The film Gemma Bovery, to be shown by the Vernon Film Society Monday, is an imaginative recasting of French writer Gustave Flaubert’s classic 1856 novel Madame Bovary.
The original story focuses on a doctor’s wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life.
Set in the lush landscape of Normandy, the movie, Gemma Bovery, revolves around a young married Englishwoman (Gemma Arterton) who moves to a small French village with her husband (Jason Flemyng).
Another recent arrival is Martin Joubert (Fabrice Luchini), a baker who has fled Paris along with his long-suffering wife, in search of stability and equilibrium. While Martin quickly takes an interest in Gemma, it’s not long before her eye, too, starts to wander as a result of the inattention of her husband.
Gemma confronts a series of key choices in her life as she loses her head in a fit of passion.
Director Anne Fontaine, in a clever revision of the original story, portrays Gemma’s lover Joubert as a man completely unaware of the story of Madame Bovary. As a result, Fontaine has him make awkward interventions in an attempt to change the story.
Luchini is perfect as the wary lovelorn baker, while Arterton fits the role of her namesake to perfection.
“(Gemma Bovery is) a breezy post-modern update of the classic novel that replaces the book’s darker passages for tongue-in-cheek laughs and plenty of eye candy,” said Jordan Mintzer, with The Hollywood Reporter.
Gemma Bovery screens Monday at the Vernon Towne Cinema at the regular times of 5:15 and 7:45 p.m. Tickets are available one week ahead at the Towne and the Bean Scene for $7 (cash only). The film is in English and French with English subtitles.
