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The Notorious Bettie Page [2006]


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3 stars isn't enough
Review date: 2008-06-03 Rating: 6 out of 10

it actually pained me to rate this at three stars because there is so much about i liked, however there was a also so much a didn't like. to call this film a tragedy would be overstating it but i did feel it seriuosly let down the story of the Queen of Curves.

Gretchen Mol was superb and far and away better than the over, airbrushed, naff imitation i had expected. i felt her performance really understood about Bettie and captured that spark in her that made us all crazy for her. She seemed to really care for the character and that made the viewer care too.

The cinematography has not been mentioned in many reviews i have read but it truly deserves to be. Anyone who has seen the photographs of Miss Page taken by both Klaw and Bunnie Jaeger can't fail to recognise the clever illustration of those two aspects of her personality through the films cinematographic styles. I found it a pleasure to see them slide seamlessly from saturated, south pacific, 1950's technicolour to gorgeous gritty, guilty black and white. In that aspect the film was exceptional.

however I was really dissapointed by the glancing blow the plot took at the life of one of the most mysterious and fascinating women of the 20th century. the fact that nothing deeper than her guilt and naaivety was explored was frankly insulting and while I felt Mol made an wonderful Page i was constantly aware throughout of her struggle to escape the limiting and in my opinion insultingly shallow subject matter.

worth watching, and owning if you're a fan, but a real opportunity missed

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Reviews


A good attempt...
Review date: 2008-05-29 Rating: 8 out of 10

Bettie Page to me is the most wonderful sexy woman ever (Apart from my wife..)and this film somehow got under the skin of Bettie, I found it affectionate and charming and as a bio, well I don't think anyone really knows what happened. I realise it is flawed, but as a Bettie fan I ended up feeling good about watching the film.

A biopic found seriously lacking
Review date: 2007-07-19 Rating: 4 out of 10

Prior to watching this film I knew nothing of the 'notorious' Bettie Page. After watching I found out that she liked to pose topless, posed for some bondage photos and liked to go to the beach. And thats about it.

I'm unsure what the point of this film actually is. It teaches us next to nothing and, as a biopic, it falls way short; as a look at sexual attitudes in the 1950s it fails too. From reading about her afterwards she was - allegedly - committed to a mental institution, a suspect in a murder case, married three times (just one of these is mentioned in the film), courted by Hugh Hefner and turned down the advances of Howard Hughes. The only two things she seems to do during the film are posing and going, alone, to the beach. The storyline whereby the bondage photos are investigated isn't given nearly enough screentime, feeling like filling material to bump up the running time.

We sympathise with Page, particularly early on when her naiviety leads her into a horrific and dangerous situation. Gretchen Mol is great as Bettie Page, making her naive, loveable, charming and sassy all at once . The mix of black & white and colour throughout the film is also well done, and the topless and nude scenes aren't (some might say disappointingly) not gratuitous. Yet this doesn't make up for the fact that this film is incredibly lacking in depth, pace and purpose, and is ultimately a big disappointment.

Great Performance in a Mediocre Film
Review date: 2007-07-16 Rating: 6 out of 10

Mary Harron, one of a slew of concerned filmmakers to appear in Kirby Dick's recent indictment of the MPAA This Film is Not Yet Rated, writes and directs her third picture. The Notorious Bettie Page is about the cult icon and pinup and bondage model that influenced pornography's entry into the cultural mainstream. Bettie Page unwittingly became kind of symbol of women's liberation long after she rediscovered Christianity. She slipped into the mainstream in variable flashes in comic books, music, television, and of course a new generation of inspired Goth burlesque models. This film is her biopic and unlike many biopics the melodrama is downplayed which is of course good for both the subject matter as well as the length of the picture (just 90 minutes). It comes off as a bit more honest and real then some other biopics but on the other hand it sacrifices being as entertaining for these same reasons. Strange considering the rumors of her violent life after she left modeling.

Bettie Page is played by Gretchen Mol and the rest of the cast is good but they are truly drowned out by a boring script, and of course Gretchen herself. Mol's performance is anything but boring and shows a deep understanding of what makes Page a worthy icon. Mol seemingly disappeared for years and then suddenly showed up and did this. I don't want to dwell on how daring she is for the nudity she does in this movie, because even without that kind of commitment and risk Mol deserves the highest praise possible. She was outstanding and was arguably snubbed of some awards.

Mol is the only great thing about this movie. Page was naive to her situation and just happens to not be shy about showing off her body. You can even see in some of the bondage photos with whips in her hand that she may as well be holding a duster instead...while delicious cookies are being prepared in the kitchen. That innocence combined with the suggestive subject matter is what makes Page so enticing and exceptional. Gretchen Mol got that vibe just right and it permeates throughout this film.

In short, Bettie becomes a model and eventually meets Irving and Paula Klaw who begin shooting her bondage photos. She then goes on to model for Bunny Yeager and those photos show up in Playboy. Bettie gets caught up in a senate hearing about pornography and then she finds Protestantism and leaves modeling. The film doesn't bother to address the more controversial and debated elements to her later life (those mentioned in The Real Bettie Page: The Truth about the Queen of Pinups).

Mary Harron's vision focuses on her career and then just before her disappearance. These early years are worth knowing about even though the story doesn't contain some of the dramatic elements we might find in say Walk the Line or Ray. So it sticks to the public's perception of Bettie. Instead of going with the tabloid drama of her later life it focuses on why she is an icon and that is overall probably more important anyway. There is more that troubled me though as the film also doesn't even touch on the political commentary it could have. Maybe that's alright as well because Bettie Page didn't seem to understand or even care about her role in fighting censorship. Something tells me there could've been a more exciting story here but on the surface The Notorious Bettie Page is a beautifully shot film with one great performance...perhaps that is all it needed.

Don't spank me: kill me now instead.
Review date: 2007-07-09 Rating: 2 out of 10

Oh dear no. I was desperate for this to be good; but it is awful.
I really love her style, and wanted some light perkiness to fill an evening of dull TV, but no, really no.
At the risk of sounding like a film critic, the film is just thin: just a series of scenes instead of a plot, very little characterisation, and some really wooden acting.
It was like watching a school play - you're willing it to succeed, but you know that there just isn't enough substance to keep an audience of grown ups engaged.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Gretchen Mol
David Strathairn
Chris Bauer
Jared Harris
Lili Taylor

Creators:
Gretchen Mol (Primary Contributor)
Chris Bauer (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Icon Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Icon Home Entertainment
EAN: 5051429101019
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, Colour, Dolby, PAL,
Release date: 2007-03-19
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 90 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)

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