Leave it to Maggie Gyllenhaal to be at the center of another easily accessible film that deals with the risky topic of sex, much as she did with the S&M comedy, Secretary. However, Hysteria deals with a rather dark period in women's history, and especially that of the medical profession. Set in 1880 Victorian London, where doctors still rely on blood sucking leeches as a regular form of treatment, medical science was even more clueless when it came to the care of women. It didn't help that health care was basically an all boy's club, and that guys knew even less about females than we do now, which is still extraordinarily little. Women were thought to be joyless, sexless creatures. It was either that or they were promiscuous lunatics needing to be institutionalized. There was no middle ground. So when it came to women dealing with common issues like depression, anxiety, or discontentment, guys just conjured up a catch-all by labeling it "female hysteria".
Not exactly the perfect setting for a light romantic comedy, but Hysteria works through a sassy and smart script that highlights the comical ignorance of the era without getting too bogged down in the details. Robert Dalrymple(Jonathan Pryce) is the most popular doctor in town, and for very good reason. There seem to be no shortage of women, of all stripes but mainly wealthy socialites, who seem to be suffering from the symptoms commonly associated with hysteria. They go to his office in droves, where he applies his discreet "pelvic massage" which culminates in the orgasmic way most pelvic massages do, and seems to calm them. For awhile, anyway. They keep coming back for more, sometimes multiple times in a day, if they're lucky. Giving so much pleasure is a heck of a workout on the old guy's hands, forcing him to take on an uptight, handsome understudy in Dr. Mortimer Granville(Hugh Dancy).
Granville quickly becomes the ladies' new favorite, and he gains the favor of Dalrymple's studious, domesticated daughter, Emily(Felicity Jones). She's not exactly the most exciting, but she's safe and proper, with an unusual gift for phrenology, which is basically like palm reading for the scalp. She's the total opposite of her firebrand sister, Charlotte(Gyllenhaal), a forward thinking feminist who scoffs at the notion of women as sexless creatures. She sees the growing discontent women are experiencing, and proudly boasts of her ideas for change even which fly counter to her stagnant father's ideals. As the waiting room continues to fill, Granville and his disaffected inventor buddy(Rupert Everett) take an idea for an electric cleaner and re-purpose it as an electric, handheld masturbator, and suddenly it's a whole new world out there. Yes, this is a story about the invention of the vibrator.
Calling Hysteria the "feel good" comedy of the season seems appropriate considering the film's cheek, double-entendre filled sense of humor. Tanya Wexler, who has been away from feature directing for nearly a decade, apparently hasn't lost her knack for wry wit shown back in her 1998 debut, Finding North. The script pokes a good deal of fun at the buttoned up time period, and the sort of collective embarrassment of an entire nation of cold fish experiencing a sexual awakening.
Those concerned the film may be a bit too racy will find that it's much more of a love story than anything else, as Charlotte's fierce determination slowly wins over Granville. Maggie Gyllenhaal has always been a strong, confident actress, especially when tackling tricky subject matter, and she's a pure delight here as well. The same goes for Dancy, who has perfected the art of playing the bashful genius leading man. A good deal of research and effort when into every aspect of the film, from the perfect set design down to the Victorian costumes. Talents like Jones and Everett don't get nearly enough time on screen, and occasionally the script veers into preachiness as Charlotte fights for one myriad cause or another. Female sexuality isn't the only issue at play, and not everything gets the attention it deserves. Charlotte, and Gyllenhaal by extension, is so compelling that you want to join her in every battle she wishes to wage.
Some may argue that a straight forward biopic might have been the best way to present this sort of information, but that's only part of the goal here. The real purpose is to provide an entertaining, bubbly romantic comedy, set against a rarely explored period in history. As any teacher will tell you, the best way to make a lesson stick is to make it fun first, and that's what makes Hysteria a film worth buzzing about.
