Madame Bovary (1991): Film vs Book

About the film

A country doctor's wife dreams of luxury and passion beyond her quiet village life.

How close is it to the book?

The French production follows the book's events with restraint and a careful sense of place and period.

Read or watch first?

The novel's famous, cool irony shows how carefully the author chooses every detail.

What the book gives you

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

A masterful, psychologically sharp portrait that remains startlingly modern.

Who will like it: Readers who like precise, beautifully crafted classics about longing.