7/17/15

Gemma Bovery

This delightful offering to the 2015 Seattle International Film Festival was submitted by France (captions when appropriate). This review had limited distribution May 1, 2015. Directed by Anne Fontaine ("The Girl From Monaco") we see a fairly wealthy, semi-retired Parisian move his wife and son to a quiet country village in Normandy where he decides to become the local baker.

They live not too far from where Gustave Flaubert placed his tragic heroine Madame Bovary to play out her ill-fated romances.

When an English couple moves to the neighborhood, our hero is intrigued to learn that their last name is Bovery. His restless imagination quickly shifts into overdrive!

We watch:
  • Fabrice Luchini ("Intimate Strangers" and "The Girl From Monaco") is Martin, our gentleman baker. He keeps an eye on this couple because he can see that the wife is considerably younger than the husband. As Martin becomes jealous of her attractions for other men, he confides in his faithful dog!
  • Gemma Arterton ("Pirate Radio") is Gemma, whose light sprinkle of freckles on her nose makes her irresistible to men, young and old.
  • Jason Flemyng ("Snatch") is her husband Charlie, underemployed but very much in love with her.
  • Niels Schneider ("Atomic Age") is HervĂ© de Bressigny, her young, handsome neighbor.
  • Mel Raido (Lots of TV) is Patrick, a famous fellow who shares a history with our heroine.
The camera loves Luchini's face and we laugh as we watch his fixation grow. There are many side notes: arsenic, a Sevres porcelain sculpture, Gemma's curiosity about various French breads, the rain, etc., etc., etc.... But his son gets the last laugh.

We giggled when we shouldn't have, then exited to the bus stop eager to discuss our favorite parts.
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English captions when appropriate
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1011069209
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