Hysteria is a highly entertaining romantic comedy about the history and science of sexual pleasure and medical treatment of hysteria with surprisingly little sexual tension, considering the subject. This is the third feature by out lesbian and Chicago native Tanya Wexler ( Ball in the House and Finding North, featuring out actor John Benjamin Hickey ) .
Wexler's third feature is a light and airy work of creative non-fiction, blending romance and adventure with historical facts and period detail without being esoteric. It pairs well with the Golden Globe-nominated Dangerous Method because of Sigmund Freud's writings on hysteria and psychoanalysis. The once-valid medical condition the title refers to was said to be primarily experienced by women who get excitable or irritable, or those who experience emotional extremes. It is better understood today as perfectly normal behavior, except in the cases of mood disorders and sexual depravity.
Hysteria stars Hugh Dancy as a clumsy Cary Grant-type character, Joseph Mortimer Granville, a medical doctor preoccupied with burgeoning 19th-century sciences like the controversial germ theory. Granville represents the real-life doctor credited with patenting the first commercial electro-mechanical vibrator for muscular relief—more referring to his weakened wrist while performing treatments than sexual exhaustion.
In the film, Granvile gets a job with Dr. Robert Darlymple ( Jonathan Pryce ) , a pre-eminent doctor treating upper-crust housewives for hysteria—"the plague of our time" according to Darlymple. The procedure, known then as "medical massage," is a delicate one that involves oil of lily and that induces paroxysms ( the precursor to the orgasm ) .
After being hired into private practice with Darlymple, Granville's affections are split between Darlymple's daughters, Emily ( Felicity Jones ) and Charlotte ( Maggie Gyllenhaal ) . Emily, a demure yet intelligent student of phrenology ( head-reading ) , is the opposite of Charlotte, an uproarious suffragette and settlement house worker.
This highly recommended limited-release film comes on the tail of the London premiere of the Tony-nominated play In the Next Room" ( a.k.a. The Vibrator Play ) by Sarah Ruhl. ( It ran in Chicago at Victory Gardens. ) Whereas the play's main character was a wife who investigates her husband's experiments with a device to cure hysteria, the film is a stricter historical adaptation.
The coiniciding story line involves Charlotte, who is the sole representative of the suffragette and reform movements. It is a hefty task for one actress, but she pulls it off without compromising the historical significance of the cause. Unlike the silent suffragette films of the 1910s, the central woman does not abandon her cause for love; she stands up for a battered woman and serves a prison sentence for it. However, Charlotte shamelessly begs her father to subsidize her settlement until he refuses to continue to cover her debts. Conveniently, she later enters into good fortune when Granville offers to share the profits from vibrator sales.
I enjoyed the interplay between Edmund and the young Dr. Granville, who room together in a posh apartment sponsored mostly by Granville's better half, Edmund. Granville's friend is unfortunately the typical token gay best friend who knows only what he reads about women and is disgusted by the thought of them. However, Edmund is pleasantly eccentric and does add some stiff-lipped comic relief—Everett's mouth is tighter than ever. He spends his time lounging around like Oscar Wilde and tinkering with inventions like the telephone and automatic feather duster. Nearly every time Granville enters the apartment, Edmund is on the phone with his mother—another stereotypical trait I'd like to see avoided for once.
The filmmakers throw in a timeline of the evolution of vibrators to liven the credits, starting with the Vibratile from 1899 ( a heavy piece of machinery ) to the most successful vibrator of all time, the Pocket Rocket. Hysteria opens Friday, May 25.
If you live long enough, you may be less inhibited around family. Loose Cannons is an Italian gay drama directed by Ferzan Ozpetek about a few outsiders in an oligarchic family in Lecce, Italy, who shake up the peace by coming out of the closet, admitting their regrets and embracing their dreams.
The ensemble cast of idiosyncratic relatives is hilariously funny. Stefania Cantone ( Lunetta Savino ) frantically searches for proof that her son, Antonio ( Alessandro Preziosi ) , is gay and how she might convert him back to normal. Luciana ( Elena Sofia Ricci ) is the black sheep of the family who languishes at home in her lingerie drinking herself silly and calling suiters to role play thieves-in-the-night.
Rather than be cynical, La Nonna ( Ilaria Occhini ) disregards her overbearing daughter-in-law and contradicts her eldest son and heir to her husband's pasta empire. The film periodically flashes back to the La Nonna's marriage to the wrong man, Nicola, the brother of her true love. Loose Cannons writhes like the wild animal that is the city of Lecce, a small town where gossip governs and everyone knows each other's business. At first, what appears to be a simple coming-out story evolves into a melodrama about unrequited affection and the guilt of pursuing dreams one's dreams in spite of family obligations.
The golden son, Tomasso ( Riccardo Scamarcio ) , returns home to the same deeply rooted patriarchy he escaped to study in Rome, where he lives as an openly gay writer. Having ditched business school to study literature, Tomasso knows he has to come out twice—regarding his sexual orientation and his chosen profession. However, before his announcements, his brother and heir to the business, Antonio, surprises everyone ( including Tomasso ) by coming out as gay at the dinner table the night their father, Vincenzo, plans to sign a contract with a new business partner who is also seated at the table.
The dynamics of the family dinner table in most coming-out films are a cliched motif, but few are this nuanced. The scene's awkward silence, burst of laughter and eventual realization make for great drama. The director's choice to have everyone hold his or her opinion until after Vincenzo disowns his son is a remarkable statement about traditional family hierarchy that lives on into the new millennium.
Marco ( Carmine Recano ) , Tomasso's lover, struggles to understand the family dynamic until he visits with a group of their very flamboyant friends, whom the family invites. It's refreshing to see a gay couple discuss the situation maturely while they hide who they are to Tomasso's naive parents. Sometimes, gay people rush into coming out guns blazing, but a slow acceptance is better than none at all. Antonio broke the seal on the lid for both he and his brother, but Tomasso stops short. No one would believe they were both gay, so he stays on to learn the family business—to no avail.
In the weeks after returning home, Tomasso confuses his family further by buddying with Alba ( Nicole Grimaudo ) , the niece of the other business partner. She is a fashionista with brains and brawn who manages the business with Tomasso once Antonio is gone. Her reckless driving and tragic past somehow lead to a friendship with Tomasso—a relationship she wishes could be more. Every character's sense of longing, loss or disappointment brings the family closer together as it seems to be falling apart. It is available on VOD June 1 from Focus Features World.
Film notes:
—The Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St., presents TransCinema on May 26. This transgendered film screening series occurs every fourth Saturday of the month.
—Chicago queer filmmaker Jules Rosskam ( Transparent, Against a Trans Narrative ) is raising funds to complete his latest film, Thick Relations. It is a lyrical film about the ties we create in diverse queer communities. Pledges can be made at Kickstarter.com: http://kck.st/ICKwIc.
—Academy Award nominee Lily Tomlin ( Nashville, 9 to 5 ) will star with Tina Fey ( 30 Rock ) , BAFTA nominee Michael Sheen ( The Queen ) and Paul Rudd in Admission, a comedy/drama directed by Paul Weitz ( About a Boy, Being Flynn ) . Academy Award nominee Caroline Baron ( Capote ) is executive-producing.
