Plot: What’s it about?
It shook up the stage and the screen and had a system up in shambles and trying to figure how to regulate movies then to formulate a system that is used now. The rating system was started because the questions arisen of one film about four people and the disturbing meeting they all have one night. All went on to big things and all had the idea of going to a party gone terribly wrong with one question posed at the beginning, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”.
Meet George (Richard Burton) and Martha (Elizabeth Taylor). Both are tired of each other and one favors alcohol to loosen up more than she should. One night starts out normal for them criticizing yelling and screaming until a door opens and two houseguests arrive in the form of Nick and Honey (George Segal and Sandy Dennis) in the wee small hours of the night at the request of Martha. What to the viewer should be a happy occasion becomes a regular night at the household of George and Martha and one of disturbing effect to Nick and Honey.
The effect that this movie had in the decade it was made remains so today thanks to the performance by all the players and the gritty reality of the dialogue (by Edward Albee, adapted by Ernest Lehman) in that there are two people who go on and on and on without a care in the world of who is in the same room with them or how they don’t care about being judged in the world but what they have goes far beyond the average couple without the smiles on the faces.
This is certainly not the feel good hit of the season as whoever is expecting to have a jolly time with two couples can find the most recent soft comedy to hold them over until they forget about it five minutes later. This is more of a character piece of two couples and the fears and woes they have looking at the past and most disturbingly into the future. There is no sunshine and for good reason for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? brings the disturbing and the downership of reality to all involved and still remains to have a powerful impact on the viewer from start to finish.
Video: How does it look?
This is the second go-around for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? on DVD in a 1.85:1 widescreen but this time it is anamorphic and the results fare slightly better than its previous release. It’s shot in black and white and through the years to this viewer was always kept in good shape on the many viewings on television and here is no exception as the mostly shot at night film has the reflections of light handed at various times with the use in the background and in front of the audience used well with little to no flaws on the print and retaining the performances in the right frame of light.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby Digital Mono track is not geared for the action crowd in this film for with the exception of Alex North’s score and a few effects now and then, the film is mostly dialogue driven and has the slight muteness of the time attached but for this film it’s not a bad thing as it won’t be replacing Gladiator as everyone’s premier example of the audio portion of the home theater but manages to have the dialogue come out clearly through all channels as well as the little hints here and there of effects and score and it’s retained nicely. This disc also has a French mono track as well as English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Korean subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
When we last encountered George and Martha on a single disc, the audience was treated to the sole extra of a commentary by Haskell Wexler that chatted up about the technical aspects of the film but had its share of gaps but remained informative nonetheless. On this new 2-Disc, that extra is carried over along with a new commentary with director Mike Nichols and fellow director Steven Soderbergh. In Round 2 of Teacher and Student Cinema/Stage 101 (the first being Catch 22), Soderbergh asks the questions and Nichols provides the answers along with an experience or two in between and both share a superb session where the audience learns about casting, how Nichols got the job in the first place along with what measures Mike took to translate the play to screen. There are few gaps but overall a very good look back at the film that is informative and entertaining.
With that finishing off disc 1, Disc 2 offers its share of modern day looking back with an Intimate Portrait: Elizabeth Taylor. Done many years ago, this special hosted by Peter Lawford and with an array of Taylor’s colleagues and friends and family goes into looking at her work from years past and stories about the actress herself. At first, the title almost hinted this viewer of a Lifetime half hour special. Although it’s double in length, the result is a piece of nostalgia chatting up about the legendary star which is a most curious piece.
Next is two featurettes covering the film with no interviews with any of the main players involved and both featurettes covering production and the forming of the ratings board as a result of the film both go at just the right length to get its point across as well as the overall results of both subjects and how it is viewed today by some experts.
After that is the screen test for Sandy Dennis (which a little was shown during the first featurette) shot wide and it provides what got her the role with a different Nick (played by Roddy McDowall) and it makes for a test worth noting but makes one curious if anyone else was tested for the role before her. Still, it remains worth being amongst the extras.
Then there is a Q&A from the old Today show with Director Mike Nichols from 1966 and he takes questions and gives most interesting answers during the time and his viewpoints towards films and the material and it makes for a better that average interview which does provide better questions than asked on today’s talk shows (not specifically Today).
Finally, there’s the films theatrical trailer along with trailers for The VIP’s, The Comedians and The Sandpiper which are all the titles in the Taylor-Burton collection and they are the only place where all the trailers are featured so for the other titles, this is the place to find their necessary trailers.
For those who own the previous early release of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? on DVD, here’s a major upgrade that retains the sole extra and adds many valuable new ones to the party in the hope that things don’t continue to go down before the evening is through and it comes very well recommended.
