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Hysteria
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (2nd November 2012). |
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The Film
 This story is based on true events. Really. “Hysteria” opens with that disclaimer. And I almost don’t want to believe it, and would rather think it some “Fargo”-esque (1996) fake. In part because the film is so silly—so absurdly, implausibly, odd—in something as simple as just its basic premise, the whole thing seems like the work of a screenwriter with a little too much time on their hands (and a strangely perverse creative streak), and not at all remotely close to reality. But, that’s not the case. Director Tanya Wexler’s “Hysteria” is wholly grounded in historical fact; its perverse premise and all, founded in truth. Really. You see, to get a bit boring for a second, for centuries—for millennia, actually—before it was used as a colloquialism denoting an emotionally unstable state, hysteria referred to a specific medical condition in women; particularly a malady relating to an “over-activity” of… milady’s lady parts. The root of the word comes from the Greek “hystera”, which means “womb”; appropriate then, the anglicized “hysteria” became the term to describe a medical “problem” rooted in the uterus. By about 1850 (until the middle of the 20th century), hysteria was almost exclusively used in Europe and the Americas to describe a form of presumed, severe, sexual dysfunction, and the only cure for this dysfunction was stimulation of the female patient’s… pelvic region… to rid her of the dreadful affliction. Sigmund Freud once wrote—oh, forget it. You know what? “Hysteria” is an R-rated movie, and hopefully we’re all adults here, so I’m gonna cut the careful phrasing. This movie is about the invention of the vibrator, and the ridiculous circumstances that led to such a device coming into common use as a medical tool towards the end of the 1800's. “Hysteria” is the absurd-but-true story of a doctor who became so tired of using his hands to “stimulate” his hysterical patients he invented a machine to do it for him. In the 19th century, one of the weirder eras of modern human history, lots of nutty doctors—the same fools who had only recently discovered germs, and still used leeches to cure most ailments—manually masturbated well-to-do women, all suffering from this so-called hysteria, to orgasm on a routine basis, under the guise of medical science. At the time, it was believed one-quarter to half of all females suffered from the disease—which manifested in all sorts of ways, including nervousness, depression, insomnia, cramps, and the most amusing of all, simply “a tendency to cause trouble”. In the most extreme cases, women suffering from hysteria were institutionalized. But most simply made frequent visits to a specialized doctor, and were cured, temporarily, until their next fit of hysterics would bring them back for more… stimulation. Practicing in hysteria-care was time consuming and costly proposition for the men who “cured” these women with their magic hands. The problem was, beside the fact that there wasn’t a “problem” at all (it wouldn’t be until 1953 that medical science finally admitted female hysteria was a bunch of bull), physicians of the day, such as our man at the center of the story here, would often spend hours with one patient, and even after several hours, were not always successful in “curing” them. That was, until the vibrator cut visits down from hours to mere minutes, and, more often then not, came to a suitably more climactic end. With the new invention, doctors could satisfy more patients with greater efficiency, and most importantly to them, make more money in the process. Set in London, in the year 1880, “Hysteria” uses this strange yet largely truthful historical backdrop to tell its tale—a tale that is as much about a man who turned an electrical duster into the world’s first vibrator, as it is a farcical romantic comedy about that man and the two women thrust into his life around the same time he thought up his new apparatus. Hugh Dancy plays Mortimer Granville, a doctor with a particularly skillful pair of paws. Fired from his pervious position for his “frivolous fascination” with keeping poor, sick, and dying patients in clean bandages (he’s told “germ theory is poppycock” by his decrepit old boss), Granville soon finds himself in the employ of Dr. Robert Dalrymple (Jonathan Pryce), a physician specializing in relieving women of the greatest disorder of the day—female hysteria. It seems Mortimer is quite good at “massaging” patients into a calm state. Soon, he finds himself elbow deep in… anyway… he develops a following, labeled as the most renowned curer of hysteria in town. He finds he can’t keep up with demand. Worse, so vigorous is his manipulation of female “pelvic” muscle and tissue, the young Granville begins to experience severe cramps of his own… in his hands… and is unable to satisfy the ever-growing group of women making visits to the increasingly popular Dalrymple-Granville medical practice. What’s Mortimer to do? How will he save his practice and his reputation, while keeping his hands cramp free? For help, Granville need look no further than into the weird world of lazy Lord Edmund St. John-Smythe (Rupert Everett), his closest friend and confidant, a well-off royal who loves to tinker with things, mainly, at present, his electric feather duster. It is the height of the second industrial revolution—science and technology are enhancing and mechanizing the world at an ever-increasing rate. Intersecting with his