Madame Bovary (2000) (TV)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Tim Fywell

Writers:

Gustave Flaubert (novel)
Heidi Thomas (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 February 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A young woman in her late teens, a reader of novels and with high hopes of romance and passion, marries a widowed country doctor...

Plot Keywords:

Self Destructiveness | Adulteress | Female Nudity | 19th Century | Suicide

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Frances O'Connor	...	Emma Bovary
Hugh Bonneville	...	Charles Bovary
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eileen Atkins	...	Marie Louise
Desmond Barrit	...	Guillaumin (episode 3)
Keith Barron	...	L'heureux (episodes 2, 3)
Adam Cooper	...	Vicomte (episode 1)
Hugh Dancy	...	Leon
Marian Diamond	...	Sister Marie Paul (episode 1)
Claire Hackett	...	Madame Homais (episodes 2, 3)
Jenny Howe	...	Sister Evangeline (episode 1)
Barbara Jefford	...	Marquise (episode 1)
Stanley Lebor	...	Binet
Mary MacLeod	...	Madame Lefrancois (as Mary Macleod)
Roy Macready	...	Vincart (episode 3)
Phillip Manikum	...	Lestiboudois
Joe McGann	...	Paul
Jessica Oyelowo	...	Felicite
Trevor Peacock	...	Rouault
Joe Roberts	...	Justin (episodes 2, 3)
Willie Ross	...	Hurdy Gurdy Man (episodes 1, 3)
David Troughton	...	Homais
Thomas Wheatley	...	Dr. Canivet (episode 2)
Greg Wise	...	Rodolphe (episodes 2, 3)

Directed by
Tim Fywell

Writing credits
Gustave Flaubert		(novel)
Heidi Thomas		(screenplay)

Produced by
Cahal Bannon	....	associate producer
Rebecca Eaton	....	executive producer: WGBH
Bernard Krichefski	....	producer
Tony Redston	....	producer
Hilary Salmon	....	executive producer
David M. Thompson	....	executive producer

Original Music by
John Lunn

Cinematography by
Chris Seager

Film Editing by
Roy Sharman

Casting by
Sarah Bird

Production Design by
John Paul Kelly		(as John-Paul Kelly)

Art Direction by
Niall Moroney
Anne Seibel

Set Decoration by
Sara Wan		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Anushia Nieradzik

Makeup Department
Ashley Johnson	....	makeup artist
Vivien Riley	....	makeup designer
Felicity Wright	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Alistair Hopkins	....	post-production supervisor
Christine Raspillère	....	production manager: French

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arnaud Boquier	....	second assistant director: French crew
Connie Boylan	....	second assistant director
Alexandra Cooper	....	third assistant director
Sam Hill	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Barry Arnold	....	stand-by props
Chris Arnold	....	stand-by props
Roy Chapman	....	dressing props
Barry Gibbs	....	property master
Gregoire Lemoine	....	production buyer: France
Tom Lowen	....	stand-by rigger (as Tommy Lowen)
Emma MacDevitt	....	stand-by art director
Darryl Paterson	....	dressing props
Anne Seibel	....	art director: France (as Anne Seibel)
Bryan Smith	....	stand-by carpenter
Glenn Start	....	stand-by painter
Roger Tyrell	....	construction manager
Sara Wan	....	production buyer
Frank Howe	....	drapes master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Philip Bothamley	....	dubbing editor (as Phil Bothamley)
Fiona Curran	....	dubbing editor
James Harris	....	third man sound
Billy Mahoney	....	dubbing mixer
Shaun Mills	....	boom operator
Leon Minas	....	foley recordist
Roger Slater	....	sound recordist
Nigel Squibbs	....	foley editor

Special Effects by
Mark Holt	....	special effects
John Markwell	....	special effects

Stunts
Richard Hammatt	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Anthony	....	electrician
Jon Beacham	....	clapper loader
Barry Davis	....	electrician
Ele Denman	....	camera trainee
Darren Harvey	....	best boy
Jeremy Hiles	....	camera operator
Bob Hunt	....	electrician
Stuart King	....	gaffer
Micky Patten	....	grip
Kim Seber	....	focus puller

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Russell Barnett	....	costume assistant (as Russell Barnet)
Caroline Hume	....	costume design assistant
Dulcie Scott	....	wardrobe supervisor
Berenice Wright	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
Chris Beeton	....	telecine operator
Bridgette Williams	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Mathieu Baillargeon	....	production team member: France
Jean Phillippe Baudart	....	production team member: France
Amanda Black	....	production coordinator
Joanie Blaikie	....	production executive
Maggie Boyd	....	script supervisor
Sarah J. Brown	....	assistant script editor (as Sarah Brown)
Sarah Brown	....	assistant script editor
Nina Cunningham	....	production runner
Sammi Davis	....	production secretary
Claire Deloire	....	production secretary: France
Monique Eydan	....	production accountant: France
Vincent Fauvelle	....	assistant location manager: France (as Vincent Fauvel)
Nick Fulton	....	location manager: UK
Pierre Hugues Galien	....	production team member: France
Jane Gibson	....	choreographer
Jamie Lengyel	....	location manager
Emma Pill	....	location manager: UK
Rachel Plose	....	production accountant
Pier Wilkie	....	script editor
Michael Wood	....	production executive

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
• WGBH (co-production)

Distributors

• Just Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (2000) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Other Companies

• 2020 Casting  extras casting
• Coach House Studios  post-production
• JAM Location Services  location assistance

Runtime:

180 min | Sweden:153 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:MA | Finland:K-13 | Singapore:M18 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Ashridge Park, Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Quotes:

Leon: My mind's exercised enough. My mind's worn out with exercising. It's like a mouse on a wheel; like a piston in an engine. It never stops.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Madame Bovary" (1975)

some pretty botched-up casting

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.