Review: Wisconsin Film Festival
Gemma Bovary | Anne Fontaine | France | 2014 | 99 min
Wisconsin Film Festival, Sundance Cinemas, Friday, April 10, 8:00pm»
Wisconsin Film Festival, Sundance Cinemas, Wednesday, April 15, 6:00pm»
French comedies have been somewhat of a rarity at the Wisconsin Film Festival (OSS 177: Cairo, Nest of Spies, WFF 2008, Potiche, WFF 2011). Writer/director Anne Fontaine’s Gemma Bovery will introduce some festival patrons to the most understated French comedy in recent memory. Adapted from the graphic novel by Posy Simmonds, the crux of the film is centered around Flaubert’s classic, Madam Bovary, which is not heralded for its comic timbre. Fontaine manages to weave a comedy and cautionary tale into one that pays homage to the source material with a few surprises. If you are looking for a French comedy with some heart (The Intouchables, L’Auberge Espagnole), this film falls short of expectations. While lighthearted in some areas, it may be too understated to really carry the weight of it’s own premise.
Martin Joubert (Fabrice Luchini) returned to Normandy seven years ago to work in his father’s bakery after living the life of an academic in Paris for more than a decade. Even though he says that he seeks a life of “peace and balance” in the idyllic French countryside, his actions and behavior indicate otherwise. Monsieur Joubert has not only mastered the art of baking (anyone watching this film who has visited Paris will be craving a baguette) but he is absolutely obsessed with Madame Bovary. You can imagine his excitement when an English couple moves in next door who bear her namesake. He sees it as a sign and an opportunity to add some spice to his steady French country life.
Gemma Bovery (Gemma Atherton) is stunningly beautiful and Martin is clearly smitten by her immediately. One of my favorite things about Luchini’s performance is how he can communicate more with a look than some actors can with an entire monologue. He’s magnificent here, even though I found it hard to be sympathetic to his meddlesome character. He looks at her longingly and with alarm at the same time as he believes she will meet the same fate as the tragic Emma Bovary.
Maybe Martin is not completely off track as Gemma does portray a certain ennui after leaving the fast paced city of London to come to Normandy. She is not bored for long, however, as she strikes up a dalliance with a young law student, Hèrve (Nils Schneider) who is much closer to her age than the intrusive Joubert. The plot thickens when Patrick, another lover from her past, comes into play as the fractures in her marriage are starting to reveal themselves.
Joubert, naturally has Madame Bovary memorized and is convinced that Gemma and her peers are surely making the same mistakes the characters make in the novel. He really believes himself to be Gemma’s protector as he continues to enmesh himself further into her life and the lives of those surrounding her. Luchini’s portrayal of Joubert gives the film the humor it so desperately needs, although in such a benign way.
It is interesting to watch the bourgeoise class find things to worry about in this little French hamlet where few things actually happen. Gemma even alludes to this after she begins to read Madame Bovary and notes that it is interesting even though nothing has happened. In one scene Hèrve’s mother confronts him about a priceless, Sèrves porcelain figurine that is missing. She tells him that is all she really misses in the house, which is an opulent, sprawling mansion filled with beautiful antiques and objet d’art. Such a minor inconvenience, yet in that moment, it’s the most important thing in the world to her.
Later she goes to speak with Gemma’s husband, Charles (Jason Flemyng) about the figurine not knowing that doing so will further upset Gemma’s world. Charles is confused and is not aware of any figurine. She looks at him with suspicion as he works at his rundown farmhouse. You can feel the disdain she has for this man who she all but accuses of stealing the piece. I love the way class is addressed in the film without walloping the audience over the head with social commentary about the bourgeoise vs. the proletariat. It is this type of subtlety that make the film enjoyable but at the same time, lacking a bit more substance.
I struggled with how to make some sense of Joubert’s character. Clearly, he is attracted to Gemma but never makes advances toward her. One could even argue he is simply bored in this town and wanted to create a little excitement in his life albeit at the expense of other people. Just like Gemma, he has left a major metropolitan city and needs to entertain himself. The peace and balance simply is not cutting it for him. While life can and does imitate art, Joubert’s motivation could be several fold, although perhaps he has not learned to honestly evaluate those motivations himself. Despite not nailing down the motivations of Joubert, the most memorable scenes from the film are the ones where Luchini and Atherton are on screen together. Joubert’s devious meddling and wide-eyed innocent looks keep the film buoyant.
Familiarity with Madame Bovary is by no means required and might even be a hindrance as some details are quite surprising in relation to the original. With a running time of 99 minutes, it keeps the audience engaged with a crisp pace. This is fortunate because the premise does begin to wear thin in the third act. Luchini is a delight but viewers might appreciate him in far better fare such as Molière and In the House. While the more lighthearted aspects of the film provide a little humor, Fontaine falls short of her previous efforts. If films like Coco Before Chanel and Adore are Fontaine’s meat and potatoes, Gemma Bovery is the empty calories you thought you wanted but really didn’t need afterwards. By the end of the film, however, you will want to swing by Chez Nanou or your nearest French boulangerie and grab yourself a croissant!