I Am Not Madame Bovary

Movie to move the heart, mind and soul

The original or Chinese title of this movie is “I am not Pan JinLian”. At the start of the movie, viewers are given a needed historical lesson on the origin of Pan JinLian, who has become a Chinese term for a promiscuous woman. 

This satirical feature focuses on a relentless village woman’s quest for what she feels is injustice as well as the comedy of bungling government officials who seem to not be able to stop her from bringing her case forward at the National Party Congress’ assemblies.

Li XueLian just wants her divorce reversed, stating that it’s a fake marriage. Her case is weak. She is told over and over that it is not possible to overturn the verdict. She has no evidence and no witness to support her case. She doesn’t give up, only angrier. She seeks an audience with every government official she could think of, often resorting to extreme ideas such as stepping in front of a moving car or even murder, which thankfully she does not commit. 

Every time she decides to stop pursuing her case, others would insult her or question whether she’s telling the truth, infuriating her to continue with her quest, which goes on for ten years. 

The officials keep harping on how a village woman with a small problem can cripple so many of them, striking fear in all of them. They mobilize everyone to find her, to stop her from going to the NPC assembly for the tenth time. 

The revelation in the end will surely make us agree with the now retired official who once ran away from XueLian. Like him, would we and all the other characters be able to empathize more?   

The use of a circular frame is unorthodox. I was a little skeptical at first but very soon find it striking. It puts each scene into much sharper focus. As another reviewer mentioned, it’s almost like looking at an old miniature Chinese painting. It switches to a square frame when she gets to Beijing and then turns into normal aspect ratio at the end. It is a daring but intelligent use of the camera to produce another dimension of focus to the story.

This film was omitted from the original program. HIFF was not sure if they could get it. I am glad they did. This is an absolute must watch. 

Trailer here.