I Am Not Madame Bovary brilliantly executes its high-concept, formal experimentation perfectly. In doing so, it embodies a vision that harmonizes the theoretical with the actual.

| Dec 6, 2023

Paired with a complex performance from lead actress Bingbing Fan, an otherwise slight, arguably trite narrative makes this sharply observed beauty of a film all the more bitter and brittle.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 3, 2019

Innovative aspect ratios and artful photography make I Am Not Madame Bovary a delight to watch, but it just doesn't leave enough to chew on.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 4, 2019

I would have liked an emotional anchor to keep me invested for the entirety of the proceedings.

| Oct 31, 2018

A funny, charming, satirical, feminist tale that shows both director Feng Xiaogang and actress Fan Bingbing at their best. How this film was NOT considered as a submission for the Foreign Language Film Oscar is baffling beyond belief.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 31, 2018

The film feels equally drawn out despite the bursts of black humour and the emotional depth of Fan's performance.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 15, 2018

This satire, so absurdly entertaining and scathing, cleverly ridicules that bureaucracy which Li keeps in check for two hours. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 15, 2018

[The conclusion] is a visual and narrative justification for all that has gone before it opens the film out to a widescreen finish.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 29, 2017

There are layers of meaning to all of this that are worth working out on your own. All in all it's a surprising and daring (in more ways than one) work from China's best popular filmmaker.

| Oct 2, 2017

It clocks in at just over two hours, and we feel every minute, even with regular laughs.

| Jul 20, 2017

Bingbing heads a terrific ensemble, although the sly anti-bureaucratic fun does feel a little overextended at 137mins.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 28, 2017

[An] overstretched art-house soap.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 9, 2017

The film is uneven and lagging in pace. Still, it's frequently beautiful ...

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 28, 2017

As the second half of the film essentially repeats the action, only years later, the film's pace becomes sluggish, and its impact rapidly deflates. The artful charm of Feng's stylistic choices also begin to feel limiting.

| May 26, 2017

A film that luxuriates, through that beguiling round frame, in breathtaking, never-seen-before screen imagery.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 26, 2017

The film offers a sly assault on the bureaucracy and hypocrisy of a China where protecting your status is more important than anything.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 26, 2017

A comedy that rightly demonstrates the sad truth of China's bureaucracy and prejudice.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 26, 2017

The satirical bite dissipates a little as the story drags on, though a powerful, emotional coda makes it worth the wait.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 26, 2017

I Am Not Madame Bovary is built on a strong performance by Fan Bingbing and a caustic eye toward bureaucracy. But the good work is undone by a lack of focus and a counter-productive technical gimmick.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 25, 2017

Shot after shot could be hung in a gallery.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 25, 2017