Did you know the vibrator was the fifth domestic appliance to be electrified, after the sewing machine, fan, tea kettle and toaster? It also was invented about a decade before the vacuum cleaner and electric iron. Interesting right? And while Tanya Wexler’s Hysteria isn’t half as inventive as the story at its core it is still a sweet enough diversion to make for an appealing night at home with a movie. As it turns out, instead of being about the invention at its core, the first electronic vibrator, and the result of its stimulation, serves as more of a metaphor for a story of sexual repression and woman’s liberation.
Dr. Joseph Mortimer Granville is credited with the first patent for the electric vibrator. Here he is played by Hugh Dancy with a stiff bit of professionalism and not much of a personality to speak of. His approach to most things in life is purely academic, which makes for an interesting connection when he hooks up with Dr. Robert Dalrymple (Jonathan Pryce), a self-professed expert on “hysteria”, a catch-all diagnosis he suggests affects the majority of women in cases of stress, depression and pretty much whatever else may ail them. His prescription? Sexual stimulation to the point of orgasm. He performs this manually and under the most professional of environments — the women’s legs in stirrups, spread and covered by a concealing red curtain, ensuring their dignity is not lost in the process. Let the healing begin.
It’s when Dalrymple decides to give Mortimer a job in an environment where his professionalism is of the utmost importance does business really begin to boom.
Hysteria gets an additional jolt at this time with the introduction of Dalrymple’s daughters — the well-spoken daddy’s girl Emily (Felicity Jones) and the roguish go-getter Charlotte (Maggie Gyllenhaal). As more and more women begin lining up for “treatment” of this so-called hysteria at the hands of Mortimer Granville, Dalrymple is oblivious to the real reason his practice is so busy while at the same time trying to ensure a match between Emily and Mortimer.
All the while, set in London in the 1880s, an era of sexual repression with women’s rights at a minimum, the story begins to shift from being about Mortimer and his subsequent afterthought of an invention and all the things Charlotte stands for. This isn’t a problem, per se, but it turns the vibrator angle into a metaphorical gimmick within the film. Fortunately, Hysteria isn’t trying to be anything more than a passing and simple story so you forgive the fact it’s a glass half-empty.
Of the performances, I was impressed with Gyllenhaal among the film’s primary leads. She sports a rather solid British accent, at least as far as my untrained American ears were concerned, and she brings a truly womanly demeanor to Charlotte. She’s strong, yet feminine, rather than a meekish little girl, which was important for a character in her position. After all, while the film may be treading on the idea it’s about the birth of the electronic vibrator it’s actually about sexual independence and while the majority of the characters are yet to learn this, Charlotte is a character comfortable in leading the way.
However, the true standout of the film isn’t a woman or an electrical device, but a bearded man with glasses. Sporting an accent unlike his own you’d be hard-pressed to know it’s him if you hadn’t read the credits, but Rupert Everett as Edmund St. John-Smythe delivers the largest amount of entertainment over the film’s duration. To my knowledge this is a completely made-up character, deserving a film of his own.
Something of a mad scientist, St. John-Smythe is seen throughout the film tinkering away with various electronic gadgets poking fun at and implying the human desire for devices to distract us throughout our daily routine. Whether he’s yelling into the first telephone at a man across town he doesn’t even know or devising an electronic duster that ultimately becomes the first vibrator, he’s a joy in every scene he occupies.
To that point, St. John-Smythe is really the only bit of comical relief. There are a few moments where Mortimer’s hand needs continued icing due to the overwhelming number of “patients” he must service on a daily basis, but beyond that, Hysteria is more of a sweet little film with a sexually charged sales pitch. At only 95 minutes it seems a little long as the vibrator storyline slowly becomes secondary to the film’s actual purpose, but it’s satisfying enough to warrant a weekend video rental or perhaps even a matinee.
