I Am Not Madame Bovary

I Am Not Pan Jinlian (Chinese: 我不是潘金莲), known in English as I Am Not Madame Bovary, is a 2016 Chinese comedy film directed by Feng Xiaogang and written by Liu Zhenyun, based on Liu's 2012 novel I Did Not Kill My Husband.[5] The film stars Fan Bingbing, Zhang Jiayi, Yu Hewei, Dong Chengpeng and Guo Tao. It was selected to be screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.[6] and won the award for Best Achievement in Directing (Feng Xiaogang) at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.[7] It was released in China on 18 November 2016.[8]

I Am Not Madame Bovary
Theatrical release poster
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese我不是潘金蓮
Simplified Chinese我不是潘金莲
Directed byFeng Xiaogang
Written byLiu Zhenyun
Based onI Did Not Kill My Husband by Liu Zhenyun
Produced byHu Xiao Feng[1] (also written Hu Xiaofeng)[2]
Starring
Narrated byFeng Xiaogang
CinematographyLuo Pan
Edited byWilliam Chang Suk Ping
Music byDu Wei
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 8 September 2016 (2016-09-08) (TIFF)
  • 18 November 2016 (2016-11-18) (China)
Running time
137 minutes[3]
CountryChina
LanguageMandarin
Box officeUS$70 million[4]

Synopsis

The main protagonist, Li Xuelian, is a woman who divorces her husband in order to side-step Chinese law, which states that married couples can only own one property. In order to purchase another property, Li and her husband concoct a plan to divorce so that they can buy a second property. However, in the process of this, her now ex-husband marries another woman and denies ever agreeing to such a deal with Li. To further outrage and distance himself, he accuses Li of sleeping with other men (prostitution/being Madame Bovary). Li, outraged by this, goes to the local authorities to nullify the divorce so that she may legitimately divorce her husband. Authorities are puzzled by this as Li is already divorced. Li explains her principled approach, first to the local police that she and her husband agreed to divorce under the guise of buying property, but now she wishes to undertake a legitimate divorce. Li crusades for her cause, escalating her issue through each bureaucratic step in the system, from the local police, to local judiciary, to local magistrate, then to the Provincial authorities.

During Li's journey, she tries to hire her friends as hitmen to kill her ex-husband, is accused by her ex-husband of fooling around with other men, is arrested and sent to re-education camps, falsely led into an intimate relationship with a man in an effort by local authorities of ceasing her crusade, goes all the way to Beijing to protest her principled stance on nullifying her divorce. During her persistent crusade, her ex-husband dies, leading Li to lament over her, now, inability to seek retribution for her ex-husband's illicit affair and branding her a prostitute.

The movie concludes with Li settling alone in Beijing, running a noodle restaurant where she encounters one of the local officials who impeded her during her early crusade. She recounts her tale with the official (who was fired as a result of her crusade) and reveals that she initially divorced not to buy property, but so they could have two children. Li was pregnant at the time of the divorce and a divorce would mean she and her ex could "re"-marry and have another child. However, during her divorce and crusade, she had a miscarriage and lost the baby. The movie concludes with Li accepting her fate and life for what it is and lets go of her angst and hate.

Cast
  • Fan Bingbing as Li Xuelian, a village woman
  • Da Peng as Wang Gongdao, the judge
  • Yin Yuanzhang as Gu Daxing
  • Feng Enhe as retired Chief Justice
  • Liu Xin as Justice Xun
  • Zhao Yi as Police Chief
  • Zhao Lixin as County Chief Shi Weimin
  • Jiang Yongbo as Mayor Cai
  • Zhang Yi as Jia Congming
  • Liu Hua as Lao Hu
  • Li Zonghan as Qin Yuhe
  • Guo Tao as Zhao Datou, Xuelian's classmate
  • Huang Jianxin as Governor Chu
  • Gao Ming as leader
  • Yu Hewei as Zheng Zhong
  • Zhang Jiayi as the magistrate
  • Tian Xiaojie as Secretary of Mayor
  • Li Chen as Police officer
  • Hu Ming as Hospital driver
  • Fan Wei as Guo Nong, orchard owner
  • Feng Xiaogang (uncredited) as narrator

Production

I Am Not Madame Bovary is Feng Xiaogang, Liu Zhenyun and Fan Bingbing's second collaboration together, twelve years after their first, Cell Phone.[9][10]

On 14 March 2016, a trailer was released via the film's producers.[11]

Release

The film was released theatrically on 18 November 2016.

