Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof (1966) movie

[Flopper]

Rarely have I seen a movie that has garnered so much praise and condemnation. Some will say it is one of the greatest film dramas and other will say it was a boring waste of time. I think that is because it's rare to have an American film with so little action and so much dramatic dialog.

If you have not seen the movie, here is a quick introduction. It stars Elizabeth Taylor as Martha, Richard Burton as George, George Segal as Nick, and Sandy Dennis as Honey. The film depicts a late-night gathering at the home of George, a college history professor, and his wife Martha, the daughter of the university's president. The guests are Nick, a new biology professor at the school, and his wife, Honey. The entire movie takes place in one night of heavy drinking in which the couples reveal secrets about themselves and their marriage which brings on hateful discourses throughout out the night. George reveals that their son will celebrate his 16th day tomorrow. This becomes a key point in the movie which you should keep in mind as the movie unfolds.

The film was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Mike Nichols. It is one of only two films to be nominated in every eligible category at the Academy Awards. The film was a major success with a box office of 33 million on a budget of 7 million.

The movie gets many boos as well praises from movie goers. I think this is because many movie goers are not accustom to over 2 hours of heated dialog with no physical action thus they become bored and miss the very dramatic and heart-wrenching conclusion.


What do you think?

 

[1srelluc]

I thought it sucked......Liz and Richard could turn-up the boring knob to 11 and break it off.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

It's an intense film.
Was the "sprout" their imaginary son who they may have aborted early in their marriage which left them with their bitter empty lives?

 

[Flopper]

It's an intense film.
Was the "sprout" their imaginary son who they may have aborted early in their marriage which left them with their bitter empty lives?

George and Martha do not have a son. They were unable to conceive children – a fascinating contrast between Nick and Honey who apparently can (but do not) have children. George and Martha's son is a self-created illusion, a fiction they have written together and have kept private.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Couldn't watch it. Too tedious.


.

 

[Flopper]

I thought it sucked......Liz and Richard could turn-up the boring knob to 11 and break it off.

I think you might have found it boring because it had over two hours of intense dialog with no real action. The main action centers around the vicious battle of wills between George and Martha. Martha is a ruthless opponent, and George doesn't get the upper-hand until nearly the end of the play. After being brow beaten, humiliated, and cheated on, George defeats Martha with four simple words: "our son is…dead". Martha reacts to this news by erupting into a bestial howl and collapsing to the floor.

It would seem pretty normal for Martha to react dramatically to the death of her son if she actually had a son. The thing is that George and Martha's son is purely imaginary. When they found out they couldn't have kids, they solved the problem by just making a kid up. Even though he's imaginary, both George and Martha have deep attachment to the boy. Martha reveals the depth of her feeling when she says that he is, "the one light in all this hopeless…darkness". The darkness in question is probably her "sewer of a marriage," which she also describes as "vile" and "crushing".

This dream of a son seems to be so precious to both George and Martha because it's one of the few things they share. They created him together in order to escape from their "sick nights, and pathetic, stupid days". The boy is the one bit of real intimacy that the unhappy couple shares. When George "kills" the son it's like he dropped a nuclear bomb. Now George and Martha are left with no illusions behind which they can hide. By the end of the play, they must stare, unblinkingly, into the charred battlefield that is their lives.

It is left to audience's imagination as to what happens next to George and Martha.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? What's Up With the Ending? | Shmoop

Helping you understand What's Up With the Ending? in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee - but, in a fun way.

www.shmoop.com

 

[1srelluc]

I think you might have found it boring because it had over two hours of intense dialog with no real action. The main action centers around the vicious battle of wills between George and Martha. Martha is a ruthless opponent, and George doesn't get the upper-hand until nearly the end of the play. After being brow beaten, humiliated, and cheated on, George defeats Martha with four simple words: "our son is…dead". Martha reacts to this news by erupting into a bestial howl and collapsing to the floor.

It would seem pretty normal for Martha to react dramatically to the death of her son if she actually had a son. The thing is that George and Martha's son is purely imaginary. When they found out they couldn't have kids, they solved the problem by just making a kid up. Even though he's imaginary, both George and Martha have deep attachment to the boy. Martha reveals the depth of her feeling when she says that he is, "the one light in all this hopeless…darkness". The darkness in question is probably her "sewer of a marriage," which she also describes as "vile" and "crushing".

This dream of a son seems to be so precious to both George and Martha because it's one of the few things they share. They created him together in order to escape from their "sick nights, and pathetic, stupid days". The boy is the one bit of real intimacy that the unhappy couple shares. When George "kills" the son it's like he dropped a nuclear bomb. Now George and Martha are left with no illusions behind which they can hide. By the end of the play, they must stare, unblinkingly, into the charred battlefield that is their lives.

It is left to audience's imagination as to what happens next to George and Martha.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? What's Up With the Ending? | Shmoop

Helping you understand What's Up With the Ending? in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee - but, in a fun way.

www.shmoop.com

Nope....No use trying to talk me into it.
It sucked.

