Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017) Reviews

• Puts 50 Shades firmly in the shade...

  JRmf2018-02-17

  Raw, gutsy, confronting, bullsh*t free. 50 Shades teases and promises much but barely touches on core material which here is so openly dealt with. I'm pretty open-minded, but the very unconventional values depicted here are so frank and honest I would feel awkward watching this with most people who wouldn't be so inclined, and who would almost certainly turn away in disgust. Marston's advocated DISC Dominance Inducement Submission Compliance theory and used comic book character Wonder Woman with its overtly sadomasochistic themes to portray how women can be powerful. His polyamorous relationship with wife Elizabeth and mistress Olive, and the women with each other, is something which would still not be widely accepted even today. If you're jaded with most movies and want something to challenge and wake you up, watch this!

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• Not Henry & June ... But Worth Your Time

  Antonovich842017-10-11

  Grateful to have caught an early screening of this movie in NYC, in which the cast made a brief appearance at the movie theater. The first thing I want to say is that this is a movie I will watch more than once. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women is a film about ideas. It explores polyamory ("the philosophy or state of being in love or romantically involved with more than one person at the same time") and touches on explorations of dominance/submission and role-play, along the lines of BDSM. Having read Jill Lepore's excellent book, The Secret History of Wonder Woman, I knew a great deal about this story before going into the theater. As Lepore writes, "Wonder Woman's debt is to the fictional feminist utopia and the struggle for women's rights. Her origins lie in William Moulton Marston's past, and in the lives of the women he loved; they created Wonder Woman, too." It's this dynamic that sets the stage for this story, and the preview trailer for this film made it look erotic too. But those expecting to see a film along the lines of Henry & June may be disappointed. I enjoyed this movie, but wished the romantic elements were explored more fully, particularly between the two women. The editing seemed at times overly efficient, too much in a hurry, far more concerned with propelling the narrative forward than in creating a relaxed, intimate atmosphere where the characters could indulge in the situation and be in the moment. I wish there were more "real time" scenes of foreplay, actually. Not sex, foreplay - as in flirting. Because I couldn't see the bond these people shared, and this was a movie about how these people connected. My favorite character, by far, was Olive Byrne as played by Bella Heathcote, who is vulnerable and beautiful in the film. A real Gwendoline, to use fetish parlance. Least favorite would be Marston's wife as played by Rebecca Hall, who's an accomplished actress but seemed too uptight - and, worse, too contemporary - in this role. It always amazes me that costume and set design for period pieces like this are thoroughly researched and accurately reproduced, while almost no research goes into reproducing language use and speech patterns of the day (1925 - 1947). Did people actually use the f-word as much as Rebecca Hall uses it in this film? I think not. It made her character more grating than she needed to be. This is a fault of the script, and the f-word was used as a crutch far too often. Marston was played adequately by the rugged-looking Luke Evans, who bears no resemblance to the overweight, dreamy-eyed real-life William Moulton Marston, but this was a concession to female audience members I suppose. In real life, it's unknown how Marston developed an interest in BDSM. In the film, it's through Marston's encounter with the mythical pioneer of fetish history, Charles Guyette (the "G-string King"), a real historical figure. What I know of Guyette I learned through reading Charles Guyette: Godfather of American Fetish Art by Richard Perez Seves. As suavely played by JJ Field, he serves as mentor to Marston. Again, this is a bit of shorthand. Guyette is not mentioned in Lepore's history, but the audience is quickly introduced to this fetish underworld, which serves as a strong influence in the creation of Wonder Woman. No mention of Guyette being French in the Seves's book; in fact, he was born and raised in Massachusetts, according to Seves, but the people making this film may not have known this at the time as this brief book is more recent. Overall, I'll wrap up this review by saying that despite these flaws, this is a film worth viewing. Maybe my own high expectations for it were impossible to meet. I enjoyed many scenes, with my favorite relying on the lie detector machine used in the first half of the movie; I truly loved those scenes. Again, I loved Bella Heathcote as Olive Byrne in this. So, in spite of all my nitpicking, I still give this movie a strong 7 out of 10. The ideas explored in this film make it worth watching. Maybe there's a director's cut of this film out there with additional scenes between the actors. One can only hope. But I would still see this movie again, as is, and certainly plan to.

