Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
You are cordially invited to George and Martha's for an evening of fun and games.
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are ideal as malevolent marrieds Martha and George in first-time film director Mike Nichols' searing film of Edward Albee's groundbreaking Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Taylor won her second Academy Award (and New York Film Critics, National Board of Review and British Film Academy Best Actress Awards). Burton matches her as her emotionally spent spouse. And George Segal and Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Sandy Dennis score as another couple straying into their destructive path. The movie won a total of five Academy Awards and remains after 40 years a taboo-toppling landmark.
Member Reviews
Still well worth watching all these years later - GordonG
I've seen the play this is based on, and the production didn't reach anywhere near the heights of passion and depths of depravity achieved in this film. Hard to believe this was Mike Nichols' first time directing a film. And you immediately forget that it's in black & white, the performances are so riveting. It's amazing to see glamour-puss Elizabeth Taylor looking frumpy and Herculean Richard Burton looking impotent. Every time I see this film, I think, "Wow, I am so lucky not to be in that marriage!" This film did a fair sweep of the Academy Awards and deserved a few more. Way, way ahead of its time and still well worth viewing.Icon of American cinema - kap0n3
Simply put, this is one of my favourite films of all time. Great acting, great writing and great camerawork make this close to cinematic perfection. Liz Taylor and Richard Burton give the performances of their lives. Sandy Dennis also shines in an early-ish role. It's a dramatic film, but the wicked humour that permeates the film is absolutely devastating, and I mean that in the best possible way. Many moments in the film I find myself laughing only to think, "Should I be laughing at this." Certainly the film is loaded with uncomfortable moments, enhanced by the camerawork replete with uneasy close-ups. Most of all, this film shows how a lot can be accomplished with just a little: a cast of four and minimal scenery changes. "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf" has become an absolute icon of American cinema. If you haven't seen it, what are you waiting for?A Cookie full of Arsenic - Film_Prophet1
Once you take a bite out of this cookie, it will eat you up inside. Stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton really let themselves go as far away from glamour as possible and close towards their best performance ever. They play a wasted married couple with an unusual love-hate relationship. They play mind games to destroy the other and use their guests as weapons.
Elizabeth Taylor well deserved the best actress oscar and Richard Burton should have won the best actor oscar. They deliver lines as if they were bullets. Yet, when they reveal the dark secret, you have complete affection for them both.
Three cheers for these legends for creating immortal performances
Member Reviews
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Still well worth watching all these years later - GordonG
I've seen the play this is based on, and the production didn't reach anywhere near the heights of passion and depths of depravity achieved in this film. Hard to believe this was Mike Nichols' first time directing a film. And you immediately forget that it's ...Icon of American cinema - kap0n3
Simply put, this is one of my favourite films of all time. Great acting, great writing and great camerawork make this close to cinematic perfection. Liz Taylor and Richard Burton give the performances of their lives. Sandy Dennis also shines in an early-ish ...A Cookie full of Arsenic - Film_Prophet1
Once you take a bite out of this cookie, it will eat you up inside. Stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton really let themselves go as far away from glamour as possible and close towards their best performance ever. They play a wasted married couple with ...