Synopsis: The French provinces of the 1850s are the setting for Gustave Flaubert's classic portrait of spiritual vacuity. In Jean Renoir's film adaptation, Valentine Tessier stars as Emma, the bored daughter of a country farmer who marries local doctor Charles Bovary (Pierre Renoir) in hopes of... The French provinces of the 1850s are the setting for Gustave Flaubert's classic portrait of spiritual vacuity. In Jean Renoir's film adaptation, Valentine Tessier stars as Emma, the bored daughter of a country farmer who marries local doctor Charles Bovary (Pierre Renoir) in hopes of escaping from her stultifying existence. Yet the bumbling, prosaic Bovary further exacerbates her dissatisfaction with a life she feels to be torturously philistine. As a distraction, Emma tries to become involved in local social life but recoils at its banality. In the hope that religion will provide some sense of fullfillment, she performs charitable works but finds that this too lacks the romance she seeks. She becomes interested in Leon Dupuis (Daniel Lecourtois), a lawyer staying in town, but refuses to sleep with him. Finally, she has an affair with wealthy landowner Rodolphe Boulanger (Fernan Fabre), believing him to be the answer to her dreams of romance. When he abandons her, she's crushed but returns to her relationship with Dupuis nonetheless, which only leads her further into despair. [More]