Madame Bovary

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Claude Chabrol directs. Jean Rabier behind the camera. Matthieu Chabrol scores. Monique Fardoulis cuts. Produced in France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 135 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 2Directed by Claude Chabrol, shot by Jean Rabier. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Original score by Matthieu Chabrol. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 4Editor Monique Fardoulis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Isabelle Huppert and Jean-François Balmer and Christophe Malavoy carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "Two souls adrift on the waves of the Seine".
• 7IMDB entry: tt0102368 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 8Classified under 9 themes, including "adultery", "france", "based on novel or book", "bourgeoisie".

The technical file

Cinematography

Jean Rabier

Original score

Matthieu Chabrol

Editing

Monique Fardoulis

Production design

Michèle Abbé-Vannier

Costume design

Corinne Jorry

Makeup / hair

Elisabeth Perchet

Runtime

143 min · 2h 23m

Status

Released

Box office

$1,942,423

Original language

FR

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

Madame Bovary (1991) ↗

Also by

Claude Chabrol

• 
  De Grey, un Récit romanesque

  1976 · ★ 9.0
• 
  The Secret Files of Inspector Lavardin

  1988 · ★ 8.2
• 
  Jeunesse et Spiritualité : Cyprien Katsaris

  1979 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Greed

  1962 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Nul n'est parfait

  1974 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Chez Maupassant

  2007 · ★ 7.4

Production companies

Who made it

• CE

  CED Productions

  FR

• FR

  FR3 Films Production

  FR

• 

  MK2 Productions

  FR

Key crew

• Production DesignMichèle Abbé-Vannier
• EditorMonique Fardoulis
• Costume DesignCorinne Jorry
• NovelGustave Flaubert
• ProducerMarin Karmitz
• MusicMaurice Coignard
• Makeup & HairElisabeth Perchet
• Sound MixerMaurice Gilbert
• Makeup & HairSandrine Coraux
• Sound EditorBrigitte Grynblat
• Sound MixerJean-Bernard Thomasson
• MusicJean-Michel Bernard
• Set DecorationJacques Mollon
• Makeup ArtistCatherine Demesmeaker
• HairstylistPierre Berroyer

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• adultery
• france
• based on novel or book
• bourgeoisie
• normandy, france
• debt collector
• sexually empowered woman
• female empowerment
• 19th century

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1991-04-03
• Digital2022-02-21PG-13
• Physical2022-02-22NR· Lies and Deceit: Five Films by Claude Chabrol Arrow Blu-ray
• Physical2002-11-05PG-13· MGM World Films DVD
• Physical2008-11-11PG-13· Koch Media 2 DVD Set

Also known as

International titles

• 마담 보바리KR
• Claude Chabrol’s Madame BovaryUS