Box office

The film has grossed CN¥483.2 million in China.[8] It has grossed US$70 million worldwide.[4]

Reception

Critical reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 49 reviews, and an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "I Am Not Madame Bovary's sly social commentary and well-constructed story anchor director Feng Xiaogang's visually experimental approach."[12] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13]

Accolades
DateAwardCategoryRecipient(s) and nominee(s)ResultNotes
201664th San Sebastian Film FestivalSilver Shell for Best ActressFan BingbingWon[14][15]
Golden Shell for Best FilmI Am Not Madame BovaryWon[16]
41st Toronto International Film FestivalFIPRESCI Special PresentationsFeng XiaogangWon[17]
53rd Golden Horse AwardsBest Feature FilmI Am Not Madame BovaryNominated[18]
Best DirectorFeng XiaogangWon[19]
Best Adapted ScreenplayLiu ZhenyunNominated[18]
Best ActressFan BingbingNominated[18]
Best Original Film ScoreDu WeiNominated[18]
Audience Choice AwardBeijing Sparkle Roll Media Corporation, Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, Beijing Skywheel Entertainment Co., Ltd., Huayi Brothers Pictures Ltd., Zhejiang Dongyang Mayla Media Co., Ltd.Won[20][21]
201711th Asian Film AwardsBest ActressFan BingbingWon
[22]
Best FilmI Am Not Madame BovaryWon
Best DirectorFeng XiaogangNominated
Best Supporting ActorDong ChengpengNominated
Best CinematographerLuo PanWon
24th Beijing College Student Film FestivalBest FilmI Am Not Madame BovaryNominated
Best DirectorFeng XiaogangWon
Best ScreenplayLiu ZhenyunNominated
Artistic Exploration Award—Nominated
31st Golden Rooster AwardsBest PictureI Am Not Madame BovaryNominated[23][24]
Best DirectorFeng XiaogangWon
Best ActressFan BingbingWon
Best Supporting ActorYu HeweiWon
Best WritingLiu ZhenyunNominated
Best SoundWu JiangNominated
17th Chinese Film Media AwardsBest ScreenwriterLiu ZhenyunNominated[25]

References
  1. "I Am Not Madame Bovary [programme note]". Zurich Film Festival. 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  2. Deborah Young (9 September 2016). "'I Am Not Madame Bovary': Film Review / TIFF 2016". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  3. "I Am Not Madame Bovary [programme note]". Philadelphia Film Festival. 2016. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  4. "I Am not Madame Bovary (2016)". The Numbers. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  5. Lee, Edmund (21 November 2016). "Film review: I Am Not Madame Bovary – Fan Bingbing defies petty bureaucracy in dark satire". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  6. "Toronto To Open With 'The Magnificent Seven'; 'La La Land', 'Deepwater Horizon' Among Galas & Presentations". Deadline. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  7. "APSA NOMINEES & WINNERS". Asia Pacific Screen Awards. 2017.
  8. "我不是潘金莲（2016）". cbooo.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  9. ""The Hundred Family Name" is in order What is the meaning of the surname culture?". Yangtse Evening Post. 2016-03-18. Archived from the original on 2016-03-22.
  10. "众星捧月"范冰冰《我不是潘金莲》有28个男演员. 163.com (in Chinese). 18 March 2016.
  11. 冯小刚新片《我不是潘金莲》首曝预告 范冰冰“不疯魔不成活”（图）. Liaoning.com (in Chinese). 15 March 2016.
  12. "I Am Not Madame Bovary (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  13. "I Am Not Madame Bovary Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  14. "Chinese actress Fan Bingbing awarded at Spanish film festival". gbtimes.com. 2016-09-27. Archived from the original on 2016-09-28.
  15. "Fan Bingbing still hated on after winning Best Actress at San Sebastian Film Festival". cpoplove.com. 28 September 2016. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  16. 范冰冰拥抱冯小刚 凭《我不是潘金莲》斩获国际大奖. youth.cn (in Chinese). 26 September 2016. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  17. Etan Vlessing (11 September 2016). "Toronto: Well Go USA Takes North American Rights to 'I Am Not Madame Bovary'". hollywoodreporter.com.
  18. 《我不是潘金莲》获得53届金马奖五项提名. 163.com (in Chinese). 2 October 2016.
  19. Ho Chin-hsien; Lu Chia-hao; Jonathan Chin (28 November 2016). "Chinese Golden Horse winners draw criticism". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  20. "53rd Taipei Golden Horse Awards". 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  21. Patrick Frater (26 November 2016). "'The Summer is Gone' Narrowly Tops Golden Horse Awards". Variety. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  22. "11th Asian Film Awards – Nominees 2017". Asianfilmfestivals.com. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  23. "金鸡奖提名：《潘金莲》领跑 范冰冰周冬雨再争影后". Ifeng.com. 2017-08-16. Archived from the original on 2017-08-20.
  24. "邓超范冰冰分获影帝影后《我不是潘金莲》成金鸡大赢家". ifeng (in Chinese). 16 September 2017.
  25. "第17届华语电影传媒盛典公布提名名单". Mtime (in Chinese). 29 August 2017. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
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