{"id":10045,"date":"2006-10-02T09:28:06","date_gmt":"2006-10-02T13:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=10045"},"modified":"2023-04-05T11:33:35","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T15:33:35","slug":"the-notorious-bettie-page-2005","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2006\/10\/02\/the-notorious-bettie-page-2005\/","title":{"rendered":"The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It\u2019s as if someone took a picture of my fantasies and plastered them on-screen. Bettie Page in the form of Gretchen Mol. It\u2019s almost like a gift to me, and yes I\u2019m vain enough to think this film is a gift to me. It features two of the most beautiful women who ever lived combined, along with one hell of a fantastic movie to boot. I was glad this wasn\u2019t just a case of watching Mol as Page for ninety minutes. There\u2019s a story, there\u2019s great direction, and there\u2019s actual commentary. \u201cThe Notorious Bettie Page\u201d is yet another ninety minute bit of speculation on Ms. Page\u2019s life, because it\u2019s a known fact, no one is very sure of what really happened in her life from a child to her disappearance from society\u2019s mainstream. But then again, Harron\u2019s film is not an attempt to delve into the secrets and demons of Paige, too much. It\u2019s instead a sweet, risqu\u00e9, and entertaining celebration of the woman known as Bettie Page. Page, as you should know by now, is quite possibly one of the most revered pin-up models of all time.<\/p>\n

First starting as a model for underground magazines, then acting in bondage films, and eventually just fading away, she\u2019s continued, however, to live in the mainstream culture for decades showing influences in comic books, films, music, porn, and models. She\u2019s the archetypal polar opposite to Conservative America\u2019s idea of beauty. A gorgeous and incredibly sexy woman who didn\u2019t mind stripping and engaging in porno films, yet was still at heart wholesome, na\u00efve, and incredibly religious. What will either turn people off, or garner more admirers is the fact that the film is approached with a slightly campy nature. Though Harron approaches Page\u2019s history of domestic abuse, and molestation with a stern dramatic tone,<\/p>\n

Page\u2019s foray into modeling and acting is approached with a slight comedic tone that makes the film entertaining. Page\u2019s modeling and eventual starring in bondage films, then meeting the famous Bunny Yeager (The understated Sarah Paulson), is taken with a smile. All of her actions are depicted as merely a na\u00efve child-like girl having fun with her friends and making money doing so. Gretchen Mol who is already a pure goddess, plays Bettie Page another goddess. As Bettie she\u2019s lovably na\u00efve, but fierce, she has a child-like innocence, yet she\u2019s incredibly sexy. Mol\u2019s performance, nonetheless, is probably one of the best in years, as she embodies Page warts and all, and portrays her as a lovable girl who is simply trying to find a path, and purpose.<\/p>\n

On the flipside, Lilli Taylor proves yet again she\u2019s one of the most underrated actresses, playing Liv Klaw, the blunt and friendly photographer who\u2019d be put under the light of the law with her brother Irving Klaw (Chris Bauer, who also pulls in a great performance). Harron\u2019s depiction of the legend is simplistic, but filled with excellent direction, and a mood that\u2019s genuinely novel. Most of the film is black and white, until Bettie is able to escape the confines of her life, to which the lens becomes a very pastoral colorful world, which gives it the sense of old fifties sitcoms in which everything is bright and pristine. \u201cThe Notorious Bettie Page\u201d should go hand in hand with \u201cKinsey\u201d demonstrating society\u2019s inability to accept sexuality, and fear change.<\/p>\n

And if you can put your disbelief on hold (She actually wasn\u2019t aware that bondage was frowned upon?), it\u2019s a great piece of filmmaking. The fact that Harron doesn’t delve too deeply into Page’s mysterious life, and presents us with a sugar-coated film, works in favor of the film instead of against it. Harron’s “The Notorious Bettie Page” is a wonderful celebration of the legend known as Bettie Page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s as if someone took a picture of my fantasies and plastered them on-screen. Bettie Page in the form of Gretchen Mol. It\u2019s almost like a gift to me, and yes I\u2019m vain enough to think this film is a gift to me. It features two of the most beautiful women who ever lived combined, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[64,132,138,240,302,432,674,706,874],"class_list":["post-10045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-adaptation","tag-bettie-page","tag-biography","tag-crime","tag-drama","tag-gretchen-mol","tag-model","tag-n","tag-romance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10045"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39392,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10045\/revisions\/39392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}