Review: Hysteria
Caught without an umbrella in a sudden downpour on my way to a movie at the IFC Center in New York City, I dashed into one of the many brightly lit shops along the Avenue of the Americas. Stunned and speechless, there before my eyes was a plethora of vibrators in all shapes, sizes and functions. The shop owner mistook my facial expression for discomfort, and offered her assistance in comforting words. I explained that I wasn't uncomfortable, but pleasantly amused. I had just seen the movie Hysteria and was titillated to encounter such an assortment, including items within a glass case that I can only describe as a futuristic concept in both name and design.
For centuries, doctors treated women for a variety of ailments collectively known as "female hysteria" through manual "pelvic massage" to cause "hysterical paroxysm," what is now recognized as an orgasm. Doctors suffered from fatigue of the wrists and hands from this work, and were therefore aided greatly by Dr. Joseph Mortimer Granville's patent in 1880 of the electromechanical vibrator. Granville's seminal work led to the vibrator being the fifth domestic appliance to be electrified -- the first ones were made available for retail by none other than Hamilton Beach in 1902. The romantic comedy Hysteria is a liberating dramatization of the circumstances surrounding Granville's invention, including subplots involving women's suffrage and inequality between social classes.
Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy) is a young doctor who is appalled by the blood-letting and other antiquated practices of "modern" medicine, and is considered a radical for speaking of Lister's germ theory and the need for antiseptic conditions. Dismissed from yet another position at the local hospital -- conveniently located next door to the morgue -- Granville is hired by Dr. Robert Dalrymple (Jonathan Pryce) to assist with his growing practice. Dr. Dalrymple specializes in treating female hysteria, and his clients are quick to schedule additional appointments with the handsome Mortimer who quickly masters the necessary skills to satisfy his female patients.
Mortimer's employment and impending engagement to Emily Dalrymple (Felicity Jones) is threatened by muscle fatigue as well as dynamic interactions with the more spirited Dalrymple daughter, Charlotte (Maggie Gyllenhaal) while avoiding the advances of Molly (Sheridan Smith), the not quite completely reformed prostitute who works as the Dalrymple's housemaid. Whereas Emily seems reserved and comfortable about her future as wife to a doctor, Charlotte believes in educating the poor and woman's right to vote. With the support of his eccentric and filthy rich friend, Edmund St. John-Smythe (Rupert Everett), Mortimer comes up with an invention to make the doctors' jobs easier and cure the female patients' ailments.
Hysteria is an engaging and humorous film, sure to amuse anyone who enjoys a good double entendre. The cast themselves truly seem to be enjoying themselves immensely in this movie, and therefore the acting from all including supporting actors Everett and Smith is top notch. Pryce is well cast as the exasperated doctor who can't seem to please all the women in his household and examination room, and Dancy plays Granville with complete and believable innocence. Although Everett often steals scenes from Dancy, the true star of Hysteria is Gyllenhaal, who radiates s an inner beauty as the angel to the poor as well as elegance in black at Mortimer and Charlotte's engagement party.
The art design and set decorations are quite lovely in Hysteria, but it is the costume design of Nic Ede (Me and Orson Welles, Nanny McPhee) that I feel deserves the most accolades. From men's spats to ladies hats, from Charlotte's work clothes for the tenement house school to her black evening dress with matching choker, the costumes are well-designed and eye-catching.
The only weakness I found with Hysteria was that of the chemistry between Mortimer and Charlotte, which could have benefitted from more interaction between their characters. With that said, I was still quite happy although not surprised by the film's outcome. The screenwriting was well paced and kept the audience engaged in the romance between its lead characters as well as the comedy of the discovery of a woman's best friend.
I highly recommend seeing Hysteria in the theater, whether with a significant other or as a girls' night out. Be sure to stay through the credits for an additional hysteri-lesson on the evolution of the electrical vibrating massager.