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Craig Younkin
Movie Review
The Notorious Bettie Page
By Craig Younkin Published April 7, 2006
US Release: April 14, 2006
Directed by: Mary Harron
Starring: Gretchen Mol , Lili Taylor
R
Running Time: 91 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $1,410,778
Directed by: Mary Harron
Starring: Gretchen Mol , Lili Taylor
R
Running Time: 91 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $1,410,778
B
Seems to run a little short for a bio and Bettie's more turbulent later years are never shown, but this movie is more about her legacy than an actual bio ? and in that regard, Page is an interesting and sweet surprise.
"Notorious Bettie Page" is not something I would really call cute on the outset, but after seeing it that's really the only word that really sticks in my mind. While I was expecting to call this mini-bio on the 1940 - 50's pin-up a worthy sexual punch against the religious right, the movie is actually very borderline and that's not exactly a bad thing either.
Page (Gretchen Mol), a very sweet church-going girl, was brought up in Nashville. From what we see of her childhood, she abided by her family's strict religious rules, but at the same time she seemed interested in "play.? We see her and her sisters dancing around the front-yard, pulling their dresses up when cars drive by. This was not to be sexual at all but actually just sort of a cute little game. The rest of her younger years were less so, with her father raping her and being the victim of a sexual assault by a gang. Page moved to New York where she entered herself in a couple beauty pageants, but her big break comes while walking by a photographer on the beach. He takes photos of her, and begins her on a career of modeling. Her career takes her to the doorsteps of Irving (Chris Bauer) and Paula (Lilli Taylor) Claw, a couple who specialize in "special interest" material. Soon Bettie is exposed to all sorts of fetishes, the biggest of which is spanking and bondage.
What's interesting about the flick is how Page was so innocent. To her, bondage was little more than a chance to role-play, like two boys playing Cowboys and Indians. No sex or nudity was ever shown. Spanking was shown though, and the material she produced did land in the hands of perverts, many of them teenagers, and so a smut campaign was undoubtedly going to get raised, as well as many questions about Page's Christian upbringing. When she is asked by a producer of one of her films, "Do you think God would approve of what you do?" she gives the most natural and logical answer I've ever heard anyone give on the subject. There was room for both Christianity and tolerance in Page's world, and the movie taking on that balance as its story arc should have many people talking by the end of the flick.
Gretchen Mol's performance as Page is another fantastic element to this story. She makes Page a sweetheart, slightly na?ve but never anything less than a natural beauty and a free-spirited personality. Director Marry Harron does an excellent job of bringing us back to a tamer time, when sexual expression of any kind was forbidden and closeted. The black and white film gives the movie a nostalgic feel and the tone reminded me a lot of a "Leave it to Beaver" episode (that is until one photographer comments, "I think I just saw her beaver"). "Notorious Bettie Page" seems to run a little short for a bio and Bettie's more turbulent later years are never shown to us, but this movie is more about her legacy as a pin-up icon than an actual bio ? and in that regard, "Page" is an interesting and sweet surprise.
Page (Gretchen Mol), a very sweet church-going girl, was brought up in Nashville. From what we see of her childhood, she abided by her family's strict religious rules, but at the same time she seemed interested in "play.? We see her and her sisters dancing around the front-yard, pulling their dresses up when cars drive by. This was not to be sexual at all but actually just sort of a cute little game. The rest of her younger years were less so, with her father raping her and being the victim of a sexual assault by a gang. Page moved to New York where she entered herself in a couple beauty pageants, but her big break comes while walking by a photographer on the beach. He takes photos of her, and begins her on a career of modeling. Her career takes her to the doorsteps of Irving (Chris Bauer) and Paula (Lilli Taylor) Claw, a couple who specialize in "special interest" material. Soon Bettie is exposed to all sorts of fetishes, the biggest of which is spanking and bondage.
What's interesting about the flick is how Page was so innocent. To her, bondage was little more than a chance to role-play, like two boys playing Cowboys and Indians. No sex or nudity was ever shown. Spanking was shown though, and the material she produced did land in the hands of perverts, many of them teenagers, and so a smut campaign was undoubtedly going to get raised, as well as many questions about Page's Christian upbringing. When she is asked by a producer of one of her films, "Do you think God would approve of what you do?" she gives the most natural and logical answer I've ever heard anyone give on the subject. There was room for both Christianity and tolerance in Page's world, and the movie taking on that balance as its story arc should have many people talking by the end of the flick.
Gretchen Mol's performance as Page is another fantastic element to this story. She makes Page a sweetheart, slightly na?ve but never anything less than a natural beauty and a free-spirited personality. Director Marry Harron does an excellent job of bringing us back to a tamer time, when sexual expression of any kind was forbidden and closeted. The black and white film gives the movie a nostalgic feel and the tone reminded me a lot of a "Leave it to Beaver" episode (that is until one photographer comments, "I think I just saw her beaver"). "Notorious Bettie Page" seems to run a little short for a bio and Bettie's more turbulent later years are never shown to us, but this movie is more about her legacy as a pin-up icon than an actual bio ? and in that regard, "Page" is an interesting and sweet surprise.
Craig's Grade: B
Craig's Overall Grading: 340 graded movies
| A | 10.9% | |
| B | 41.8% | |
| C | 31.8% | |
| D | 15.3% | |
| F | 0.3% |
