Customer Reviews

Madame Bovary (1991) [VHS]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Madame Bovary" is one of those rare films that only gets better with age; with each viewing, one notices new elements to appreciate. Vincente Minelli crafted a perfectly literate interpretation of Gustave Flaubert's famed novel. The following is a breakdown of the unifying elements which make "Madame Bovary" so spectacular:
DIRECTION: Minelli's keen eye for composing unforgettable scenes is perfectly realized with "Madame Bovary". The ballroom sequence, with its dizzying 360 degree camera angles, is an exasperating metaphor of Emma Bovary's existence and serves as a symbolic foreshadowing of what is to become of her. C'est magnifique!
SCREENPLAY:Robert Ardrey's screenplay is deftly paced and packed full of poignant dialogue.
CINEMATOGRAPHY: As mentioned earlier, the ballroom sequence is amazing-perhaps the most intricate and inspired of its kind in cinematic history. Robert Planck's moody black & white photography make it all possible. Planck captures Emma at the height of all her fantasies--gazing upward at her reflection, being adored and adulated by throngs of male suitors, in an ornate mirror hanging on the ceiling--brilliant composition!!!
ART & SET DIRECTION: All of the Rococco and Baroque grandeur of 1850s France is expertly represented in "Madame Bovary".
COSTUME DESIGN: Costume designer, Walter Plunkett, also known for his Academy Award winning work in "Gone With the Wind", created costumes for Jennifer Jones which rival his masterpieces for Vivien Leigh. Plunkett complimented Jones saying, "She has exquisite shoulders like Vivien Leigh", and further complimented her in the film by designing a show-stopping ball gown that emphasized her "exquisite shoulders", to say the least. Yards and yards of white toulle give the impression of Jennifer Jones, with her perfect posture and elegant carriage, gliding and floating across the ballroom like a cloud.
MUSICAL SCORE: Most film historians agree that the score for "Madame Bovary" is one of Miklos Rosza's greatest. "The Madame Bovary Waltz" is haunting, energetic, restless-completely representative of Emma Bovary.
PERFORMANCES:Jennifer Jones delivers a superb, emotive performance as Emma Bovary-moments of hysterical melodrama are balanced with poignantly relevant "underacting", such as the unforgettable scene when Emma returns home to her furious husband, Charles after having ingested arsenic. Jones perfectly conveys the gravity of what Emma has done to herself and to the people in her life. She kisses her estranged daughter for the last time. She responds to Charles' accusations, simply, "Don't hate me now, Charles." This is what "character acting" is all about!! Jennifer Jones is in tune with Emma Bovary, from her self-destructive, neurotic drive towards melodrama to her sad, painful death. For her stunning achievement, Jones was awarded the French equivalent of the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film Actress in 1949. Who better to judge one of the greatest French literary heroines than the French themselves?
The Actors: Van Heflin is totally believable as Charles Bovary. Louis Jourdan is perfect as Rodolphe, and makes a beautiful match to Jennifer Jones. James Mason is thoughtful and earnest as the great author, Gustave Flaubert, who also serves as the narrator.
CONCLUSION: "Madame Bovary" is a remarkable achievement in filmmaking. Its longevity has been established, due in part to the cohesive elements listed above. Take note to all of these elements when you watch the film-it will be a much more illuminating and satisfying experience.

Incredible cinematography that conveys and reflects a part that all of us posses or at the very least dream about. It is portrayed to such an extent that we feel exactly like the main character, however shameful she may be. Filmed in 1949, it is suprising that such a novel was able to be made into a movie at a time of strict censorship without destroying and conveying even more the message the author intended for the reader. Jenifer Jones portrays the main role disturbingly beatiful and relatable to the veiwers in such a way that we feel exactly how or what she feels, suffers, and deludes herself as. When I first veiwed it 12 years ago, it affercted me so much so that I had to veiw the movie, or at least certain scenes almost everyday such as the part when she meets Louie Jordan in her husbands office.The reaction on her face to the meeting is so impressive that you know exactly what she is thinking even as she remains silent.The Vaubyessard ball is a spectacular one s! hot sequence that summarizes the whole book in that one scean. Without even having read the book you get a very clear picture of what the story conveys and intends even if the movie does not at times chime in with the sequence of events in the book. A five star rating for the movie and Miss Jones for an incredibly relatable portrayal. A must read and must see movie for those who may want to see a part of themselves that does exist in all of us. END

If you have read the great Flaubert novel and are expecting a film to equal it in its grandeur, then you may be disappointed. However, if you can settle for a beautifully filmed Hollywoodized adaption of the novel, then this is it. First of all, the cinematography and the sets are excellent. You can tell that they are sets but they are very well done. The acting, especially Jennifer Jones in the title role, is outstanding. Supporting cast is fine also with the always memorable Gladys Cooper and the incredibly handsome Louis Jourdan especially stand out. And look for Ellen Corby (Grandma Walton) as the maid. Two scenes are highly notable - the ball sequence is spectacular and the scene where Emma awaits Rodolphe on the deserted windswept streets in the middle of the night is beautifully done. Overall, a stunning acheivement by director Vincente Minnelli.

