 |
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor play George and Martha, a couple living on the campus of a small New England college. George is a 46 year old, sharp-tongued, bespectacled history professor who’s going nowhere in his career. Martha is his 52 year old wife- a frumpy, boisterous, blowsy woman with heavy wrinkles. They’ve just drunkenly weaved their way home through the campus at 2 am from a party thrown by Martha’s father, the president of the college. And unbeknownst to George, Martha has invited a young couple to join them for further socializing. Soon, Nick and Honey show up at their doorstep. George Segal is Nick, a hunky assistant biology professor who’s new to the faculty. Sandy Dennis plays Honey, Nick’s mousy and rather naïve wife. Now the stage is set, but not for a friendly evening of Monopoly. We then plunge headlong into the caliginous realm of George and Martha in a film that’s as darkly comedic as it is emotionally rocking. Nick and Honey suddenly become pawns in the middle of an intellectual, argumentative warzone with high-volume, vicious insults and character assassinations catapulted between George and Martha. As the alcohol continues to flow like Niagara, the night becomes a showcase of one-upmanship between George and Martha who use the young couple to thrust the emotional knives deep into one another. And it’s clear that they know how to push each other’s buttons. George recoils at Martha’s numerous chidings of his lack of manliness. And Martha explodes with each cruel and sarcastic barb that George flings her way. In an early scene, Nick attempts to quell the rising tensions and comments on an abstract painting in the living room. That only provides fuel for George who explains that it is "a pictorial representation of the order of Martha's mind." But the mind, the human psyche, is the focus of the film, and George and Martha can play mind games with the best of them. At times, they take the hapless young couple on a bizarre psychological rollercoaster, relating stories about one another that seem to blur the boundary between reality and fantasy. Nick shares his frustration at one point, "I don’t know when you people are lying or what." George replies, "You’re not supposed to." The cerebral shenanigans reach such a fevered pitch that dark secrets are eventually jerked out of everyone, to the point that even Nick and Honey’s relationship is tested. What the movie ultimately becomes is an examination of how powerful fantasy can be as a coping mechanism- so powerful, in fact, that some people can no longer determine what’s real and what’s not. For the sake of those who have never seen the film, I don’t dare reveal how this examination plays out. But I will say that it leads to a revelation that’s absolutely mind-blowing and ranks with the best of surprise endings in cinematic history. "Virginia Woolf" is a mesmerizing masterpiece of psychodrama. After braving the volcanic dialogue and the many emotional climaxes, the audience is mentally spent. But we’ve learned important lessons afterward, particularly the contradictions of the human soul and how where hatred seems to prevail in a relationship, there can also be a mutual dependency- and even, perhaps, love. So be sure to strap yourself into your chair, it's one wild ride.Read full review
Turning the underbelly of bourgeois academia into a microcosm of human relationships in all their arduous complexities, Mike Nichols' auspicious debut feature is a harrowing descent into the private lives and painful secrets of two couples thrown together for an evening. Based on the controversial play by Edward Albee, this noir-ish 1966 drama stars former real-life couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, in what many critics consider to be their best performances. George (Burton) is a senior professor of history who has turned to alcohol to deal with his vituperative, vicious wife Martha (Taylor), whose appetite for administering abuse knows no bounds. Invited to the couple's home for late-night drinks are new professor Nick (George Segal), and his naïve wife Honey (Sandy Dennis), where over the course of the evening, the polished veneer of the hosts tarnishes grotesquely. The witty repartee of consummate sophisticate Martha degenerates into increasingly violent verbal abuse of both her husband and guests, while George's stoic façade crumbles both physically and emotionally. The horrified Nick and Honey initially come off as happier foils to the misery of the older married couple, but the guests are soon mirroring George and Martha in their mutual antagonism, giving voice to buried resentments and alcohol-fueled revelations of repressed injuries. A director with a reputation for delivering intelligent, "adult" films, Nichols made a remarkably smooth and successful transition from stage to screen with this adaptation of Albee's already-notorious play. Screenwriter Ernest Lehman kept the text of the play virtually intact, maintaining the intensity and sheer violence of the frankly foul language. The film shocked audiences, presenting them with a tortuous foray into a love-hate relationship and, ultimately, mental illness. WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? received Academy Award nominations in virtually every category it was eligible for, winning five of them.Read full review
The first time I saw this movie, it was midnight on some April Vacation night, and I was on Youtube, and for some reason it randomly appeared on my Recommended Videos list. I didn't expect to watch the whole thing, but I did. I had never seen another movie like it before -- It changed me. It opened my eyes to the human condition. It opened my eyes to four extremely wonderful performances, given by Taylor, Burton, Segal, and Dennis. It introduced me to Edward Albee, who has since become my favorite playwright. And most importantly, it was the movie that made me decide that I had to be an actor. There was no other option for me. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" speaks to me. The first time I saw it, I didn't quite understand all of it... but even without an intellectual understanding of the script, I knew that I had been deeply moved; that Mr. Albee had touched on something profound and true, and that the four actors had given the greatest performances I had ever seen.Read full review
Although tame by today's standards, the film (and the play upon which it is based) were considered shocking at the time. Battles were fought during production to keep the original dialog as intact as possible. Set in the fictional New Carthage, the story is that of the faculty of many colleges, although it hints at Ivy League status. The story centers on the night of a party given to welcome a new faculty member, and what happens when he and his wife stop by the house of the daughter of the college president and her husband. Martha (Taylor) tells George (Burton) that the new professor is in the math department and "Daddy said we should be nice to them." The visitors arrive as George and Martha verbally spar in the first of many matches throughout the long evening. As the hosts and their guests continue to drink throughout the evening secrets are revealed, alliances seem to be made, and George and Martha appear to have "irreconcilable differences." But the dawn brings it's own surprises!Read full review
I'm not that fond of the movie. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is an excellent play to play live before an audience. The dialogue is perhaps the tightest ever seen on the American stage. Listening to it on audio, one is frozen with tension from beginning to end. The movie takes far too many liberties, playing down to an audience. I once wanted to do WAoVW in a public high school. Of the four players I picked, only one parent complained. He taught at a local college, and answered my question about whether we should do it or not with simply, "I don't like it. I know too many couples just like that at XYZ College."
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in DVDs & Blu-ray Discs
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on DVDs & Blu-ray Discs
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- You may also like
