Directed by Anne Fontaine • Drama • With Fabrice Luchini, Gemma Arterton, Jason Flemyng • 2015 • 99 minutes
In this vibrant seriocomic re-imagining of Flaubert’s literary classic Madame Bovary, life imitates art in uncanny ways when earthy British beauty Gemma Bovery (Gemma Arterton) and her furniture restorer husband Charles (Jason Flemyng) move to a charming ramshackle old farmhouse in the very same Norman village where the novel was written a century earlier. Their welcoming neighbor, local baker and Flaubert expert Martin Joubert (Fabrice Luchini), becomes entranced with Gemma and sets out to be her guide and mentor to her new surroundings. It doesn’t take long before he is drawing parallels between the literary and real life woman, while he insinuates himself into her life. As reality sets in on the fantasy of rural French domesticity, the Boverys’ marriage begins to fray and Gemma finds herself at loose ends. She soon catches the eye of a handsome young playboy and when her magnetic ex suddenly reappears, she finds herself at a crossroads and seems to be fulfilling Joubert’s worst fears that her destiny is linked to that of Flaubert’s doomed heroine. Director Anne Fontaine’s (Coco Before Chanel) clever adaptation of Posy Simmonds’ graphic novel Gemma Bovery is at once a cheeky literary mash-up, a sensuous romance, a witty feminist commentary and a heady celebration of French provincial life.
Up Next in Valentine's Day
-
The Story of a Summer Lover
Directed by Paul Negoescu • Drama • With Alexandru Papadopol, Radu Romaniuc, Nicoleta Lefter • 2018 • 100 minutes
A coming-of-middle age romantic comedy. Carefree college professor Petru (Alexandru Papadopol) is a 42-year-old man-child, in an open relationship with Irina (Nicoleta Lefter)....unt...
-
The Dish & the Spoon (Allison Bagnall...
Directed by Alison Bagnall • Drama • With Greta Gerwig, Olly Alexander • 2011 • 92 minutes
This quirky romantic comedy follows Rose (Greta Gerwig), whose life changes after discovering her husband’s affair. Devastated and reeling, she soon crosses paths with a marooned British teenager (Olly Ale...
-
School for Love (w/ Brigitte Bardot)
Directed by Marc Allégret • Drama • With Jean Marais, Brigitte Bardot, Isabelle Pia, Yves Robert • 1955 • 96 minutes
Brigitte Bardot was only 20 when she starred in this adaptation of a 1920 Vicki Baum novel. She’s Sophie, one of a platoon of young music conservatory students in postwar Vienna, ...
