Year: 1966
Director: Mike Nichols
Country: US
Language: English
Too often do we see the perfect relationship unfold onscreen. Guy meets girl, girl meets guy and though they might have a few quarrels, nobody really gets hurt and they live happily ever after. Fortunately Cinema is not all fantasy; many filmmakers are not afraid to show us the darker side of human nature and make us realize that our own lives may not be that bad compared to the lives on the silver screen. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is most definitely one of those films.
The plot of the film involves George (Richard Burton) and Martha (Elizabeth Taylor), a middle aged married couple, whose charged relationship is defined by vitriolic verbal battles, which underlies what seems like an emotional dependence upon each other. This verbal abuse is fueled by an excessive consumption of alcohol. Late one Saturday evening after a faculty mixer, Martha invites Nick and Honey, an ambitious young Biology professor new to the university and his mousy wife, over for a nightcap. As the evening progresses, Nick and Honey, plied with more alcohol, get caught up in George and Martha's games of mental abuse.
The themes of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? are apparent throughout the title, which comes from re-writing the words of the beloved children's song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf". This comes up as a joke during Martha's party and is significant because it connects themes of adulthood and childhood, fantasy and reality, and the desire for success. Though both George and Martha are full grown adults, they still rely on Martha's father for support because he is the president of the University George works at. George and Martha also function more like children than adults; their nonstop bickering is more emotional than logical and it shows how incredibly immature they both are. "Virginia Woolf" is signifigant because she was a writer who attempted to reveal the truth of human experience, emotion, and thought; everything the couple tries to cover up.
The acting by both Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor is tremendous and memorable, though I wonder if you could call it acting considering their offscreen relationship was going through a similar type of hell while the film was being made. The great success of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is its screenwriting; the film never as a dull moment, even though the characters are basically talking for the entire two hours. The dialouge is sharp, cruel and at times shocking. Even though it's rather difficult, the film makes us care for characters we probably couldn't stand in real life.
In conclusion, a psychologist would have a field day dissecting the characters in this film because they are so complex and have many layers to them. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is a warning about the horrifying dangers regarding the lies we tell ourselves. It's best to live life truthfully and admit uncertainty until it bottles up and becomes self destructive. Praise it! 5/5
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