Minnelli directed this with his usual tact and talent, though it remains not one of his best works. The stellar cast, however, is excellent, dominating it is Jennifer Jones, beautiful as she can be, and in a paranoic role that suits her well. The sets, costumes, dancing scenes, etc. are shot in Minnelli's typical style. The thing is that a literary classic as this story is is quite impossible to translate into cinema. Hitchcock never dared (he knew better), and explained to Truffaut why these experiments were doomed to fail.

A story like "Madame Bovary" belongs in the books, it's a marriage of language and the imagination. But if somebody had to do it no one better suited than Minnelli.

Madame Bovary is a difficut piece to translate to film. It is very easy for the heroine to become either dislikable: either willfull (the PBS version with Francesca Annis) or peevish (the Isabelle Hubert french version).

What Minnelli so masterfully and ironically captures here is the "dream machine" that drives Madame Bovary (and society) to be dissatisfied with their daily lives, to want and need more and therefore to be perpetually unhappy with what they have. Of course, Minnelli was part of that machine for Hollywood, which is the irony. Here he uses the period-correct analogy of romance novels and magazine ads (and to a lesser extent operas and plays) as vehicles that feed and drive Bovary's dissonance with her reality. (James Mason as Flaubert, too!)

The irony that Flaubert was faulted for denegrating the french woman is fully captured here as well. This version still doesn't get to a real meaty statement of realization that men were not considered immorral or corrupt it they have affairs and forget about their children; but women were. Personally, I think that may have been one of Flaubert's real points - this same behavior would have been tolerated and venerated in a male.

Where this production succeeds so brilinatly over the others I mentioned is in the writing and performance of Emma. She is clearly delineated as being a victim of the commercials of her time - the ultimate consumer, and therefore very identifiable. Jone's own personal charm also factors in here. Her fresh innocence and desire to be liked and to entertain come through the role and make her sweeter. Annis is often a bit self satisfied and Hubbert ice cold, making their Emmas less likable, although perfectly valid and well performed roles, just the difference that writing, production and acting bring to the role.

Minnelli liked women and identified with foibles. He gives a very nice slant to Dr. Bovary, too. (Gives him a little more self knowledge and honor than Flaubert did, which also colors the relationship and the film.) Louis Jordan as her dream man is also colored very nicely here, as being sincerely in love with her and very conflicted. Something he does very well, and this all creates a marvelously satisfying production and package. When you add the great score, you have a very fine film indeed.

Emma Bovary, married to a stolid, unromantic doctor longs for a life both more passionate and upper class than her own. In a desperate search for love and satisfaction, she throws herself into torrid love affairs, and puts herself in dire financial straits by living extravagantly. When Emma realizes she will never achieve the exciting lifestyle she so desperately wants, her actions become more extreme, leading to her downfall...

At the time of its release, Bosley Crowther of the New York Times had this to say about it:
If such a thing were needed in this candid day and age as a moral defense of "Madame Bovary," the classic novel of Gustave Flaubert, then Metro's handsome film version, which came to the Capitol yesterday, would be precisely the item to turn this unlikely trick. For not only is this picture a faithful transcription of the tale of the misguided nineteenth-century housewife who rushed down the primrose path to ruin, but Metro has actually put it in the form of an open defense.

With James Mason playing the author on trial, at the start of the film, for writing this "infamous" novel--as, indeed, Flaubert actually was--the studio has had Mr. Mason speak a virtual preface to the work and offer occasional commentaries as an off-screen voice as the story unreels. Thus it has made it specific that Emma Bovary's tragic career was not the result of willful sinning by a selfish and licentious dame but was the consequence of her environment, her upbringing and her childish dreams. "We had taught her to believe in Cinderella," Mr. Mason's voice tenderly remarks.

And this understanding of the lady is beautifully and tenderly put forth in the patient unfolding of the story which a cohort of talents has contrived. Emma, throughout the picture--throughout her unhappy life--is the victim of her hopeless illusions, the silt of a romantic age. Not in her poor but loving husband does she find the man of her dreams, not in her dazzling, high-born lover nor in the pitiful law clerk with whom she absorbs. Nothing remains for her ambition. The end is ruin and despair, shame and desolation, arsenic and death. It is all very sad and depressing, but that, says Mr. Mason, is life.

Well, at least, it is grist and fodder to Metro's fine-grinding mill, and the best that one could ask for has been made from this tragic tale. Robert Ardrey has put it together into a literate and playable script and Vincente Minelli has kept it moving with a smooth and refined directoral touch. The high point of his achievement, indeed, is a ballroom scene which spins in a whirl of rapture and crashes in a shatter of shame. In this one sequence, the director has fully visualized his theme.

