Review of The Notorious Bettie Page (2006) by Jean-Francois V — 04 Jul 2009

As a convert to Catholicism who used to own some bondage material in my early twenties (including John Wylie's "Gwendoline", four volumes of Eric Stanton and a £5 album of Bettie Page photographs published by Taschen), I was perhaps the ideal spectator for this film, because it could affect me in so many ways, not the least of which was bringing me back in time about twenty years.

But even though I was drawn by the subject matter, I didn't expect the film to be so good. First, based on a few glimpses I had had of the film on TV, I thought Gretchen Mol was not a dead ringer for Bettie Page, and I expected some sort of comedy where they would get all the details of the period clothing -fetish or other- wrong (if Steven Spielberg can't even get cuban heels for Elsa Schneider, what could you expect of such a low budget film?) But I was wrong on all counts, and especially about Gretchen Mol, whom I had already appreciated in "The Thirteenth Floor." After a few minutes, she had completely become Bettie Page in my mind, and her acting was so perfect I was mesmerised by the character. Every single actor in this film is brilliant, but Mol is magnetic.

The period is also wonderfully recreated. Due to the budget restrictions, many of the establishing shots are stock from the fifties, and because they are grainier, you always can tell the difference. But I didn't mind. Apart from the grain, the transitions were seamless, and really brought the forties and fifties back to life.

What I also really loved about the film is that despite its subject, it is not a mindless pamphlet about the marvels of sexual liberation, the harmlessness of pornography and the evil repressiveness of religion. The judges and moral authorities portrayed in the movie are not caricatures of "stuck up victorians", or whatever cliche the sexual liberationists claim sexual moralists are, but genuine, three-dimensional human beings with a real concern for the consequences of sexual immorality. Christianity is not denigrated either, and in fact the film contains some of the most moving religious moments I have seen on screen since I can't remember when.

I don't know how reliable the film is as a document, and the absence of reference to Bettie Page's decade as a schizophrenic certainly distorts the picture of the character a little. But as a film, it works perfectly, creating a very powerful portrait of a complex, multifaceted woman. The black and white photography is superb, and some recreations of Bettie's black and white shorts reach an almost lynchian surrealism.

The USCB rated this film O for "full-frontal and rear female nudity, recurring sexually aberrant poses, the suggested sexual abuse of a minor, an implied gang rape, an instance of rough language and profanity" (the latter promptly chided by Bettie Page herself), considering the "treatment of Page's religious convictions... superficial." So this is definitely not a film for everyone.

As for me, call me a pervert (I suppose I am, however much I have tried to reform myself), but I was just enthralled by it.