Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Let us press on with films based on stage plays. This time it's an Edward Albee play and he is just as fearless as Tennessee Williams. And, like Williams, his work focuses on a war between a man and a woman whose power is so strong that it draws in those around them. It is about self-deception and the damaging power of delusion. Beware George and Martha, their games are not for the faint of heart....

Let us start where the audience starts. George and Martha go walking home from a party where they have all had too much to drink. Martha has invited over a blonde handsome young man and his mousy wife who are new to the faculty of the university where George works at. George doesn't want guests as it is too late, but who is he to contradict Martha? He is spineless. He makes her puke. If he existed she would divorce him. She is, as George would call her, a hyena. She drinks, chain-smokes, tidies up by sticking clothes behind sofa cushions and plates in desk drawers, and she flirts mercilessly with younger men as we shall presently see.

There is something odd and inherently wrong about their relationship. These are two incompatible people and from the start we see them do nothing but throw slanderous words at one another. They haven't even gotten warmed up by the time the guests arrive and already we are shaken. But let's see what the introduction of two newcomers does to the little party.

Nick and Honey. A perfect couple. That is until George and Martha begin prying up the floorboards of their young marriage to see what's underneath. The games for the evening include--but are not limited to--Humiliate the Host, Get the Guests and Hump the Hostess. Every scrap of information is turned into a weapon, not only against Nick and Honey, but towards one another through the kids. Could George and Martha possibly get something out of this? Is this excitement? And has this happened before?

These two characters are unlike anything else in cinema. Their past is so complex and beyond the realm of normal understanding that who these characters have become is such a dizzying labyrinth of secrets and puzzles that I think only Edward Albee himself could tell you exactly who these people are and why they remain together. It is a guarantee that you will not soon forget them. I doubt you could if you tried. Besides being such amazingly intricate characters they are brought to life by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in a way that will make your hair curl. The ferocity with which they speak Albee's lines will shatter your image of the modern husband/wife relationship.

The whole film boils down to a final scene that unnerved me something awful the first time I watched it. Look for clues, but don't look too hard or the surprise will be ruined. I look at people with a little more skepticism after this movie. There are skeletons in everyone's closet and it is impossible to tell those that still have meat on their bones.

4/4