Marrying Charles, a widowed doctor, seems a step up from the farm but in everyday life he turns out to be boring. What she seeks most of all is an escape not just from the farm but to a life of glamour, passion, and freedom. Living on a farm and attending school in a nearby town, young, talented Emma spends as much time as possible outdoors, far from the oppressive confines of the homestead.

The film uses different languages to highlight the universality of this situation. The film’s starting points are based in historical reality, but at the heart of the story is the relationship this event has with today’s worldwide economic hardships, driven by a compulsion to (over)consume. Drawing on Flaubert’s masterpiece in order to provide an allegory for contemporary mores, the film offers a radically new interpretation of the text, replete with powerful imagery and playing with anachronism: this is not a historical drama. The film’s starting point is a real event that took place in mid-19th century Normandy, France, but could also happen today. Now, more than ever, both capitalism and romantic love, luring people with the contradictory expectation of permanent excitement, conspire to make individual lives difficult, disappointing, and at times ruinous. An update of Gustave Flaubert’s prophetic 1856 novel, Madame Bovary,, Madame B explores how dominant ideologies from the late-19th century are still rampant today – specifically, within the framework of patriarchy, capitalism and its investment in emotions, while love is for sale. Madame B is a feature film about the entwinement of capitalism and romantic love. Language: Finnish, French, Swedish, English English subtitles Madame B, 2014 | 96' | Color | Mieke Bal & Michelle Williams Gamaker.

Instal the new Madame Bovary