Original subtitles

I see someone's fallen prey to a passion for knitting.

I'm making vests for the orphanage.

You'd be better employed mending your dusters.

l want to be a good Christian, Mother dear, as well as a good wife.

(Both moan)

(Rodolphe) l'm in love with you. (Emma) Say it again:

- l am in love with you. -Again!

I'm in love with you.

(Thunder)

No, no, no, no, no...

(Laughs)

(Emma panting)

(Gasps)

(Both groan)

What would you do if Charles came in now?

Tell him I'm suffering a terrible agitation of the Ioins

and ask him to prescribe some relief for me.

Be... serious.

I never come here without a loaded gun.

I'd defend us both to the death with it.

- Are you eaten up with jealousy? - Devoured by it.

- TruIy devoured? -Yes.

- Down to the bones? -Yes.

- To the bottom of your soul? - Yes.

Yes.

Can l have a Iock of your hair?

(Groaning)

lf I bought the cheaper one I'd have to buy a decent chain to set it off.

This is so exquisite I could hang it from a piece of velvet ribbon.

So l'm economising really. (Giggles)

- l'd Iike it charged to my account. - Of course.

And your husband need know nothing if you deal with me yourseIf.

(BelI tolling in distance)

When l was growing up on the farm there were beehives in the orchard.

Lavender grew underneath my window.

I used to Iie on my bed in the evenings when it was bright outside

and Iisten to the buzzing and the butting against the glass.

I was so happy then.

RodoIphe?

My darling.

(CIock chimes)

Oh...

We're quite at ease together, aren't we?

There's a Ietter for you from your father.

I need hardIy add he's sent one of his turkeys.

(Father) I wouId come but there have been high winds

and my roof is not as safe as I wouId wish,

aIthough l have to say, it grieves me that l've yet to see my littIe grandchiId.

I've planted her a cherry tree, in the orchard,

where the beehives used to sit.

When the fruit comes I'll have jam made for her.

(Berthe yells)

(Emma) I was so happy then.

(Emma) He is taking fewer pains.

I wiII not be made to wait.

I wiII not be made to ache like this.

Spare me the apologies, l am indifferent.

- Emma... - Then you are to me,

so our union remains mutual.

I have given you so much, Rodolphe.

- So much of what? - Does tenderness count for nothing?

Or passion? The way l wept with joy when you caressed me?

Emma, we are lovers, these things are of great consequence.

Is it of consequence that l don't weep any longer,

that you can't drive me wild with a kiss?

I used to think l could drown in the passion l feIt for you.

It was bursting the banks of me.

And now when we appoint an hour to spend together you do not come.

We have been Iovers for months.

We are simply tending a more tranquil fIame.

Is that what you want? Because it isn't any use to me.

I'm a great deal of use to you and you know it.

Walled up in a provinciaI town with a country sawbones for a husband.

What would you know of joy, or being driven wild, or drowning in passion

- if l hadn't chanced upon you? - How dare you even think I need you!

(Door slams)

Madame Bovary?!

Madame Bovary!

Might l beg the favour of a private word?

We Iive in a backwater here.

Things are not as they are in the wider worId.

- ln Paris, for e[ample. - No.

I've been reading a truIy revolutionary pamphlet

on the treatment, surgery and cure of catatalipes, endotaIipes and exotalipes.

Club feet.

I want your husband to perform an operation - on Paul.

The crippIe at the Golden Lion.

- However... I require your assistance. - My assistance? Why?

It will enhance Dr Bovary's reputation and increase his income.

But he'll be blind to the benefits unless you intervene.

I can send a little article to all the better papers,

and every traveller passing through the Golden Lion

wiII see the cure and tell the taIe.

Everyone will profit from it, Charles.

- lt looks heavy. - lt onIy weighs eight pounds.

And anyway, you'll be in bed. Now, after the tendon is severed

the boIts are looked at every few days and tightened or Ioosened by the doctor.

Paul, it won't cost you a penny.

It's not the money.

Don't be scared, Paul.

Please.

E[amination reveals a combination of two deformities.

Equinus, meaning ''like a horse,''

and varus, meaning that the limb turns inwards.

I wiII today be severing the Achilles tendon

then applying a traction device.

