2017 PS Film Festival
film synopsis
In this eccentric tale of spousal revenge, Li Xuelian (Fan Bingbing) is tricked by her husband into getting a "fake" divorce for the purpose of securing their dream apartment, with the plan to remarry. When he moves in with another woman whom he marries instead, an enraged Xuelian sets out to have their divorce reversed in order for her to marry him and leave him properly on her own terms. Things don't go as planned, and the years start to go by, but the tenacious Xuelian is fixed on her goal, resorting to less lawful methods in her relentless pursuit for personal justice.
Directed by major Chinese filmmaker Feng Xiaogang (Aftershock), I am Not Madame Bovary is a fearless satire of bureaucracy driven by a radical visual approach-much of the film is composed in a telescopic aspect ratio-and anchored by a superb lead turn by superstar Fan Bingbing.
"Sublime visual eloquence... The film is part Scarlet Letter, part Keystone Cops, part miniature landscape painting-all with plot twists worthy of Thomas Hardy." David D'Arcy, Screen
Winner: Best Film, Best Actress, San Sebastian; FIPRESCI Prize, Toronto