Jacqueline Audry ,Ida Lupino's contemporary colleague.Unlike her male colleagues,Mrs Fontaine did not do the umpteenth version of the famous novel;nor did she try to transpose the action to our times as Vadim and others did (with mediocre results) with Choderlos De Laclos's "Les Liaisons Dangereuses".

Anne Fontaine's take on "Madame Bovary" is a very palatable work ,as delectable as Lucchini's bread ;however to be fully appreciated ,it 's better to read the novel first.The movie anyways begins with Lucchini's voice-over ,reading the episode of the ball,the turning point of the novel.

When you like a book ,you often think of your own movie ,and sometimes,its adaptations,be they made by Renoir or Minnelli may,in several respects,disappoint you.That's Anne Fontaine's master stroke:what we dream of,Fabrice Lucchini ,ex-"Bobo" ("Bourgeois Boheme") makes it come true:he begins to "direct " his "Bovary",before being overtaken by events ("that was the end of my sexual peace" ).

Today in Normandy ,people go to the villages of Tôtes and Yerville (the movie was actually shot in Lyons La Forêt) just to see the place where SHE lived ,just like people visit Juliet's house in Verona .In spite of the names ,the real life characters are very distant relatives of those of Flaubert:the Young student is not really Rodolphe Boulanger who was a mature selfish buck (best Rodolphe: Louis Jourdan in Minnelli's version) ;just as Charles Bovery is not the lump country doctor.But why is the hero a baker by the way? a nod to Rodolphe Boulanger (=baker)?or because it introduces an "erotic" way to knead dough?Or perhaps because of the French expression "Pour Une Bouchée De Pain" (= for next to nothing)which makes sense,considering the outcome.

Lucchini's baker is still twenty in his head and as time is passing him by,attempts to mythologize a banal love affair through the creation of a story-like world of bygone days ;he's ready for another one when the movie ends .

Anne Fontaine has made one of the most interesting French movies of 2014;Fabrice Lucchini,cast against type,is perhaps not very credible as a baker ,but he sure is as an intellectual dreamer;Mrs Gemma Aterton is a feast for the eyes ;Jason Fleming and Niels Schneider give restrained but effective performances;Isabelle Candelier is to be praised for making the best of an unrewarding part;it's pleasant to see again Edith Scob (Georges Franju's "Les Yeux Sans Visage") in the part of a bourgeois whose only reason to live seems to be a statuette.On the other hand,Elsa Zylberstein is intrusive ,exasperating,the typical smug actress.

It's a mouthwatering effort (in every sense of the word).Never since "Babette's feast" ,did I savor such a display of good food.

Ah, the English-French culture clash! Loved the sad-faced neighbour and his forever critical wife. And their dog Gus. And then the local Englishman who loves France for its cheese and wine (only?). And his gushy French wife. And the local Adonis' mother. These are all truly memorable comic characters. They are more interesting than the central couple, the Boverys. They make it well worth watching. The odd well-chosen Anglo-Saxon word or phrase (sometimes in French!) puts everyone in their place, including poor Gus! Nice soundtrack too.

'Gemma Bovery' is a clever re-working of 'Madame Bovary', Flaubert's 19th century literary masterpiece about the amorous adventures of a provincial doctor's wife. This contemporary version begins with a bookish baker observing the arrival of a London couple in his Normandy town. He immediately becomes obsessed with the lovely Gemma, and starts seeing parallels to his favorite novel after he catches sight of her flirting with an aristocratic law student outside his shop. When the doughy merchant deduces the affairs of 'la belle Anglaise' are spiraling towards disaster, he attempts to save her from the sad fate of the fictional heroine, but his interference only increases the complications of her love life.

Director Anne Fontaine's film is nicely balanced between comedy and drama, tending towards the latter, although the end product is closer to a fluffy confection than a heavyweight main course. Gemma Arterton's piquant performance in the lead role holds the film together, as her straying spouse remains a sympathetic character despite the infidelities. Their work is complemented by the entire cast - especially Fabrice Luchini who turns in a satisfyingly starchy portrayal of the busybody bread-maker - along with some luscious cinematography of the fertile French countryside and the mouth-watering Ms Arterton.

Negative: Forced to sit through five trailer adverts for other movies. Positives: Note the spelling difference in the name. Lots of British type humor bordering between a little shocking and funny. So what happens when a British couple end up living in the France of Flaubert and by coincidence they share many of the same attributes as well as a similarity in name to that famous novel? Add a next-door baker as a storyteller who is also infatuated with the mystique of women from those period novels. "Gemma Bovery" offers a contemporary interpretation that I found more interesting than other recent adaptations of the story especially with regards to manipulating men. "Wants everything from love and is always disappointed." When life doesn't match her fantasy one wonders if she would have changed or would she have eventually recidivated? Great endings as her men lead to her humorously ironic downfall and finally the introduction of a famously storied Russian woman.

Surprising song (an odd fit) shows up in the movie and in the credits - "Jimmy" with no identifiable credit. Anyway, from a mongrel American/European blues/folk/rock team, "Moriarty".

Didn't see that coming. I haven't expected it to be that much good. I thought that it would be boring. But not at all. And ending is interesting.