Madame Bovary

film by Chabrol [1991]

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July 16, 2026

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The 1991 film Madame Bovary was directed by Claude Chabrol. It is an adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's renowned 1857 novel of the same name. Flaubert's novel, considered a masterpiece and a cornerstone of literary realism, tells the tragic story of Emma Bovary. Emma, a beautiful but unfulfilled woman married to a dull doctor, seeks escape from her mundane provincial life through romantic fantasies and adulterous affairs. Her pursuit of idealized passion leads to mounting debts and ultimately her tragic demise. Chabrol, known for his mastery of mystery thrillers and stylistic influence from Alfred Hitchcock, brought this bleak tale of bourgeois discontent and its devastating consequences to the screen.123

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Isabelle Huppert
Versatility in the 1990s and 2000s
…adaptation (1991) of Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, she played the tragic Emma Bovary, an unhappy middle-class wife whose adulterous affairs eventually lead to her suicide. For her performance Huppert received some of the most notable reviews of her career. In 1994 she starred as a nun turned pornographer in Amateur.…
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…adaptation (1991) of Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, she played the tragic Emma Bovary, an unhappy middle-class wife whose adulterous affairs eventually lead to her suicide. For her performance Huppert received some of the most notable reviews of her career. In 1994 she starred as a nun turned pornographer in Amateur.…
Read More