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• Professor Marston and the Wonder Women

  WubsTheFadger2018-04-15

  Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadger The film shows the story of how Wonder Woman became to be. It is a story that should seem mundane, but Angela Robinson makes it exciting and real. The story is full of extremely sexual dialogue, moments, and visuals. The film is a great character study and also has a good amount of humor spattered throughout. The acting is the best part of the film. Rebecca Hall, Luke Evans, and Bella Heathcote all perform phenomenally. Rebecca Hall delivers probably the best performance of her career as a narcissistic woman who is also brilliant. The pacing is mostly good. The runtime is also a little overlong. Pros: Exciting and real story, great character study, some good humor, amazing acting by Rebecca Hall, good overall acting, and a good ending Cons: Some slow pacing and an overlong runtime Overall Rating:.7.3

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• Original Interpretation of an interesting story -- for adults

  leemadisonauthor2017-10-19

  Fantastic film. But not as sexual as the advertisements promised. In fact, apart from the curse words, this film should be rated PG-13 at best. I found it surprisingly chaste. The first thing you should know is that this film is NOT based on the book, The Secret History of Wonder Woman. It is based on original research by the director/writer of the movie, who did a great job interpreting the story her own way. It's a story about what happens when you defy convention! And the good that can come of it. Is it factual? Mostly, yes. Kinkiness and BDSM is in the book as well (just read it), not to mention the early comics of Wonder Woman. Anyone denying the lesbian/BDSM content of the real story and the BDSM content of the comic ... is in denial. Sadly, the granddaughter of William Moulton Marston has campaigned to destroy the film, enlisting the support of conservatives and anti-gay people (of which there are many) to spread the word about how the movie is "fake." But what's fake? It's a fictional retelling, not a documentary, based on a true story. Fake is the show, Fargo, which claims to be based on actual events, but is completely made up. But no one seems to make a big deal about that. Why? No BDSM or lesbian content in it -- so it's perfectly fine? I think certain people need to acknowledge their own prejudice. Anway, I thought the actors were solid. The director did a great job telling an unconventional story. This is a movie for adults, obviously. I could see this film as a theater piece -- a Broadway play -- actually -- particularly those dress-up scenes with the Frenchman, Charles Guyette, the "G-String King." Very theatrical indeed.

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• The got me in the seats because of Wonder Woman, but I stayed because it was a unique movie about love.

  subxerogravity2017-10-17

  I had a feeling that the title was propaganda to get me into the seats. After all, Wonder Woman was one of 2017's best pictures, so I figure the title of this movie (as well as the well done poster) was a way to get butts into the seats. Not that I want my money back, cause it was an excellent movie. It was lots of fun and it made me chuckle a lot of times, but if your here because you want to learn more about Wonder Woman, the movie is not designed like that specifically. What I knew about William Marston before was that he created Wonder Woman (right!), the same guy who created Wonder Woman created the lie detector test (But the movie does point out how much his wife contributed to this) and that the original Wonder Woman comics was filled with images of bonding and S&M (Which according to the movie visualized Marston's theories on human behavior) . What I did not know is that this guy was in a three way relationship with his wife and one of his students. This part of the movie seems to take center stage above anything else. Once again ,I'm not complaining, cause it made for one of the most interesting love stories I've ever seen. Not really into romance movies, and you can make an argument that it's not, but what stands out for me in this film is a story about three people trying to be in a loving relationship with one another in a world that's still not really ready for what is going on here. So, it was a romance film done differently, under a mask of  the drama and the biography( How very Superhero-like of them). http://cinemagardens.com/?p=1732

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