Based on Edward Albee’s play, the drama
is about an aging academic couple who invites a young couple over for drinks. Fueled
by alcohol, they use the young couple to play out their feelings of anguish and
emotional pain towards each other.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is
director Mike Nichols’s first
film, launching a great career (which includes: The Graduate – which I particularly
like, Angels in America, Closer, and Charlie Wilson’s War).
He worked with composer Alex
North, cinematographer Haskell
Wexler (who won an Oscar for the film; he was one of the great D.P.s of the
1960s/1970s shooting this, In
the Heat of the Night, The Conversation, and One
Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), and production designer Richard Sylbert (who also won an
Oscar for the film).
It stars Elizabeth Taylor (who won an
Oscar) and Richard Burton,
who both give powerhouse performances – some of the best work of their
respective careers. George Segal
and Sandy Dennis (who also
won an Oscar) feature in support, and are both very good as well.
In all the film won five Oscars
and was nominated for Best Picture. At the time of its release, the subject
matter was quite controversial, and it still holds its string even today
(though, it is not as shocking). Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a must-see
for fans of strong rich dramatic performances, as the whole film is centered
around the wonderful work of Taylor and Burton.
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