Aussie actress Mia Wasikowska is the perfect fit for Madame Bovary

REVIEW: Mia Wasikowska is a perfect fit for the miserable fare in Madame Bovary.

Madame Bovary (M)

Director : Sophie Barthes (Cold Souls)

Starring : Mia Wasikowska, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Ezra Miller, Rhys Ifans, Logan Marshall-Green, Paul Giamatti.

Rating : ***

Woe is she

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The classic 1856 novel Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert has been adapted for the big screen on many occasions.

However, this is, quite tellingly, the first occasion where the directorial reins have been taken by a woman.

Mia Wasikowska in the film Madame Bovary

In hewing closely to the most stringently feminine aspects of the source text, French filmmaker Sophie Barthes makes it clear from the outset she won’t be playing any games with her audience.

In fact, the opening scene pretty much tears up the spoiler-alert textbook.

It is here we see Emma Bovary (Mia Wasikowska) staggering through a sodden forest in a state of total distress.

Mia Wasikowska in the film Madame Bovary

Eventually, exhaustion kicks in. Emma falls to the ground. In her hand, we can just make out what appears to be a small crystal vial.

So there you have it. Madame Bovary is quite upfront that any and all matters to be depicted within are not fated to end well.

This unapologetically straightforward approach is sure to be of concern to potential viewers of Madame Bovary, particularly those purists who hold the book in such exalted regard.

Henry Lloyd-Hughes and Mia Wasikowska in the film Madame Bovary

Nevertheless, once the storytelling clock is wound back and we begin to follow young Emma’s slow and agonising descent into despair, the film gathers a compelling momentum that cannot be denied.

If really pushed, you could best describe this take on Madame Bovary as a psychological procedural, outlining evidence and exploring clues as Emma’s state of mind alternately strengthens and weakens.

Ezra Miller in the film Madame Bovary

An ill-judged marriage to a kind, but emotionally remote smalltown doctor (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) is at the core of Emma’s problems.

Her attempts to fill the ensuing void - trying too hard to play the role of a dutiful wife, and not trying hard enough to resist the temptation of taking a lover - simply make matters worse.

As we already know from her superb work in the 2011 version of Jane Eyre, Mia Wasikowska is a perfect fit for such perfectly miserable fare.

Her Emma is exactly as she should be: a flawed, enigmatic and fascinating woman out of step with the world, and in need of some luck that will never come her way.

In the current costume drama stakes, Madame Bovary is not quite within roaring distance of Far From the Madding Crowd. However, extend this oddly affecting film a little patience and keep an open mind, and you won’t forget it in a hurry.

Originally published as Aussie actress Mia Wasikowska is the perfect fit for Madame Bovary