Sadly, this “Madame Bovary” makes that identification harder than it should be.Judith wrote: "I know it's a classic, but I'm not seeing why" The rakish local aristocrat, the Marquis Andervilliers (Logan Marshall-Green), finds her attractive, as does a handsome young law clerk named Leon (Ezra Miller of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”), who is described by a friend as “the last romantic in all of France.”Īlas, that title fits Emma Bovary more than it does any of the men in her life, and in an ideal version of the novel, we would empathize deeply with her dilemma at the same time as we would cringe at the nature of the choices she makes.
Ignored by that husband, Emma is all too vulnerable to attentions from men who do not have her best interests at heart. The versatile Rhys Ifans is so convincing in the storekeeper role he makes you feel the power of the forces pushing Emma to spend more than her husband can afford. Under the unctuous tutelage of local merchant Monsieur Lhereux, Emma, who has a weakness for personal vanity, discovers the joys of conspicuous consumption. The only diversions Emma can claim for her own turn out to be shopping and sex, both of which have problematic, not to say ruinous, consequences for her. “Is this the will of God? Is my future just a dark corridor with a bolted door at the end?” “The days bring nothing,” she practically sobs. With nothing to do and only the housemaid Henriette (Laura Carmichael, “Downton Abbey’s” Lady Edith come down in station) for company, Emma finds herself increasingly distraught.
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