Gemma Bovery (film)

Plot

Martin (Fabrice Luchini), an ex-Parisian with a deep appreciation for Gustave Flaubert, has settled in a village in Normandy as a baker. He sees a British couple moving into an old property across the road. Their names, Gemma (Gemma Arterton) and Charles Bovery (Jason Flemyng), echo those of the leading characters in Flaubert's 1856 masterpiece Madame Bovary. Martin engages with the young couple and observes Gemma's behaviour replicates that of her namesake, including a series of romantic and sexual liaisons that suggest she is headed for a tragic finale like that of the novel. He intervenes but cannot alter the inevitable conclusion.

Cast

Pre-production

Anne Fontaine confirmed in early 2013 that she would direct the film with Philippe Carcassonne and Faye Ward producing it.

Filming

Principal photography took place in the summer and autumn of 2013 in France.

Reception

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 52%, based on 81 reviews, with an average score of 6/10. The site's consensus reads, "Gemma Bovery's bursts of charm -- among them Gemma Arterton's winsome performance in the title role -- are often enough to compensate for its lack of focus.". At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 58, based on 27 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".