I Am Not Madame Bovary (我不是潘金莲) is, at least within international circles, one of this year’s most eagerly anticipated Chinese films. This black comedy stars Fan Bingbing as a village woman who engages in a Kafkaesque struggle with China’s legal system after her ex-husband swindles her.
The film is directed by Feng Xiaogang, who worked with Fan Bingbing on the 2000 hit Cell Phone and has directed other successful Chinese films like the 2007 war epic Assembly.
Despite Feng and Fan’s name recognition, rumors initially circulated that, due to its controversial subject matter, the film had failed to get approval from China’s censorship board.
However, last week, local media reported that I Am Not Madame Bovary had been approved and will premiere in China on November 18, 2016. The film’s final runtime is not yet known–which means official approval might’ve been conditional upon certain cuts.