Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) Review

A drunken evening Martha and George destroy each other in front of a young couple who have just moved to the town Nick and Honey. All taking place from 2am following a party . . .

I think the best way to start this review is to say that every single character in this film is totally crazy, yet you can understand why. Probably a very scary statement, but for a film (based on a play) to only have four people in it from start to finish is an enduring two hours 10 minutes. Don’t let that running time put you off, the performances in this are utterly outstanding with two Oscar wins for the actresses and nominations for the actors.

It certainly is worth watching.

It shows how much you can destroy another person with words and really get into their head to bring them down. Not a fantastic advert for marriage but certainly showing that if you are together for a very long time with someone you know how to get to them, how to hurt them and yet still totally love them. It was probably easy for Burton and Taylor to create such an incredible yet uncomfortable feeling on-screen considering they were actually married twice and had such history together. You feel strange watching them as parts feel so real, let’s hope their actual life together was not like this.

The fact that the old couple invite the young couple around and are not afraid to show them how difficult and challenging married life can be. Some of the lines are brilliant I am not afraid to say it, often a plus of a film which is based on a play. It has incredible moments were you actually cannot believe they have just said that to each other. Richard Burton totally blew me away as George I thought this was one of the best performances I have ever seen, I was quite surprised to see he did not actually win an Oscar for his incredible efforts. He is horrible at times, yet somehow mixes this with a lot of charm.

Elizabeth Taylor is still mentioned as one of the most beautiful women to grace the screen, yet in her role as Martha she is laid bare and not given an attractive appearance. It is about her problems and mentioning of a son that causes some massive problems, she is pretty much barking mad. Got to love the “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf” singing and jumping about to really set the tone of the film from the start.

It has plenty of little twists in the story and you learn how the couple resent one another yet somehow are still very much in love. Both as mad as each other and wind the other up as well, it’s like a competition to them trying to out do the last mean comment. It really does show how you can create a lie so much in your head that you actually then believe it is true as well, especially in the case of Martha.

The acting drunk was fantastic as well, just showing the damage that alcohol can do. Will they all actually remember the antics and conversations that took place in those early hours of the morning the following day? That is something that you can make your own mind up about, as you will know that is not always the case after a heavy night of drinking.

Sandy Dennis and George Segal are fantastic in the supporting roles and really do help Taylor and Burton to express themselves with their characters as well. All bouncing off each other as well, it must have been a very intense film to shoot. All going crazy and being off the wall. I can certainly see myself to watch this one again, the performances and script is just too good to miss and must be appreciated. Best film I have watched recently.

Are you afraid of Virginia Woolf?