I would point out that all bandages, dressings and unguents

have been supplied by my estabIishment.

My brother made the traction apparatus.

(Woman) Shh!

- (PIunk) - Oh!

(AII chuckIe with relief)

(AppIause)

And what will you do when we're rich, and I'm renowned?

I shall have to have a whoIe new wardrobe.

It wouId refIect very badly on a genius of your standing

to have me going about in last year's gowns.

What would you Iike?

Respect.

I'd like that too.

Do you think 50 yards might prove excessive?

The span of a fashionable skirt

is much increased by the advent of the latest crinolines.

I've taken delivery of some pattern books from Paris,

if Madame would care to peruse them.

There is a section at the back concerning the matters of which we must not speak.

Although l beg to direct Madame to the Duchateau selection...

on page 45.

(Moaning)

(Lefrancois) He's driving me mad.

- How long has he been like this? - Get this thing off me!

Get it off me!

(Moaning)

- Bruising and oedema. - (PauI) Oh!

You shalI have to get it remedied. It's putting peopIe off their billiards.

- (Homais) Put it back on and tighten it. - No:

- That might hasten the process. - No!

Paul, I brought you some elderfIower jelly...

(Groaning)

When did you last comb your head and cross the good Lord's threshold?

l want one Our Father and ten Hail Marys off you.

Mysticism damages moraIe, Madame Lefrancois. lt's scientificaIIy proven.

There are maggots in it.

H-Help me, Dr Bovary.

(Emma) WiII he die now?

Will he die?!

We've done everything we can.

They'll carry his coffin through the streets and you'll have to walk behind it.

People will know that you have failed:

(Knock at door)

I've sent for a different doctor.

Who did this? He wants shooting.

- Oh! - Not you. Don't panic.

I want bandages, and a bottle of brandy.

They'll be closing the shutters so the crowd can't see in.

Oh! Ohh...

Sit down, for pity's sake.

(Screaming) No! No!

(Emma) What have I done?

I must be insane.

To have sacrificed so much.

(Screaming continues)

Please! PIease, no!

No!

Everyone makes mistakes.

(Emma) Insane.

To have tried to love someone so...

mediocre.

Kiss me.

Kiss you?

Kiss you?!

You're not yourself, it's the strain of... aII this telIing on your nerves.

And that's your diagnosis, is it?

As a doctor:

(Sobbing)

Sometimes l'm away all day, I can't know all that goes on.

You should make it your business to.

Mother, dear, you've quite deprived us of the pIeasure of anticipation.

Your front door was wide open when the cart puIIed up.

I waIked in, unchallenged, as far as the kitchen.

Shall l say what l encountered there, Felicite?

- (Sobbing) - Shall l?

- Mm. - A man.

A man.

A man of almost 40 with sidewhiskers.

Duty being utterly neglected, the dough was spilling out of the proving pans.

Felicite has a gentIeman caIler.

Felicite.

Is this true?

He only comes from time to time on errands.

The child's an orphan, her morals are your responsibiIity.

Get back into the kitchen and save the bread.

-And FeIicite? - Yes, Madam?

I disapprove of him having side whiskers. Most severeIy.

If your wife cannot be trusted to supervise the tone of her own residence

then l'm afraid l must insist on suppIying the deficiency.

Shall l have your trunk put in the bIue room?

- ls that all you have to say? - l'm trying to keep the peace.

What peace can there be in this house

when even the housemaid isn't allowed a little love, a littIe recompense?:

The way you govern your home revoIts me.

Truly well-bred people don't give a fig about how their domestics behave.

If l hadn't been toId otherwise I would think you were working class.

They're torturing me.

My husband and his mother.

I can't endure it, Rodolphe. I can't.

I thought I could, that love could make me strong enough for anything, but l can't.

I can't.

The world is making a mockery of me.

What do you want me to do?

Run away with me.

You have a daughter.

We'Il take her with us.

Please.

RodoIphe...

(Emma) We will be set free.

It will be like riding on the clouds.

You appear peculiarly calm.

I've been to church.

And found great consolation.

You're only saying that to put me out of countenance.

Madame!

Monsieur Derozeray's sent a man with 300 francs.

- I said he ought to talk to the master. - There's no need to troubIe Dr Bovary.

