Gemma Bovery. Played by Gemma Arterton
GEMMA BOVERY ***
The super-talented Fabrice Luchini is back in yet another (remember his excellent Alceste à bicyclette?) literary reference, this time to Flaubert’s Madame Bovery. It’s a moment of pure joy, as the stylish French director Anne Fontaine takes us to a charming village in Normandy to meet this modern version of Bovery. Portrayed by the lovely Gemma Arterton, she is British and has come to settle there with her devoted husband. Luchini plays an awed-by-beauty baker, Gemma is quite the gem, there are walks in the woods with dogs, a torrid love affair and some huge misunderstandings. It’s a tongue-in-cheek romantic comedy, wonderfully clichéd and a delightful escape from the miseries of reality we see daily on TV. And why not?
(vo French)
