It is said that “an idle mind is the Devil’s playground” and that is certainly played out in this contemporary take on the life of French writer Gustave Flaubert’s most famous character, Emma Bovary.

The director, Anne Fontaine (Adoration / Coco Before Chanel), together with fellow scriptwriter Pascal Bonitzer, shifts the narrative from the 19th century to create a modern tragi-comedy based on the popular 1999 novel Gemma Bovery by Posy Simmonds. Still set in a village in Normandy, this time around it’s an idyllic haven for British ex-pats who are escaping their chaotic city lives.

There is a message here and that is to be careful what you wish for… or, at least, what you imagine. Life doesn’t always imitate art, much as we might sometimes wish it did. In this case we meet a village baker, Martin Joubert (Fabrice Luchini – The Women On The 6th Floor), who becomes besotted when his new British neighbours Gemma (Gemma Arterton - Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time) and husband Charlie Bovery (Jason Flemyng - X Men: First Class) arrive to commence their new adventure in paradise. It appears that everyone in the village is escaping something and, in the couples’ case, it is Charlie’s previous marriage and his demanding ex-wife.

The newlyweds’ euphoria soon dissipates when they find their new home is a handy-man’s nightmare and money becomes an issue as repairs don’t come cheaply. Although both Charlie and Emma are restorer/decorators, they have to concentrate on working for others rather than on their home. Meanwhile, their nosey-parker neighbour, Martin, busies himself with his fantasy that Gemma is going to suffer the same fate as the doomed character in Flaubert’s novel and sets out to prevent this from happening.

Although he runs a successful bakery, Martin seems to have too much time on his hands and is constantly being chided by his long-suffering wife, Valérie (Isabelle Candelier – A Good Year). The Boverys are also befriended by another newly arrived couple in the village, a British prat called Rankin (Pip Torrens – Poldark) and his dipsy, pretentious wife, Wizzy (Elsa Zylberstein), who happens to be French, but is more English than an Old Etonian! Another part-time resident is the son of the local landed gentry, Hervé de Bressigny (Niels Schneider – I Killed My Mother), who lights up when he sights Gemma, and it isn’t long before Martin imagines Madame Bovary coming to life before his eyes.

Gemma Bovery is an interesting film even though it makes you cringe a bit, for it’s a not-so-subtle dig at people shifting camp with the express desire of creating a new, perfect world for themselves. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it does show that just changing one’s habitat doesn’t necessarily solve life’s problems; you take your baggage with you. The story-line cleverly runs parallel to Flaubert’s well-known plot and is skilfully woven into a contemporary yarn that is at times funny, but also poignant.

Arterton and Luchini are both well cast and are ably supported by the other performers. There are some mildly amusing moments as the characters struggle with their very basic knowledge of French or English - depending on which side of le manche they hail from. Christophe Beaucarne’s cinematography captures the essence of the beautiful provincial setting; he works regularly with Fontaine and shot the French/Australian co-pro Adoration on the NSW central coast. While far from ground-breaking, this is a delightful way to while away 99 minutes, particularly as you can almost smell the freshly baked bread coming off the screen. Perfect with a good drop of vin rouge and a slice of camembert!

// SALT

Previewed at Verona Cinema, Sydney, on 15 May 2015