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GEMMA BOVERY Send This Review to a Friend
A delightfully funny and ultimately a comically macabre riff on Gustave Flaubert’s classic “Madame Bovary,” Anne Fontaine’s “Gemma Bovery” (note the Gemma instead of Emma and the “e” instead of the “a” in the spelling of the last name) is well-acted and beautifully photographed. The film, contemporary instead of 19th century, is based on a graphic novel by Posy Simmonds, with a screenplay by Pascal Bonitzer and Fontaine, and it is extremely clever, right down to the final twist.
At the core of the amusing story is the ever-wonderful French actor Fabrice Luchini playing Martin Joubert, who worked in publishing, is a Flaubert addict, but has become a village baker. The film unfolds from the perspective of Martin as narrator. When a gorgeous married English woman named Gemma Bovery moves to the Normandy village with her husband, Charlie (Jason Flemyng), a furniture restorer, Martin becomes obsessed with taking action to make certain she doesn’t suffer the tragic fate of her namesake. He insinuates himself into her life, becomes infatuated with her and jealously spies on her extra-marital activity. Martin’s long-repressed libido is tantalizingly stimulated.
British actress Gemma Arterton as Gemma is a sexy addition to the village and becomes a customer at Martin’s bakery. Gemma soon becomes bored with country life. The camera loves Gemma and she is a knockout whether dressed or undressed. There is one scene involving baking with a steamy sexual undertone as she and Martin are positioned close together, but as aroused as he may get, Gemma regards him solely as a friend. Martin, who is married to a bossy wife and has an offbeat son, is quite a lonely fellow, with his dog as a faithful companion. Luchini can do wonders with his facial expressions and demeanor.
There is some quite explicit sex depicted between Gemma and a lover, cavalier Hervé (Niels Schneider). Gemma’s marriage is falling apart, and although she becomes upset at the consequences, she is a woman who wants excitement in her life. When a former lover, Patrick (Mel Raido) shows up and insistently wants to resume relations, the situation becomes even more complicated, and Gemma has to learn what is most important to her.
The film builds to a comically lethal misunderstanding, with ultimate revelations as to what actually occured. Tacked on is a hilarious ending with a new misunderstanding at the expense of Martin, who is eager to embark on a fresh literary adventure.
The key to “Gemma Bovery” is that it isn’t merely an obvious take-off on the Flaubert work, but an incisively humorous portrait of a man with an obsession triggered by the arrival of the namesake heroine and his seeing her every move in the light of the novel with which he is smitten. The film isn’t basically about Gemma. It is primarily a comedy about Martin, his life and his compulsive actions, and that’s what makes the film so enjoyably witty and funny. A Music Box Films release. Reviewed May 29, 2014.
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