I Am Not Madame Bovary

Li Xuelian and her husband Qin Yuhe agree to a fake divorce so they can obtain a second apartment. Months later, Qin marries another woman, leaving Li abandoned and, worse, spreading rumors that she was unfaithful. What begins as a dispute over a marriage turns into a years-long campaign for justice, as Li takes her complaints from local officials to the capital, where bureaucracy and indifference repeatedly frustrate her efforts to clear her name.

The film is directed by Feng Xiaogang, working from a screenplay by Liu Zhenyun. It is the ninth of the thirteen films he has directed, following Back to 1942 and preceding Youth. Fan Bingbing plays Li Xuelian, with Guo Tao, Dong Chengpeng, Zhang Jiayi, Yu Hewei and Zhang Yi among a credited cast of twenty-one. The story blends comedy and drama in a satirical look at Chinese officialdom.

Released in September 2016 and running 128 minutes, the film drew moderate audience scores: 6.9 out of 10 on IMDb from roughly 2,600 votes and 6.8 out of 10 on TMDB from about 100 votes. A critics' rating of 6.7 out of 10 from fifty-two reviews places professional and audience responses fairly close together, suggesting a film received with general approval rather than strong enthusiasm on either side.