Hysteria

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

Did you know that vibrator was invented as a disease-curing device? I didn't until I watched "Hysteria", a comedy about battle of the sexes, battle of the classes, non-existent disease, female orgasms and of course, the vibrator (coincidentally invented by a pair of males with different sexual preferences). 

The story is set in 1880s London, and the little we see of it looks rather well. Young doctor named Mortimer Granville is helping the sick and needing all over London and constantly getting fired because of his belief in modern science. He ends up as an assistant of a well known doctor who is curing hysteria, a disease affecting only women. Cure is very simple: a gentle massage of lady's "private area". Of course, hysteria doesn't exist. Women in the movie seem to know it and it isn't clear why they don't inform the men about it. Or maybe they did but men wouldn't listen? It's stated at one point in the movie that hysteria "in its most severe forms demands drastic measures. Institutionalization, surgery even." Just thinking about that severe measures for something that doesn't exist is seriously disturbing. It leaves me wondering why is there just one woman speaking for her sex. That woman is Charlotte Dalrymple, daughter of hysteria-curing doctor and Mortimer's romantic interest. She is a firm believer in male-female equality and she states so before the court near the end of the movie. As you can see there are a number of very intriguing issues tackled here. Unfortunately, none of those are pursued. Instead the author of the story (or screenwriters at least) opted for a humorous approach and concentrated on the orgasms. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with orgasms. It just seems there's so much more to this story. It has comedic potential, that's for sure, but its gags are cheap and overly simplistic.

The actors all did a good job. Maggie Gyllenhaal is maybe too flat in her portrayal of such a revolutionary personality but the script isn't helping her (the scene where Charlotte is checking her hair in front of the mirror while Mortimer waits for her is meant to show us that in the end she just wants the same thing as all the other women in the movie - orgasm).  The opposite could be objected to Rupert Everett whose interpretation of a gay lord seems a little exaggerated. The art direction, costume design and makeup are all on spot, as they mostly are in period pieces like this one.

In spite of all I've written "Hysteria" is a watchable movie, at the moments even an enjoyable one. But for those women who seek some greater pleasure from a movie I would rather suggest "Hysteria"'s greatest discovery – the vibrator.

Heck, I suggest it for the men too.