Perhaps a better performance of Emma Bovary could be wished than the generally beaming and breathless (or else frowning) one which Jennifer Jones gives. Miss Jones, though perfectly constructed for the wearing of clothes and aureoles, is a little bit light for supporting the anguish of this classic dame. But Louis Jourdan is electric as her elegant lover, Rodolphe, and Van Heflin is quietly appealing as her trusting, small-town spouse. A nicely dimensioned portrait of the weakling lover is given by Christopher Kent, and Frank Allenby is brilliantly malefic as the usurous merchant, Lhereux. Gene Lockhart, Gladys Cooper and Henry Morgan are good in minor roles. And, to be sure, Mr. Mason does well by Flaubert and the defense.

But, of course, the ultimate question is simply whether a defense of "Madame Bovary" is timely, after all these wicked years. And from that we reach the question of whether Emma is timely herself. Many ladies much like her have been seen on the screen for many years. She looks pretty in this picture, but she also looks slightly déclassé.

An extremely well-written and well-presented movie. James Mason's role as the author, in the court scene, is very impressive, bringing out underlying social issues and women's issues. The beauty of Jennifer Jones stands out,and the charm of Louis Jourdan is remarkable. Both their acting skills are phenomenal. Van Heflin brings on the essence of his part of the betrayed and destroyed, but dutiful husband and father. This is one of the best `old' movies from 1949.

The three leads in Vincente Minnelli's MADAME BOVARY (1949) do an exemplary job. Kudos especially to Jennifer Jones for her skilled portrayal of a woman with absolutely NO redeeming qualities.

The story opens with author Gustave Flaubert on trial for obscenity because of the stir his first (and best) novel has caused. (Although James Mason as the writer provides occasional voiceovers, he's really not a "lead" in the classic sense.)

"Madame Bovary" is set in the Normandy region of France. Young doctor Charles Bovary (Van Heflin) meets Emma Rouault while visiting her father's farm to set the owner's broken leg. He's charmed by the girl and keeps returning to supposedly check on his patient. They are eventually married.

Dreamer Emma immediately talks of redecorating the struggling physician's home. She spends money that neither of them have by clandestinely signing IOUs with the sly merchant Monsieur Lheureux (Frank Allenby), who promises to keep her debts a secret (Lheureux does so only for as long as it suits him).

With their home now refurbished, Emma needs a new project. She tells Charles that she wants to have a son. Some months later a baby girl is born. A disappointed Emma neglects the infant from the outset and Berthe is raised by a wet nurse. Ennui deepens into apathy. A dolled-up Mrs. Bovary ignores her husband at a fancy party; he gets drunk and embarrasses her. She has affairs with law clerk Léon Dupuis (Alf Kjellin) and aristocratic Rodolphe Boulanger (Louis Jourdan) that Charles chooses to ignore.

Love for Boulanger is so intense that Emma persuades him to flee with her to Italy. When he learns of her plans to leave, Lheureux is concerned for what's owed him. Threatening to seek repayment from Charles, Lheureux still abets Emma's scheme by waiting outside his office at night with her for Boulanger's carriage to arrive. Then, they catch sight of it...

Other cast members include Gene Lockhart (J. Homais), Gladys Cooper (Madame Dupuis), Harry Morgan (Hyppolite), George Zucco (Dubocage) and Ellen Corby (Félicité).

If anyone values the importance of presentation, it has to be Jennifer Jones. In the beginning of the movie, we see her behind the scenes just barely, dressed like a shabby servant. She runs upstairs after the doctor arrives, only to appear later in a Walter Plunkett masterpiece, preparing breakfast for the young doctor (Van Heflin). What a cinderella makeover....in less than five minutes. And when she arrives at the ball and removes her shawl, she immediatelly puts all the ladies in the ballroom to shame with her extraordiary beauty and gown. My breath was taken away in almost every scene with every outfit. And all this does not detract from her fantastic acting performance of the highly neurotic Emma Bovary. She really deserved an Oscar for her acting in this amazing movie. I am so glad she filmed this movie and gave what I think was a glowing incandescent performance. In fact, everyone connected with the film was great. Don't miss this one. Also, notice the magnificent sound track by Miklos Rozsa. It has to be one of his best.

I had heard of "Madame Bovary," and even seen clips from it, but I was blown away by seeing the entire film. Jennifer Jones brings such depth to Flaubert's restless character, it's the hallmark of what defines an "actress." (I read somewhere that Lana Turner was slated to play the part, one can only imagine her one dimension ability in this.) The entire cast is wonderful, Van Heflin as her long suffering husband, Louis Jordan as her would be lover & Christopher Kent as the man she thinks can bail her out of her financial difficulties. Emma Bovary is a restless young girl, whose visions of love & marriage have been stoked by romantic novels & pretty pictures. She marries and finds out all is not as she thought it would be & therein lies the tale of deceit, contempt & ultimate tragedy. Also in the cast, long before they were TV icons, are Harry Morgan of M*A*S*H, as a dimwitted clubfoot & Ellen Corby of The Waltons, as the Bovary's maid. The celebrated ballroom scene is a marvel, considering the film was released in 1949. Director Vincente Minnelli once again amazes us with his fabulous direction.