professional problems, and his quest to conquer them with his new solution, are plot threads concerning Granville’s burgeoning relationships with Dalrymple’s two lovely, educated, opinionated, and very intriguing daughters, Charlotte (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Emily (Felicity Jones). And so, while mingling with the Dalrymple daughters—Charlotte a pre-feminist figure of modernity and Emily a more proper Victorian lady—Granville’s electric vibrator is born from his friend’s toy. “Hysteria” is a gorgeously mounted production, with lush cinematography and intricate period detail. The acting is uniformly strong. Dancy and Pryce turn in typically excellent performances. Gyllenhaal and Jones make brilliant foils to each other, the opposite side of the same sister-coin. Everett, as Granville’s gay-aristocrat-sort-of-adopted-brother-best-friend-who-is-obsessed-with-everything-related-to-electricity, is a fleeting hoot. In fact, there’s a lot of fun to be had from all—with plenty of jokes built on the strange society of post-enlightenment, proto-industrial Britain, in which conflicting ideologies ran amok in the medical field, and characters can entertain themselves for hours with new fangled innovations like the telephone. But most amusing, if uncomfortably so, are the scenes in which Dalrymple and Granville treat their patients. The so-called stimulation is all so over-affected, the patients reactions so over-the-top-ridiculous, it works. Under the direction of Wexler, the film, from a screenplay by Jonah Lisa Dyer & Stephen Dyer, based on a story by Howard Gensler, is an amusing and sometimes outright wickedly funny affair. The script has solid humor, but most of the funniest moments come from Wexler’s direction and editing choices, which have a satirical edge that is almost to the point of being palpably sarcastic. Initially, the tone is somewhat unexpected—especially in light of the elaborate production design, costumes, and sweeping orchestral score befitting a proper period piece, all framed in the golden glow of widescreen antiquity. The humor seems oddly juxtaposed with the aesthetics at first. But, in the end, Wexler’s handling seems the only logical way in which to approach the material. If this story must be told—and it definitely is worthy of telling, if only for the absurd comedic effect—then Wexler’s way is the most fitting. An overly serious examination of the events, and a somber tone more in tune with the stately aesthetics, would be at odds with, lets face it, the ridiculousness of this story. Sure, Mortimer Granville was a real man, and he did indeed invent what became known as the vibrator—but he called the device Granville’s Hammer ferchrissakes! (Cue image of Nathan Fillion saying, “The Hammer is my penis”, from “Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog” (2008)). And yes, female sexuality was greatly misunderstood by the learned men of the day, to such a degree modern audiences have no other way to respond other than to laugh. This is just so clearly not the stuff of serious Oscar-baiting drama, despite the attractive period look. It is perfect for a weird comedy, though. And that’s exactly what “Hysteria” is, despite the pretense of period dressing and a factual backdrop: A very weird, but well-acted, well-directed, comedy. Yes, there’s a romantic twist. But fear not, the film is not a terrible rom-com, even if the plot walks that well-worn path of predictability. “Hysteria” can be somewhat uncomfortable—let’s not pretend here; the major crux is a topic that will make even the most open-minded individual blush, if for no other reason than the frankness of what is depicted and discussed—and the predictability element of the rom-com qualities the story possesses is almost welcomed then. It grounds this truly bizarre, sexed-up sensationalist, slice of actual history. At times, the film is so unbelievable in its truth—the premise just doesn’t seem plausible, yet, that’s the least fictionalized part—the tried and true rom-com tropes (of which there are few; and even then, the silly, satirical, sarcasm seeps through) provide some needed, comforting, familiarity. Best of all, the cast (particularly Darcy and Gyllenhaal) has great chemistry, which helps sell the relationships and the love story. Even as a simple romantic comedy, the film works; but “Hysteria” is also a weirdly hilarious, dare I say hysterical, film that is one of a kind, and for that it’s worth seeing.
Video
“Hysteria’s” 1080p 24/fps high definition AVC MPEG-4 transfer, framed in 2.40:1 widescreen, is another excellent day-and-date title from Sony. Sony usually does good-to-great work with their Blu-rays, but this disc is especially pretty. Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt’s camerawork and sumptuous palette, and the period production design all done up in intricate patterns, really make this an attractive image. It may not be the most finely detailed picture on the market, but the presentation has gobs of rich texture, is busting with warm color, and features a consistent layer of natural film grain. Contrast remains true and blacks deep, without crushing. Edges are clean, without sign of artificial sharpening or edge enhancement. The encode is free of artifacts, aliasing and moiré; I saw neither evidence of noise reduction nor any other anomies. “Hysteria” is near perfect presentation on Blu-ray, with only the at-times distracting blue-green-shift of whites (a result of a tweak in the digital intermediate) giving pause. In the end, “Hysteria” is an accurate reflection of its super35 source material, and is a great looking disc.
