Review of I Am Not Madame Bovary (2016) by Larry I — 16 Sep 2016

I may not be qualified to review this film - the audience at the Toronto International Film Festival where I saw it was predominantly Chinese, and they seemed quite favorably disposed toward it. Great cinematography and an interesting commentary on Chinese bureaucracy, Madame Bovary would have benefited from some editing - it ran much too long, without justification.

Fan Bingbing did an admirable job in the lead role, playing a drab but determined wife whose unflagging determination led her on a long, long voyage. A bit less detail would have helped. The unusual use of the camera in a number of shots, which may have been intended to put certain scenes into sharp focus, was a bit confusing.

To add to the confusion, the English subtitles may not have fully conveyed the story being played out. A movie for the art house audience, and not even all of this group.