(Lheureu[) Ten francs change.

And alI debts discharged.

Now l want a four-foot trunk of morocco leather...

and a carpet bag, and a black velvet cape with a hood.

Something suitable for traveI?

l haven't seen my father for a considerable while.

Ah.

Will you please arrange a passport for me?

It will be impossibIe to do this for myself.

(Rodolphe) Only seven days. Only six sIeepIess nights

and the tyranny of the clocks will be forever overturned.

Do you remember when I used to kiss your feet?

That perfect little place just inside the hollow of your instep.

(Exhales)

Oh, I cannot resist you.

Won't it seem strange when we can go about together in daylight?

Will you shout our passion from the rooftops?

(Laughs) In Venice in the carnival, in Siena in JuIy,

and at the Alhambra Palace -

we have to go to Spain because I want you to kiss me in an orange grove.

You're sad!

You're sad. That's not permitted, we've done all our crying for the moon.

It's ours, or it wiIl be tomorrow.

We will be going into exiIe.

I have you.

We will be each other's family.

Each other's home.

(BelI chimes)

Oh...

(Sighs)

And we'll have Berthe.

- Tell me the place again. - Hotel Splendide, Rouen.

- ShalI I say it a hundred times? - A thousand times!

There isn't an ocean l wouldn't sail for you.

There isn't a mountain I wouldn't cIimb on hands and knees.

Without you, the world is a desert.

(Rodolphe) My tears stain the page. I cannot bear it.

I wanted to set you upon a throne. l would have made you reviled.

I would have dragged an angel into an abyss.

Forgive me. Forget me.

But remember always how I tortured myself, how I drew blood,

to spare you pain.

(Charles) Emma?

We've been looking for you. Lunch is going coId.

Monsieur Boulanger de Ia Huchette sent these.

- No accompanying note. - Which is odd,

as he's closing the house down and going abroad for the year.

I shouldn't marvel if there wasn't a woman in it somewhere.

(Horse and cart outside)

There he goes. Too bad. These are magnificent apricots.

Mm.

(Coughing)

Take a sip of water, sweetheart.

- (Choking) - Emma?

Emma?

Mother, do something:

(Whispers) Will l die, CharIes?

No.

No.

Not now.

(Sobbing)

Shh, shh.

Shh, shh, shh.

My wife has needed very particular care during her illness.

We've been obliged to consult other doctors

and my mother has had to come and stay with us.

There has been... so much expense.

Homais teIIs me you lend money.

At a certain rate of interest, yes.

AIthough I must inform you that Madame Bovary already owes me 420 francs.

For some Iuggage.

Luggage? l don't know anything about any luggage.

Ladies must be allowed their little mysteries.

(Door bell tinkles)

She has not been in her right mind.

(CIears throat) l need a thousand francs.

(Hurried footsteps)

Madame Bovary, what are you doing out of bed?

Go back to bed, Madame.

(Charles laughs)

(Kisses Berthe)

Now... give Mama her surprise.

Here, Mama.

Opera tickets:

Paris opera tickets!

(Mother-in-law) Berthe!

WeII, not quite. But Edgar Lagardy is coming to sing in Rouen.

Something caIIed Lucia de Lammermoor. Homais saw it.

- Oh, Lucia de Lammermoor! - Please, don't worry about the expense.

I had a little bit put by.

(Laughs)

(Emma) Everyone in the world is in Rouen.

Do you wish to e[amine me on my understanding of the plot?

I took great pains to finish the noveI.

A good thing too, a Scottish novel sung in ltalian by French peopIe.

We should be hard-pressed to make any sense of it at all.

(Man laughing)

Hurry up, Leon!

Do l Iook just as l shouId?

(Woman singing)

(AppIause)

- Bravo! - Bravo!

Flowers, Madame?

Sir, some flowers for the lady, perhaps?

Emma?

Did you make your mother proud of you?

l've come back to Rouen for my Iast two years of study.

Are you alone?

- Leon: - Bovary!

Leon... Well, did you learn the guitar and buy a beret?

UnfortunateIy, yes. Then I grew up.

- Are you in Rouen for one night only? - Yes.

Emma, l cannot vanish from your life again.

