Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
VOD (1)
Opisy(1)
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 naive 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. (oficjalny tekst dystrybutora)
(więcej)Recenzje (5)
An utterly depressive performance (the theatre play is very famous) that at the beginning I paradoxically took as a thoroughbred comedy. What at first feels like the kind of nice and sarcastic remarks and hints I like so much in real life slowly transform into psychological terror of unprecedented intensity. All actors are excellent and convincing in their roles, there wasn’t a single moment in that two hour row when I felt that one of them had crossed the line between flawless performance and overacting. The issue, of course, is elsewhere; regardless, I recommend this film as the best one about alcohol that I’ve ever seen.
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So much cruelty and so much painful sarcasm - perhaps too much. In a duel of two individuals, the fantastic Burton triumphs over the slightly exaggerated Liz on all fronts. I feel guilty for criticizing the cold conversational drama for being mainly a series of dialogues, but it takes longer for the true pessimistic mood to reach the viewer. We all probably need a kick in the butt to find our motivation. And that makes me feel pretty miserable.
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We all know films that are not suitable for children under 15, and even films that are only accessible for individuals over 18. However, there is a category of films that should be inaccessible to a wide group of candidates for marriage because otherwise, the already unnecessary group of singles will significantly expand, and thus the low birth rate will decrease again. I include Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in this group, which represents the perfect opposite of all romantic comedies about partnership. It is a bitter drama about a marriage that is held together only by mutual hatred and the opportunity to mentally torture and humiliate each other as cunningly as possible. The screenplay is based on the play of the same name, and Mike Nichols had previously only had experience on Broadway. This was his film debut, so he did not even pretend to shoot anything more than an impressive theater play. For the overwhelming majority of the film, it gets by with just one set and four actors. Nevertheless, although it is practically unbelievable, thanks to the astronomical salaries of Taylor and Burton, it was the most expensive Hollywood project of 1966. However, the bet on the scandal-ridden married couple paid off - curious viewers speculated on how much the film fiction resembled the real marriage of Burton and Taylor - as they often appeared in public the same as they did in the film. Perhaps my 5 stars pertain more to the author of the original work, Edward Albee, but the drama runs smoothly and the atmosphere soaked in cynicism, anger, and alcohol works excellently. Both main actors also deliver masterful performances. Overall impression: 95%.
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Nichols, trapped in the shackles of a theatrical adaptation, may not be as watchable as when he’s working with a script adapted for film, but he doesn't lose any quality at all. Although the story more or less relies on one's personal experience with a given partner issue, even a "layman" can easily relate to the cleverly built-up script full of ugly life truths and slightly absurd dialogues, and to the performances of the main cast, who, especially in Taylor's case, give the impression of whining and overacting, but to play it otherwise would be to tarnish and devalue the whole thing. And since both components maintain an excellent level throughout the long runtime, it’s impossible to get bored and not devour every word that is spoken. But on the other hand, if it were really as close to reality as many here say, Burton would have actually shot Taylor in that excellent opening scene – and I would have been extremely satisfied. 75%
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Incredibly strong drama, which is filmed with such a calm camera that ultimately heightens all the scenes that take place here. The debut of Mike Nichols showed that he has incredible talent for film and that he still has something to bring, which he also confirmed in the following years. The quartet of actors in this film is unbelievably good.
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