IMDb >
Madame Bovary (1991)
Watch It
Buy it at Amazon
Rent it at Blockbuster.com
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
BETA
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotesOverview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv scheduleAwards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage boardPlot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotesFun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQOther Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDeskPromotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo galleryExternal Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clipsMadame Bovary (1991) More at IMDbPro »
| Photos (see all 17 | slideshow) | Videos |
Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
25 December 1991 (USA)
more
Plot:
In nineteenth-century France, the romantic daughter of a country squire (Emma Rouault) marries a dull country doctor (Charles Bovary)...
more
| add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar.
Another 1 win
&
2 nominations
more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Robert Pattinson is warmed-over turkey in 'Remember Me' (IrishCentral)
(From IrishCentral. 29 November 2009, 5:39 AM, PST)
Kate Winslet Looks to Conquer Miniseries with Mildred Pierce
(From Collider.com. 14 August 2009, 11:17 AM, PDT)
(From IrishCentral. 29 November 2009, 5:39 AM, PST)
Kate Winslet Looks to Conquer Miniseries with Mildred Pierce
(From Collider.com. 14 August 2009, 11:17 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Probably the worst collaboration between Chabrol and Huppert...
more (10 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Isabelle Huppert | ... | Emma Bovary | |
| Jean-François Balmer | ... | Le docteur Charles Bovary | |
| Christophe Malavoy | ... | Rodolphe Boulanger | |
| Jean Yanne | ... | M. Homais - le pharmacien | |
| Lucas Belvaux | ... | Leon Dupuis | |
| Christiane Minazzoli | ... | La veuve Lefançois | |
| Jean-Louis Maury | ... | Merchant Lheureux | |
| Florent Gibassier | ... | Hippolyte | |
| Jean-Claude Bouillaud | ... | Le père Rouault - un paysan - le père d'Emma | |
| Sabeline Campo | ... | Felicité | |
| Yves Verhoeven | ... | Justin | |
| Marie Mergey | ... | La mère Bovary - la mère de Charles | |
| François Maistre | ... | Lieuvain - le conseiller de la préfecture | |
| Thomas Chabrol | ... | Le vicomte | |
| Phillippe Abitol |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
143 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Australia:PG |
Finland:K-13 |
Argentina:13 |
Chile:14 |
Spain:13 |
Sweden:11 |
UK:PG |
USA:PG-13 |
Germany:12
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
In its original French version, one of the masculine voices overheard by Emma during the great Bail sequence is director Claude Chabrol's voice saying: "Mais qu'il en soit fait selon votre desir, ma chere... Lucien!".
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Pourquoi (pas) le Brésil (2004)
more
Soundtrack:
Les voix du printemps opus 410
more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (10 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Madame Bovary (1991)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Arsenic Poisoning? | ellen_sar |
| Rodolphe or Leon had really loved Bovary? | malta54 |
| It is pointless to make this novel into a film | phil_manic |
Recommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
Show more recommendations
|
|
|
|
|
| Madame Bovary | 8½ | Die Blechtrommel | Gone with the Wind | Cristo si è fermato a Eboli |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Drama section | IMDb France section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |



This movie was really deceptive to me. First, I wanted to watch it as I know that Isabelle Huppert and Claude Chabrol have amazing talents. After watching it, I thought that they both failed. I explain myself : Huppert is too pragmatic and cold to play this role. It seems like she plays every single scene as if she knew what kind of effect she will have on the people around. It's quite borrying. Emma Bovary is not Nana (from Zola's novel), she is someone who is not so interested in success, she is far more interested by passions. She is a woman living in dreams and thinking than life can be passionate as novels. I read the novel just a week before and I think that Flaubert describes well the fact that Emma Bovary is only interested in herself, in her feelings and in a "romanesque" conception of love. Huppert is far too pragmatic and not really romantic. Some scenes look "grotesque" as the one when after dancing with the Baron, she almost faints. It looks like Huppert uses a trick, which makes the scene look false. Moreover, she was probably too old to play the part of Emma Bovary (in the novel, Emma Bovary is twenty or thirty, surely not forty years old). Huppert got the part when she was almost forty and she looks too self-assured to play it well. For example, when she says to Rodolphe that she could have given her life for him, she bugles like mad woman though Emma is a passionate and really weak person. By never showing her weakness, Huppert don't find the good way to play this character.An actress like Anne Brochet or, Irène Jacob would have suited for the part perfectly (these two actresses look young enough). Isabelle Adjani would have probably been too passionate and not enough dreamy to play that part. Jeanne Balibar would have been great too. The other problem is in the way the movie is directed. The beginning of the story is all summed-up by Chabrol who doesn't show the fact that Emma Bovary and her husband Charles are far far different. The voice-over is not a great idea to explain that situation... and the fact that these scenes are so short make probably the actors play their part in a kind of caricature of themselves (which is the main problem of Huppert's interpretation). I think that Huppert and Chabrol were probably too confident to make that movie and that's probably why it can be so deceptive. The cinematography is not so intense and it looks like a movie made for TV. It could have been a quite good adaptation for a movie made for TV and released on a week evening but it's really not enough for a Cinema movie, made by two masters of Cinema.