User Comments:
1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful:-
some pretty botched-up casting, 3 March 2000
Author:
Lori Pieper (ljp-2) from Bronx, NY
I've got to admit that Madame Bovary isn't my one of my favorite literary
works, but I've watched several adaptations nonetheless. This was a fairly
intelligent attempt at adaptation, with a pretty good script, but it was
ruined for me by some casting misjudgments and a misguided decision to use
nudity and explicit sex.
It takes some doing to make a woman as misguided and blinkered as Emma
Bovary truly sympathetic (one of my major problems with the book), and
though Frances O'Connor is a good actress, she often comes across seeming
merely like a spoiled brat. She seems even more so because the decision was
made to have her speak out loud so many things that Emma only thinks in the
book. But I think the negative impression I got of this Emma is less due to
her, perhaps, then to the other cast. I think it was a major mistake to
cast somebody so obviously manly and sympathetic in the role of her husband
as Hugh Bonneville (in the book Charles was really a dork) and such
lightweights as Greg Wise (who looks stupefied most of the time) and --
well, I've forgotten what is name was -- as Leon. You definitely have to
question her preference from them over Charles.
The various explicit nude sex scenes really add nothing, and often lead us
in the wrong direction. Is it merely a difference in sexual technique that
makes Emma unsatisified by her husband, but satisfied by Rodolphe? You can
look at these scenes for hours and never find out. By the way, what is this
about Emma apparently liking rough sex (her first time with Rodolphe, when
he makes her bleed). Where was THAT in the book??! But most of all it was
a mistake, I think, because Emma focuses as much on romance as on sex, and
these scenes completely miss that.
I was mainly disappointed in this try at the book. Beautifully
photographed, though.
Check for other user comments. - I have seen this movie and would like to comment on it
Message Boards Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Madame Bovary (2000) (TV)
Recommendations If you like this title, we also recommend... Here on Earth (2000) Show more recommendations Add a recommendation
Email this page to a friend
Update Information
|