I Watched A Film.

On Saturday I lost the will to read.

After struggling through the finer details of media law and trawling the papers for inspiration I was reasonably tired so I had the bright idea to watch some mindless tat on DVD.

Having absolutely no idea what it was about, I chose Madame Bovary – something which I’d got ‘free’ with a weekend newspaper.

It is not mindless tat. It is a French film with English subtitles – something which needs a considerable amount of attention.

It is actually a brilliant film.

I quite enjoy foreign films because they make such a refreshing change from the so often mundane Hollywood Blockbuster.

The only problem is, that at 5’ 4, I’m usually unfortunate enough to end up sitting behind someone in the cinema who is ridiculously tall and whose head blocks out the most important parts of the subtitles.

It is usually a large, bald man.

Luckily, on viewing Madame Bovary I was in the comfort of my own room, or ‘palace’ as I sometimes like to call it.

The film is based on a classic novel by Gustave Flaubert. I’m not going to pretend that I have read it, because I haven’t but I’m giving serious consideration to reading it now.

The story follows Emma Bovary and her increasing descent into chaos and despair.

She is trapped by her marriage and therefore by society, eventually allowing her romantic fantasies to get the better of her and infringe upon her daily life.

This inevitably results in tragic consequences as she begins an affair.

Both the film and the story-line remind me of Tess of the D’Urbervilles (Hardy’s novel and Polanski’s film).

There is something utterly disturbing yet intriguing in the universality of Emma’s day-dreaming and Tess’s unfair treatment.

Madame Bovary is a spectacularly powerful film which brought a tear to my eye. Perhaps I’m too sensitive, but for me this is the mark of a great story.