2015 MSPIFF OFFICIAL SELECTION
Desperate to escape the dullness of provincial life, a young married woman pursues forbidden fantasies through a series of indiscreet seductions and adulterous affairs. Based on the acclaimed novel that transformed the Romantic era, Madame Bovary stars Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre; Alice In Wonderland), Ezra Miller (Perks of Being a Wallflower), Rhys Ifans (Vanity Fair), Laura Carmichael (“Downton Abbey”), and Paul Giamatti (Romeo & Juliet)
"Sophie Barthes’ subdued take on 'Madame Bovary' reveals a sly intelligence at the helm." - Variety
"Breathes life into a classic story, with a delicate hand and a careful eye." - Empire
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
"The entire value of my novel, if it has any, will consist of walking straight ahead on a tight rope, balanced above the two abysses of lyricism and vulgarity."
"Everyone believes I’m fond of reality but I loathe it. It’s my deep hatred of realism that pushed me to write this novel. But I nonetheless hate the false idealism that fools us these days."
- Gustave Flaubert
Those few words by Gustave Flaubert wonderfully reflect his state of mind while writing Madame Bovary. It is precisely this state of mind, this tension between realism and romanticism, between vulgarity and poetry, that have fueled my desire to work on a film adaptation of Madame Bovary. I find this tension very accurate and in tune with the human experience. Flaubert's obsession with finding the "accurate word" is legendary, my obsession as a filmmaker will be to find the accurate tone. Our intention is to respect the spirit of the novel and remain faithful to the psychology of the characters while creating a modern film, which will, hopefully, appeal to a young audience and entice them to discover the book as well as bring a more mature audience to rediscover with pleasure Flaubert’s masterpiece.
Emma Bovary will always be an enigma, an intriguing and captivating character but as I mature, I understand her better. Soft, delicate, tender, generous, obsessive, Emma can also be aggressive, rebellious, combative, provocative, and relentless in her fight for her independence and the satisfaction of her wildest desires and appetites. She is a character with whom the reader develops and matures. But the novel remains eternally young.
From the first read, I was completely seduced by the script. It is a refreshing and audacious adaptation. It manages to take liberties from the novel but remains faithful to its spirit. It is this freedom that I found so enticing. To remain strictly faithful to such a masterpiece makes the challenge of a screen adaptation impossible. Time and action have been condensed to a year. A deliberate choice was made to focus on a very young Emma. She barely has time to experience adult age before falling into a series of mistakes, misjudgments, and a downfall into a self-destructive spiral. She is a naïve and vulnerable young woman, living in a world of projections and idealizations, devoured by her monstrous quest for pleasure. She is also isolated in a masculine world and surrounded by grotesque, conformist and narrow-minded male figures. Charles Bovary is the only man who really loves her but it is an unconditional, clumsy, sick love since it is a maternal rather than a conjugal love. And Emma’s understanding of this love comes too late when her destiny is already doomed.
With her flaws and weaknesses, Emma Bovary is a modern tragic heroine. She clings to an unreachable life ideal. She prefers death to the boredom of reality and the bourgeoisie pettiness. The intention of the film is to engage the audience in a moral dilemma. We might blame Emma for her mistakes, her whims, and her destructive desires but we should also feel compassion for her. Her contradictions make her a complex and vulnerable human being and we should all see ourselves in her as Flaubert did with his famous statement: "La Bovary c’est moi!". I would just add: "La Bovary, c’est nous!"