A modern-day sexy reworking of the classic novel Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert. Gemma Arterton is widely celebrated for her portrayal of the title character, who moves from England to a provincial French town with her husband Charles. Her neighbour, local baker and literature buff, Martin, is transfixed with Gemma, and the similarities in the couple's names to those in his favourite novel. As life does indeed start to imitate art, with Gemma embarking on several affairs with younger men in the village, Martin watches with a mixture of despair at what he considers to be her uncertain fate – as in the novel Madame Bovary commits suicide – and fascination, even helping her along the way at times.
"In her marvellous revisionist version of iconic literature, director Anne Fontaine creates a soft, gauzy aura of sensuality that makes the film look not so much photographed as buttered. Filmed in English and French, the movie manages to mix dreamlike rapture with flashes of delicious, surprising humour. The actors are first rate, especially Gemma Arterton, who manages to be charming, sensuous and contemporary at the same time, her throbbing sexuality leavened by a sweetness as English as a David Austin rose." Rex Reed, Observer.
“Fontaine's movies tend to be about love and its dangers, the darker side of passion. And that's what we get in "Gemma Bovery," an entertaining and disturbing variation on Flaubert's "Madame Bovary." Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Gate.
Gemma Bovery