Isabelle Huppert seems perfectly cast as Emma Bovary in this film adaptation of "Madame Bovary," based on the classic French novel by Gustave Flaubert - despite her being some 15 years too old for the role.
Huppert is excellent as young Emma, gradually taking on a world-weary cynicism as she brushes up against 19th-century attitudes that age her beyond her years.Screenwriter/director Claude Chabrol has adapted the film quite literally, beginning with Emma's meeting Dr. Charles Bovary when he is called to her home by her ailing father.
A gentle, but dull country doctor who has been widowed some eight months, he is immediately taken with Emma, but, naturally, has no designs since he is sure she would not be interested. But Emma is interested, not because she fancies the good doctor - she wants something more than just marriage. She wants to escape her drab existence and sees him as a way out.
Unfortunately, Charles is such a dullard, so devoid of ambition on any level, that Emma's life with him begins to feel more stifling than was her life on the farm.
Initially she seems resigned to her fate, but her reserve soon shifts into quiet depression and it becomes apparent, even to Charles, that she is emotionally distressed and needs some distraction. He thinks he's found it when he takes her to a grand ball, but it proves to be a one-time event and only serves to whet her appetite for other possibilities.
Unable to find solace from the local, distracted priest, Emma soon succumbs to the advances of a womanizing cad, naively believing she will run off with him and make a new life. When he abandons her, she sinks into an even deeper depression than before.
Having a child doesn't help, pushing Charles to try new medical techniques doesn't help - and so it goes until her ultimate, unhappy fate.
Chabrol has an obvious affection for the material here, and he decorates the screen with grand period trappings and an assortment of interesting characters. Yet, there is an aloofness that keeps us from connecting with Emma emotionally. While we sympathize with the character's desperation, appreciate the filmmaking technique and marvel at Huppert's excellent performance, there's a distancing effect that is never quite overcome.
Still, on its own level, "Madame Bovary," rated PG-13 for sex and violence (the latter involving primitive medical attention), is well worth a look.