Wer hat Angst vor Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Wer hat Angst vor Virginia Woolf?: Directed by Mike Nichols. With Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis. A bitter, aging couple, with the help of alcohol, use their young houseguests to fuel anguish and emotional pain towards each other over the course of a distressing night.

“Ailing couple George (Burton) and Martha (Taylor) invite a young couple over for a late-night drink – much to quiet and repressed Georgeu0026#39;s annoyance – and what starts off as a twisted game by sultry Martha to annoy her husband and get her way with young stud Nick (George Segal) ends up in a horrific duel of wits.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAdapted from the play and boasting very few locations, u0026quot;Virginia Woolfu0026quot; is notable for many unsuspected reasons. Designed for the stage, the film makes the story uniquely cinematic and tense, amped up by stunning photography (in Black and White, a daring choice in 1966). The younger leads are superb, but Burton and Taylor still manage to walk away with film, giving stunning renditions of the worldu0026#39;s most demented couple. They make the surreal dialogue hurt and touch in ways never thought possible.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThough there are countless reasons to recommend this jewel of a film, there are also reasons why one would wish to avoid it. This is the kind of film that makes you feel like having a showing (or a very concentrated drink) to wash away the grit and human evil and pain absorbed. Youu0026#39;ll feel dirty, but in a way youu0026#39;ll also feel enlightened: that a small character film can carry more punch than any explosion-packed blockbuster out there is a thing of beauty indeed!”