The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
By: Mary Harron (director, writer), Guinevere Turner (writer)
Starring: Gretchen Mol, Chris Bauer, Jared Harris, Sarah Paulson, Cara Seymour, David Strathairn, Lili Taylor
The story of Bettie Page, uber-successful 1950′s pin-up model, one of the first sex icons in America, and the target of a Senate investigation (based on her bondage photos).
Happy 100th post to me! I’ve had a few days that were a little bumpy, and I think it’s fair to say that the length of my reviews has gotten much shorter due to the tedium of writing one every, single day, but I’m really proud of myself that I’ve gotten this far.
Today I chose The Notorious Bettie Page, as I wanted a film that I might actually enjoy for my 100th post. A biographical account of the undeniably interesting and often contradictory life of infamous pin-up Bettie Page, the film follows its subject from childhood through her modeling career to her eventual religious epiphany. As biographies go, it’s pretty standard fare; it just so happens that Bettie’s life and Bettie herself were interesting enough to support a full-length feature.
The film is shot almost exclusively in black and white, with occasional segments in color, generally reflecting both locale and the type of photographs Bettie was doing at the time. While New York is staid and restrictive in shades of gray, Miami is technicolor bright just like the Playboy photos of Bettie trimming the Christmas tree. I thought this was an ingenious touch, and folded so well into the context of the story that it would often take me a moment to note the switch had happened.
Gretchen Mol gives a rich, subdued turn as the eponymous pin-up, managing to capture the complexity of the role without tipping into self-indulgence. Page is portrayed here as thoughtful, generous and earnest, but sidesteps the “naive country girl in the city” trope. Mol is supported by a brilliant cast, most notably Lili Taylor and Chris Bauer. There are no hackneyed cliches despite the subject matter; the film is an honest telling of the lives of real people rather than a history of porn.
The ending left a little to be desired, but again, this is a biography. There’s only so much to be done with what history has given the screenwriters. Overall, I thought this was an interesting and intimate look at a woman I’ve long admired but never really knew much about.