I wiII not forget you. I never did forget you.

- (Clock chiming) - Fate has offered us a second chance.

Second chance of what?

We're taking the two o'clock diIigence tomorrow.

Meet me before you go.

- Meet me. - Charles will wake, he will wake.

The cathedraI at noon. Go!

Go.

l did not know your address, I would not have come otherwise.

- Emma... - l'm too old for this, you're too young.

No, you are married, and that is all...

It is everything, it cannot be undone.

We couId relinquish other agonies.

We could stop our hearts from beating like... tied birds...

every time we chance to meet...

or think of one another.

We couId abandon all pretence of virtue.

We couId make the angels sing.

- l'm trying to assist you. - lt's too Iate.

We're already Iovers.

No living creature ever inhabited my soul as you did.

Oh!

One afternoon, that's aII I ask of you.

I'll teII the cabman to just keep driving.

People do it in Paris.

It said l have a husband.

It said l couId not allow myself to be aIone with you.

It said our love belonged in the past.

Is this it, Leon? ls this our souls meeting?

They've never been apart.

Evening, Madame Bovary.

Where in heaven's name have you been?

You went without me:

A Ietter was sent to our hotel - my mother's brother died.

He has left us a tumbledown cottage and a silver reliquary.

She is prostrate with distress. Get me some sal volatiIe.

(Sighs)

Your thoughtfuIness has been misplaced, l never met the man.

And my mother-in-law wears black all the time.

- (Lheureux) I do apologise. - Drape these windows in yellow silk

floor to ceiling, with a swag across the top.

So perhaps your visit is quite opportune.

Lf, er... you wouId just sign here for continuation of our current agreement

regarding outstanding accounts.

Can you find me something with a stripe? And it must be saffron yellow, not primrose.

Madame Bovary, word reaches me that recent unfortunate events

have resulted in your husband inheriting responsibiIity

- for a country property. -A cottage, yes.

- Perhaps you're thinking of selling it? - Why wouId we do that?

It would cost more to repair than it will make in rent.

Dispose of it and you could wipe out all your debts to me at a stroke.

And still have a littIe capital to spare.

All my debts?

Your husband borrowed money from me when you were ill.

Should I have knowIedge of it? Is it a very Iarge amount?

2,000 francs.

I could sell the debt on to someone with greater means and more patience.

However that would be a most ungentlemanly way of doing business.

I have a fresh proposal to set before you.

So once Charles signs this I have power of attorney

and can take control of all our financial affairs. Bills, loans, everything.

Dr Bovary is fortunate indeed to have such a capable wife.

Just there, dear.

(Leon) If I wore the ermine of kings, the medals of a hero, the haIo of a saint,

l should not be bold enough to ask to breathe the perfume of your hair.

And yet aII these liberties you permit me.

To lick the sweet salt from the palm of your hand.

To have the oyster open up to me, to see the pearl revealed.

(Charles) l haven't had such a treat in a long time.

l couIdn't be more rusty if you left me in the rain.

Would you like to have Iessons, to refresh you?

- Lessons cost money, Charles. - Money can be found.

Besides, you're doing so well with our finances you deserve some benefit.

There are no proper teachers in YonviIIe. I'd have to go to Rouen.

Every singIe week.

(Gasping)

Every singIe Thursday l have a piano lesson.

Every singIe Thursday this room is ours.

(Sighs happily)

The world is ours.

Oh... (Giggles)

(Mother-in-law) Power of attorney? Have you lost your reason?

We were advised by a lawyer in Rouen. I can show you the document.

I think perhaps you ought.

The Constantinople carpet hasn't escaped my attention.

As if she hasn't squandered enough on these easy chairs.

There was only one upholstered seat in a household in my day

and that was for those advanced in years.

WeII... this must be overturned immediately.

- Mother... - (Door opens)

What is it this time? Another Algerian bon-bon dish? More blue vases?

I'd object Iess if poor little Berthe's stockings weren't in hoIes.

I'm not obliged to expIain myseIf to you.

You're obIiged to explain yourself to him.

Or you will be, once this power of attorney is revoked.

CharIes?

My son came into property when his uncIe died.

We can't have a nervous girl in charge of that.

- How dare you! How dare you: - Emma! Emma!