Audio
Like many comedies and historical dramas, “Hysteria” is a dialogue-driven film. Sony’s English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit) reflects the more restrained nature of the source material, offering crisp intelligible dialog and a subtle but clear use of mild atmospheric effects. The track has some light ambience, with the clatter of horse hooves on cobblestones, leaves rusting in the park, and other natural sounds funneling into the rears. The score by Gast Waltzing & Christian Henson, is largely understated, anchored by brief passages of sweeping orchestral-driven moments, bleeding nicely into the surrounds. The track has a respectable richness and fidelity, but remains reserved. “Hysteria” includes subtitles in English and Hindi, with optional English subtitles also available on the commentary.
Extras
“Hysteria” includes a modestly endowed supplemental package: an audio commentary, two featurettes, deleted scenes, a documentary excerpt, and a few theatrical trailers. Typical of a Sony release, the disc is authored with optional bookmarks and a resume playback function. Video content is encoded in a mix of high definition and standard definition. First up, director Tanya Wexler offers a quiet but informative audio commentary. Although her delivery is mild-mannered, Wexler has some very interesting things to say, discussing the history of the project—from the writing, to the casting to the shoot—while also offering insight into her deliberate style, and the tone she took with the material. She talks about the true-life story that inspired this tale, the truly strange misguided misunderstandings of female sexuality in the medical field before the 20th century, and many other notable topics. “An Evening with Tanya Wexler, Hugh Dancy and Jonathan Pryce” (1.78:1 1080p, 12 minutes 26 seconds) is a Q&A featurette, recorded on April 23, 2012 at the Tribeca Film Festival. The director and her two leading men discuss the film with the same light-hearted tone as found in the film; freely admitting it’s all rather ridiculous. The trio offers some insight into the project, but many of their answers seem redundant after listening to the thorough and thoughtful commentary. A second, shorter, featurette titled “‘Hysteria’: Behind the Scenes” (1.78:1/2.40:1 variable 1080p, 5 minutes 41 seconds) has also been included. This is a typical EPK piece and not worth your time. Check out the commentary or the Q&A instead. Four deleted scenes (2.40:1 non-anamorphic 480p, 2 minutes 52 seconds, play all) amount to little substance or material of much consequence, likely excised for the usual pacing issues. The scenes are: - “Castelari Long” - “Stitching Head” - “Crying Over Bills” - “Checking Patents” Of much interest is “Passion & Power: The Technology of Orgasm” (1.33:1 480p, 43 minutes 7 seconds), an excerpt from a larger documentary by Emiko Omori and Wendy Blair Slick, produced in 2007. This is a truncated version of their 74-minute feature-length examination of female sex history—particularly, the stimulating story of the conception and socio-cultural significance surround the vibrator. At just under 45 minutes, this is only about 2/3 of the final cut. Really very interesting stuff, and if you’re looking for a more serious, academic, discussion of “Hysteria’s” story, this is it. It’s a shame the whole documentary couldn’t have found its way onto the disc, but the shortened version is fine too. Finally, Sony has included the film's theatrical trailer (2.40:1 1080p, 1 minute 46 seconds) Six pre-menu bonus trailers can also be accessed from a submenu marked “Previews”. They are: - Sony Blu-ray promo (1080p various AR, 2 minutes 25 seconds). - “Damsels in Distress” (1.85:1 1080p, 2 minutes 28 seconds) on Blu-ray and DVD. - “Neil Young Journeys” (1.78:1 1080p, 2 minutes 3 seconds) on Blu-ray and DVD. - “Inside Job” (2.35:1 1080p, 2 minutes 25 seconds) on Blu-ray and DVD. - “Please Give” (2.35:1 1080p, 2 minutes 13 seconds) on Blu-ray and DVD. - “Get Low” (2.35:1 1080p, 2 minutes 14 seconds) on Blu-ray and DVD.
Packaging
“Hysteria” comes to Blu-ray in an unassuming package from Sony Home Entertainment, under their Picture Classics label. The dual layered BD-50 is marked locked to Region A and is housed in a Vortex eco case.
Overall
I suppose those looking for a more serious examination of female sexuality in the Victorian era, in particular the completely apish absurdity with which supposedly learned men of medical science approached the matter, might take issue with “Hysteria” and its comedic edge. I found myself rather enjoying the ridiculousness and the comedy though, and I think it was the right tone for such a strange and rather fantastic subject. The cast has great chemistry and the film is very funny, if both uncomfortable and somewhat predictable on occasion (although rarely at the same time). Sony’s Blu-ray release has near-perfect 1080p HD video, a solid DTS-HD Master Audio mix, and plenty of supplements. Recommended.
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