imbue her with sympathy, allowing you brief glimpses of the warm and lovable woman she could have been.Richard Burton is equally magnificent as George; an ageing, failing college professor whose initial meekness gives way to a raging torment all of his own. His verbal sparring with Taylor, like two pit-bulls in the ring of an endless and bloody dogfight, has become legendary. Every word drips with malice and contempt, every sentence is designed to cut the deepest wound. At times, it becomes painful to watch, but like true train-wreck television, you cannot drag yourself away from the inevitably terrible conclusion.Quite possibly, this is as close to perfect as movies can get; beautifully written dialogue, deeply complex characters, an evolving and suspenseful storyline, beautiful photography, and a wonderfully understated score by Alex North. Nominated for 13 Academy Awards in 1967, but lost out to A Man for All Seasons and Born Free to win only 5."Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" "I am."

Their relationship seems to be from hell, full of mutual disgust and humiliation. Their guests are Nick and Honey. He is the new, ambitious biology professor, she is his naive young wive. As all these four characters are more or less drunk throughout the entire film, alcohol works as a catalyst, and we quickly see the different kind of character traits they have: George is a cynic, Martha loves to torment her husband, Nick is an opportunist and Honey is very much a stupid blonde. The two relationships deserve closer examination: We wonder why Martha and George married in the first place. They keep swearing at each other. Martha can't stop humiliating George, when they are alone as well as when Nick and Honey are there. Maybe there is still a rest of love in them, but there mutual respect has vanished completely. And then there is the strange story of their son, who is supposed to visit on his birthday. They way George and Martha talk about him make us feel that there is something peculiar about him. At the end we get to know more about him, and we can only guess how important the son is for their relationship. Nick and Honey, on the other hand, seem to be quite the opposite. But, being used as weapons by the older couple, we see that their relationship isn't as perfect as it seems to be, either. Nick didn't marry Honey because he loved her, but because he thought she was pregnant and because of her money. And when Martha tries to seduce him to tease George, he plays the game with her, always in mind that this woman's father is the head of the university. Honey, on the other hand, is much more emotional than her husband, but she also is the most passive character, and the one most affected by the alcohol. Mike Nichols assembled an outstanding cast for his film. Casting Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as Martha and George is a stroke of genius - not only are they terrific actors, but it also heats the imagination of the viewer how much their real-life-marriage resembled the relationship they had in this film. Elizabeth Taylor outshines her co-stars a little. Never was she any better than in this one; although her character is the meanest in the film, she manages that we still feel compassion for her at the end. But Richard Burton, George Segal and especially Sandy Dennis deliver memorable performances, too. 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' succeeds at something rather difficult: It makes us care for characters we wouldn't want to have anything to do with in real life. And although it actually consist of nothing but four people talking for two hours, it never bored us for a second.

I gave this movie ten stars..... definitely a classic must see if you're interested in acting.

not clear was how well a one stage play would adapt to film.It adapted very well and went quite beyond one stage. The action of the film moved effortlessly to an all night diner at one point with some stops along the way. You'd hardly know the story as originally told only had one setting.There's no real plot to it. For reasons I can't fathom this middle aged and bitter couple George and Martha have a younger couple, Nick and Honey, over to their house at two in the morning. I don't know about you, but I'm usually not my best at that time. Also they had just come from a party at Martha's father's house. Martha's dad is the president of a college and George teaches there. Nick and Honey are a newly hired professor and his wife.The late night and the liquor bring out the worst in everybody. A whole lot of ugly truths get told.Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf was the summit of the professional team of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Playing against type, Elizabeth Taylor got her second Oscar the one she felt she earned. She always disparaged the one received for Butterfield 8 as it came on the heels of her well publicized pneumonia bout.In fact all four members of the cast were nominated with Sandy Dennis winning Best Supporting Actress. Ironically Richard Burton didn't win, losing to Paul Scofield for A Man for All Seasons. I guess the Academy voters figured Burton would get another shot. He never brought home the big prize though.George Segal usually gets overlooked. This film and Ship of Fools was the start of his long career, but no Oscar for him either.Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is quite the indictment against marriage, especially after the love has died. It's far from the whole story of marriage. There are many who stay married longer than George and Martha and happily. But it wasn't in Edward Albee's life experience to draw from. But this should be seen to see Liz and Dick at their very best.

film.

with the life of Ms Woolf. Last week I saw the DVD's special edition of the film. After watching it, I could not help but admire the film because the film, more than just "very good", turns out to be a cinematic tour de force."Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is based on Edward Albee's play of the same name. This realistic drama, aside from exploring the power struggles in society, also examines the love-hate relationship and cruelty in a marriage. All this is reflected in the married life of the childless, middle aged couple George and Martha. George is a history professor who has not made any achievement in many years as a lecturer in a New England college. His weakness and lack of ambition has made him the easy target of his wife's mockery. Martha, a heavy drinker, dominates her husband in almost every way. One night, after attending a college party, they invited a younger couple Nick George Segal and Honey Sandy Dennis to have a drink at their home. It is during this nightcap that the family drama begins to develop in full force. Angst, anguish, deceit,and infidelity follows one another as the night goes deeper and all this ends at daybreak as the weary older couple go to bed and the younger one walk to their home. Presenting such difficult psychological problems to wider audiences than those in the playhouse who usually comprise drama lovers, director Mike Nichols obviously needs the full backup of his team. The result indicates that Nichols did get what he needed and hence movie audiences can enjoy the superb acting of Miss Taylor and Mr. Burton. Good close-up takes showing Martha's hysterical grief after George has told her that their son, who in fact never exists, was killed in an accident attest to the cinematographer's outstanding achievement. And those sad gestures and facial expressions can only be performed by actresses of high caliber such as Miss Taylor. And again, the camera works well when it focuses on George's facial expressions, which clearly depict his agony and helplessness as he watches the shadows of his wife and Nick kissing in her bedroom. The repeated utterance of the then tabooed four-letter word, which is square by present standard, obviously shows how director Nichols has slogged his guts out for making a realistic movie. This, perhaps, is what that has made the public consider "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" a major breakthrough in movie-making..The film won five Academy Awards which went to Elizabeth Taylor for Best Actress; Sandy Dennis for Best Supporting Actress; while the other three for Black-and-White Art Direction, Costumes, and Cinematography. – Oei Eng Goan [email protected] , Jakarta, Indonesia

scathing, blistering film that pulls no punches and really leaves a mark. Part black comedy, part drama, part cat-fight fest, all good. Richard Burton is especially good, being capable of wry one-liners and moving monologues. He probably should have won the Oscar. Definitly should be seen... if you have the guts, that is.

and lonely for the past. Perhaps these two were "Ozzie and Harriet" at one time, and this is what life has done to them. The more you contemplate it, the more fascinating "Virginia Woolf" becomes. ***1/2 from ****