Give it to me:

Burn it, Charles. Burn it.

No.

Please stay.

You love her her, Charles. More than you love me.

Which is as it ought to be.

(CIicks tongue)

I have the advance on the sale of the cottage for you.

Minus e[penses, and less the agent's 20% , it amounts to 1800 francs.

Would you like to take the money with you or use it to offset your debt to me?

- How much is that exactly? - 4,000 francs.

I suppose that's compound interest and so forth?

I thought you might prefer it subdivided into four individual sums.

Four fresh schedules of repayment.

Sign them, Madame Bovary.

We both know where we stand.

And you wilI be free to concentrate on your music lessons.

What do you know about my music lessons?

I know they take place in the Hotel de Boulogne.

The landlady is a cousin of my mother's.

I'm not a gossip.

(BelIs tolling)

Can you hear the sea?

I can always hear the sea when l'm with you.

(Knock at door)

(Sighs)

It's the hour of reckoning.

(Sighs)

Thank goodness for Lheureu[.

I never knew a man quite so accommodating.

Lheureux? Do you borrow from Lheureux?

No, I do business with him. Did you never wonder how l afford this?

(Sighs)

Promise me you'll always find the money for this.

I live for Thursdays now.

Fridays are... the worst day of the week.

Saturdays and Sundays and Mondays are no better.

Not until Tuesday do l begin to breathe again.

You were e[hausted last night.

Berthe doesn't Iike it when you go straight to your room.

Do your music lessons tire you?

No, Charles, they do not tire me.

Do you think l have nothing in town to do but take piano instruction?

Sometimes l call on Madame Dubreuil.

Medical coIIeagues tell me she went to live in Le Crotoy

- because of her health. - She came back, much improved.

And... I have all manner of things to attend to at the lawyers',

things that... y-you don't have to trouble your head about.

Is everything in order in that department? Only...

I haven't seen any receipts for your music lessons.

Do you e[pect me to leave documents Iying about?

I would not Iike to think you are involved in anything we could not discuss.

I have difficuIties enough without the burden of your suspicion and mistrust.

Forgive me.

My mother's been sent an unsigned Ietter

telling her l'm ruining myself with a married woman.

And?

Oh... Tears, threats.

Priests were sent for.

I... promised to give you up.

Oh! (Laughs)

- That was yesterday! - Oh...

Never stop loving me, Leon. Never, never...

l swear l will worship you with the very essence of my being

all the days of my Iife.

You're a man, Iike any other.

It will be beyond you.

I waItzed with a viscount once.

Did I tell you that?

It was the most perfect moment of my life.

(# Barrel organ playing maudIin tune)

(Man) Time to go now.

# La la-la

# La! La: La-la lay

(# Sings Iouder incoherently)

(Sighs)

(Emma) I can barely feel it now.

I must keep the Iove aIive.

- (Knock at door) - (Felicite) Madame?

- What is it? - There's a man here, he won't go away.

6,000 francs?

I purchased the original debts from Monsieur Lheureux.

And then I have expenses of my own.

- How long do l have? - Two days.

ln the meantime I am entitIed to evaluate your home.

With the exception of personal correspondence.

Much good may it do you. Half of it isn't even paid for.

Would you care to put the house into the equation?

It's mortgaged.

You promised me you wouId never sell the debts to someone eIse!

No, I merely said such a thing would be ungentlemanly.

Do you think l live to amuse myseIf

with tablecloths and gIoves and women's undergarments?

Do you think that petty frippery and titillation is enough for me?

I thought we understood each other.

Because l tried to satisfy your appetites? No, Madame Bovary.

The world has hungers of its own.

(BelI chimes)

RodoIphe!

RodoIphe!

(# Maudlin tune on barrel organ)

(# Tune stops)

You ought to get something done about your eyes. I know a good doctor.

I want 50 francs for this. I can't accept Iess.

(Laughs)

Are you going to take me to the carnival?

I have the means, as l always do.

I want to forget myself.

(Crowd whoop and gasp)

(# Jolly foIk tune)

l need 8,000 francs, Leon, or Charles and I Iose everything.

Hm? You... Oh...

You can get it for me. You must get it for me.

Oh, Emma...

