Film No. 52 (2015) Madam Bovary 17th July.

Film No. 52 (2015) July 17th. 2:30 PM THE WINDSOR Nedlands.

"I imagined that this would be the happiest time of my life" (says Madame Bovary in confidence to her faithful servant).  

Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert's 1856 novel gets worked over for the umpteenth time for good reason. The baby boomers can't get enough cinema joy from costume dramas in this day and age. There are so many expert designers keen to show off their talents, soon there won't be enough classic tales to provide the backdrops. Of course there will be, I'm being flippant. This version captures the tragic tale most handsomely, I've just become jaded  by these mini costume epics.

My greatest pleasure in unraveling, for the first time, this tale was to gain a greater understanding of the contemporary  French / Anglo satire Gemma Bovary. It's always pleasing to get the gist of a legendary story like Madame Bovary in 2 hours, rather than spending 20 hours (not including doze time) reading the book.

Mia Wasikowska wears corsets with great aplomb. She is a wonderfully talented actor with the perfect waist to bring each of her magnificent costumes to life. Living beyond her means and taking to well to do men who might improve her social standing, takes up most of her time and Ms Wasikowska shows herself to be more than adequate in the talent department. Her ability to gradually lose friends and influence people (including the audience) is done with great subtlety.

In reality Madam Bovary plays out like an adult fairy tale. Wicked, is captured brilliantly by Rhys Ifans as Monsieur Lheureux as he greases the pole for our Madam to gradually slide down. Charming princes are done with just the right amount of ruggedness by Logan Marshall-Green and Ezra Miller with the hapless husband Charles nicely strung out by Henry Lloyd-Hughes. Mia is great, this version is slick and we all know the ending. 8GUMS.