 

[Flopper]

Couldn't watch it. Too tedious.


.

Tedious is a good description. When a movie or play is tedious, it means you have to pay attention. You can't depend on the video to tell the story. You have to listen and you have understand because the author of the play or movie is not going paint you picture.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Tedious is a good description. When a movie or play is tedious, it means you have to pay attention. You can't depend on the video to tell the story. You have to listen and you have understand because the author of the play is not going paint you picture.

Whatever.


.

 

[Flopper]

Nope....No use trying to talk me into it.
It sucked.

I never try to talk anyone into watching a movie. I present facts and opinion. Often I say this movie, it's not for everyone when I know many people will not like it.

 

[1srelluc]

I never try to talk anyone into watching a movie. I present facts and opinion. Often I say this movie, it's not for everyone when I know many people will not like it.

Well at least you got that part right.

 

[Flopper]

Tedious is a good description. When a movie or play is tedious, it means you have to pay attention. You can't depend on the video to tell the story. You have to listen and you have understand because the author of the play or movie is not going paint you a picture.

 

[Baron Von Murderpaws]

I like Liz.

I watched this movie, and many other so-called "important classics".
Liz can act. And I do like watching her. But this movie wasn't anything special.

African Queen
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
The Godfather
To Kill a Mockingbird
West Side Story
All About Eve
Sunset Boulevard
Vertigo
The Graduate
Chinatown
Heat of the Night
A Space Odessy
On the Waterfront
Gone with the Wind
Lawrence of Arabia

Etc.......



Although worth watching at least once in your life, they aren't spectacularly memorable by any means.

 

[Flopper]

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof is a melodrama based solely on the dialog and acting. Other such movies are Days of Wine and Roses, Long Days Journey into Night, A Streetcar Named Desire, Night of the Iguana, Cat on Hot Tin Roof. The acting is everything. There are no special effects, car chases, panoramic scenery, or gun fights to keep audience interested. In these types of movies, the entire story is told by the actor's dialog and actions. These movies tend win awards because they are very difficult for actors and director to make.

There is nothing wrong with your list of movies. In fact, they are all good movies. They are just a different types of movie. And as we know different folks like different kinds of movies.

 

[whitehall]

A painful insight into a domestic disaster. Only drug fueled H'wood elitists would like it.

 

[Flopper]

A painful insight into a domestic disaster. Only drug fueled H'wood elitists would like it.

George and Martha's marriage is certainly a domestic disaster but that is not the message of the story. The central message of the play and movie is that human beings must learn to live without illusion. Throughout the play, the characters do battle to protect their own versions of reality, while tearing down each other's. The play climaxes with destruction of George and Martha's illusion and they must face the fear of leading a life without that illusion. In many marriages, that illusion is drugs, alcohol, money, power, or children which couples believe will make life and marriage happy or at lease bearable.

Most people go to movies and plays purely for entertainment or a distraction. Yet others go because they want see dramatizations of a message that they can relate to in their life or the lives of others or how others dealt with the more serious topics in life.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof has been a huge success on the Broadway stage and theaters both in US and abroad, so no it is not just some drug fueled H'wood elitists that like it.

 

[Flopper]

George and Martha's marriage is certainly a domestic disaster but that is not the message of the story. The central message of the play and movie is that human beings must learn to live without illusion. Throughout the play, the characters do battle to protect their own versions of reality, while tearing down each other's. The play climaxes with destruction of George and Martha's illusion and they must face the fear of leading a life without that illusion. In many marriages, that illusion is drugs, alcohol, money, power, or children which couples believe will make life and marriage happy or at lease bearable.

Most people go to movies and plays purely for entertainment or a distraction. Yet others go because they want to see dramatizations of a message that they can relate to in their life or the lives of others or how others dealt with the more serious topics in life.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof has been a huge success on the Broadway stage and theaters both in US and abroad, so no it is not just some drug fueled H'wood elitists that like it.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

It's an intense film.
Was the "sprout" their imaginary son who they may have aborted early in their marriage which left them with their bitter empty lives?

Academentia

All professors have bitter, empty, quibbling, and bickering lives.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

It would seem pretty normal for Martha to react dramatically to the death of her son if she actually had a son. The thing is that George and Martha's son is purely imaginary. When they found out they couldn't have kids, they solved the problem by just making a kid up. Even though he's imaginary, both George and Martha have deep attachment to the boy. Martha reveals the depth of her feeling when she says that he is, "the one light in all this hopeless…darkness".

0the%20floor.[/URL]

Fake Logic, Fake History, Fake Grammar, Fake Students, Fake Teachers

Everything at the university is imaginary.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Tedious is a good description. When a movie or play is tedious, it means you have to pay attention. You can't depend on the video to tell the story. You have to listen and you have understand because the author of the play or movie is not going paint you picture.

Like Sophocles, a Bad Message But Hypnotically Presented

All of Albee's plays are tedious. You have to slap yourself awake, but if you stick with it, you'll wind up sucked into his world and fascinated.