Any student of world literature 101 will tell you Anna Karenina is a *tragic* story of an adulterous woman, and that Madame Bovary is a *farcical* story of an adulterous woman. The screenplay uses the broad outline of the story as a platform for some stylish acting and cinematography, but it totally misses the point of the novel. There is much more - oh, so much more - in the novel.
Let's look at the deletions. No mention of the first Madame Bovary. Yes, the reader meets Madame Bovary in the first chapter, and she's dead by the end of the second. This is a piece of misdirection only equaled by Catch-22 almost a century later. No mention of Emma's child. Emma's reaction to the child is essential to her character development. The dialogue at the awards ceremony between Emma, Rudolph, and the speakers below, is a classical of dry, insulting humor. There's none of it in the film. The piano lessons are hinted at, but they were so important in the novel, both as a plot device, and as a vehicle for humor that there's a sign in modern Rouen saying "Ici, Emma Bovary n'a Jamais pris de lecon de piano" (Here, Emma Bovary has never taken piano lessons.). Even now - the humor!
Emma's death in the novel is very different from the movie. In the novel, it's disgustingly painful. It is juxtaposed to Charles' death at the end which is so, so beautiful, in the garden with the overwhelming aroma of the flowers. In the movie, Emma's death is so, so beautiful, flying in the face of exactly the comparison Flaubert intended.
Let's look at the deletions. No mention of the first Madame Bovary. Yes, the reader meets Madame Bovary in the first chapter, and she's dead by the end of the second. This is a piece of misdirection only equaled by Catch-22 almost a century later. No mention of Emma's child. Emma's reaction to the child is essential to her character development. The dialogue at the awards ceremony between Emma, Rudolph, and the speakers below, is a classical of dry, insulting humor. There's none of it in the film. The piano lessons are hinted at, but they were so important in the novel, both as a plot device, and as a vehicle for humor that there's a sign in modern Rouen saying "Ici, Emma Bovary n'a Jamais pris de lecon de piano" (Here, Emma Bovary has never taken piano lessons.). Even now - the humor!
Emma's death in the novel is very different from the movie. In the novel, it's disgustingly painful. It is juxtaposed to Charles' death at the end which is so, so beautiful, in the garden with the overwhelming aroma of the flowers. In the movie, Emma's death is so, so beautiful, flying in the face of exactly the comparison Flaubert intended.