You work in a lawyer's office, there must be a safe, somebody must have a key.

- Mm? - l have a living to earn.

And a reputation to preserve.

- You're not drunk at aIl. - No.

You want too much of me.

I suppose Monsieur Lheureux has acquainted you with my troubIes?

I don't like to see you looking so downcast.

Circumstances have... conspired.

Or perhaps if I had a husband with a better business brain.

A man who was more of a man?

(Sobs)

I wouldn't presume to ask you for the fulI amount...

Please, don't distress yourself.

If you couId just let me have... 5,000 francs,

just... something to be going on with.

5,000 francs...

is a great deaI of money.

I too would need a Iittle something to be going on with.

You disgust me!

- I pity you. - Pity me aII you like, l'm not for sale.

(Door slams)

(Knocking at door)

You never used to lock the door.

You always used to be e[pected.

- Don't look at me like that. - Can't you bear to see how much l love you?

You've lost none of your charms.

I've lost everything else.

And it all began the day you left me.

l had to remove myself. I could not bear to be the ruin of you.

I'm ruined anyway now.

Unless... you lend me 3,000 francs.

3,000?

I have asked others for more, they never had it.

Neither have l.

Oh, what do you mean, neither have you?

I'm broke.

(Laughs)

But you live here, Rodolphe, and there are deer in your park, and...

- your vaIet brings you your champagne. - I'm broke.

I'm a gambler.

Just like you.

You are not Iike me, you're a man, you were born with money!

I am besieged by creditors! I sleep with a gun under my pillow! My hands are tied, Emma:

No, Rodolphe! You consumed me!

You took me, heart and inteIIect and soul on that bed

and in the woods, and you said you loved me. l am the one in bondage.

I wiII adore you aIways.

I have no choice.

Can we not revive our Iove?

Can we not go back to the beginning?

I was happy then.

I am not to blame.

You are the one in need:

l offer you a Iifetime's worship and you won't even give me 3,000 paltry francs!

(Emma) I suffer no remorse.

Feel no guilt.

Fear nothing.

(Door opens, beII tinkles)

l... have been troubIed by vermin. I hear them scratching in the attic...

at night, when sIeep will not come.

I need six ounces of arsenic.

Monsieur Homais is asleep. The cupboard's locked.

Where's the key to the cupboard?

Justin...

- Where is it? - l'm not allowed to telI you.

Would you do anything for me?

Would you do anything?

- Don't touch that! - Get out of my way!

- Don't touch that! - Get out of my way!

Don't do that, it's poisonous!

Spit it out!

Spit it out!

And don't teII anyone, otherwise you will get the blame.

Emma, you didn't come home, Berthe wouldn't go to bed without you.

I did not think it wouId be so soon.

(Charles) l've been told everything.

Have you?

How could you not have confided in me?

There's nothing left, is there?

(Sobbing) They won't take the tools of my trade or personaI correspondence.

- lt is the end. - lt's only debt.

It isn't only debt!

There's nothing left to feeI.

(Homais) Dr Bovary!

Dr Bovary...

Homais, is there no antidote? Are you certain there's no antidote?

(Screaming)

Is this it? Has it begun?

No. No, my love, no.

Here, just drink this milk now. Please.

Please. Please, Emma.

Please...

Drink it:

Good girl. Good girl.

- Do you want the priest? - My father.

Someone send for my father.

Go!

Oh!

(Screaming)

I'm content now that l have seen her.

Mummy?

What drove you to this?

I chose to.

There was no other possibility.

Do you forgive me?

Do you forgive me?

For making you miserable.

I would have given all that I had for things to have been otherwise.

You're a good man, Charles.

(Panting)

(Breathing slows)

(Exhales)

(Sobs)

Can l take her home?

Lay her to rest beneath the plum tree?

Three coffins, he wants. One of oak, one of mahogany and one of lead.

And a cover of green velvet.

I wiII bury my wife...

in a manner which befits her beauty...

and her worth...

and the regard l had for her.

Now let me be.

(BelI tolling)

(lnaudibIe)

(Emma) The heavens have been torn open.

Passion has been spiIt everywhere.

(# Barrel organ playing maudIin tune)

I waItzed with a viscount once.

It was the most perfect moment of my life.