Stylish, contemporary adaptations of classic novels are coming through at a constant rate – with Far From The Madding Crowd also in cinemas – presumably because studios are banking that fans of the books will come out and enjoy reliving the story, or seeing it taken in a new direction.
But in watching Sophie Barthes’ adaptation of Madame Bovary – based on the widely lauded, intricate work of literary realism by Gustave Flaubert; a book that revels in the details, relating Emma Bovary’s disappointing marriage and her subsequent affairs – you have to wonder why she went there at all.
The film is obvious with its characterisation, bordering on hammy, and a strong, versatile performance from Mia Wasikowska can’t save it from feeling melodramatic pretty much the whole way through. She marries the simple, unambitious Charles Bovary, and is quickly disappointed with the quiet country life in rural France (where people speak English, with English/French/American accents). But the unsympathetic, almost brash way she sets out on her quest for love and satisfaction, for what’s out there, for Paris, borders on the excruciating. We actually end up emoting more with her confused lovers, including the Marquis, elegantly played by Logan Marshall-Green (Trey from The O.C.!), and Leon Dupuis (Ezra Miller), who mainly looks surprised that he is wearing frilly costumes, or that his character has no depth.
I’m no purist, and I can understand the wish to avoid a Flaubertian style of filmmaking, which might have involved a lot of close camera work, cutaways to clothes, roads, objects, et cetera, and could have been too gradual or too slow. But the choice to dispense with subtlety altogether, or to not offer any ambiguity of intention in the characters’ actions, in a story that’s strengths are basically those two things, is really baffling.
Anyone coming to see an interesting film about an interesting book, or even an enjoyer of classic romances, will probably be disappointed. Which really begs the question, why did they make it? A coffee and some Flaubert might be the go instead.
1.5/5 stars
Madame Bovary opens in cinemas on Thursday July 9.
