Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1965 Full Film)

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, a black and white drama movie released in 1965, directed by Mike Nichols, Ernest Lehman, writer, from Edward Albee's play. the film features four main actors, including two great actors who deliver a magnificent performance: Richard Burton (George, Professor of History) and Elizabeth Taylor (Martha, daughter of the university's dean). The other two actors were: George Segal (Nick, professor of biology) and his wife Sandy Dennis (Honey).

Martha and her husband George turn slightly drunk from a reception at the university where George is a Professor humming the rhyme "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" At the request of her father, Martha was forced to invite a young couple, recently moved, to join them for a drink. Just arrived, Nick and his wife, Honey, attend a memorable household scene of their hosts. Since they were drunk, the tone does not take long to rise. Martha et George, a couple in their fifties, come to unpack their grudges, without the least modesty, in front of their uncomfortable guests. As the evening progress, Nick and Honey become more drunk and embark on the games of George and Martha on the need to hurt themselves and hurt everyone, each couple has a secret. Nick and Honey end up gradually revealing the dark, pathetic and even shameful dimension of their own relationship. The ultimate abuse takes the form of a conversation with the invisible son of George and Martha, sixteen, whose birthday is the next day. After the departure of their guests, the film ends with the couple, Martha seated holding George’s hand who stands behind her, both look tired from this long evening.

The movie’s title does not say anything about what the audience should expect as a movie. The first scene, when George and Martha were walking coming from the reception, gives me the impression of a couple that was slightly drunk from a reception that they had fun. When Martha was insisting asking about who said that is a dump, I figured there was an issue in the couple, she was talking more than George and they were drinking none stop. She looks like she always has to have the last word. I was surprised to see how a married couple was hurting each other in front of strangers. In the beginning, the movie was not easy to follow, a woman who controls her husband, it was difficult to understand what is the real issue. The moral violence exerted between spouses, a heavy and suffocating atmosphere, pettiness and the cruelty of relations between the generations reach here their culminating point. The scenes leave the impression that the life of a couple comes down to permanent war. The talented actors, Martha and Georges, could sow doubt on the reality of their story. The audience believes in the scenes to realize at the end of the film that Marta’s and George's stories were fiction.

To conclude, this is a well-written film by Mike Nichols. Aside from the constant insults of the alcoholic couple, Martha and George who thirsts at the audience to ask what is next, I think that summarizes the story, a couple that has a lot of hates between them. In my opinion, the film a bit too long despite the ingenious performance of the actors.