Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Director: Mike Nichols
Watched: 5/31/19
Rating: 4/5
Based on the play by the Pulitzer and Tony award winning Edward Albee, this film was nominated for 13 Academy Awards- one of only two films in history to be nominated in every eligible category (Cimarron is the other). It won 5. Highly lauded, no doubt. What made it a winner for me was the scintillating dialogue and penetrating repartee. Acting informants were stellar all around. Each of the four characters had exactly the right amount of back story and development for us to understand the story and the convoluted relationships formed, yet wonder what it is that we were missing. The limited settings did not feel limited at all; miraculously, a play that translated beautifully to the big screen. Over 2 hours of intense, loaded dialogue that did not feel that long at all.
stage to screen success;
Who’s Afraid of my Reviews?
this film shouldn’t be.
Two alcoholic academics attend a cocktail party on campus, where they supposedly chant “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” to the tune of “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”. The wife Martha is the Dean’s daughter and George is the head of the history department. Rather nonchalantly, after a casual argument and yelling and make up cuddling, Martha announced that she has invited another couple over. They arrive after quite some time- Nick, a professor in biology (not mathematics, as Martha continues to insist), and his wife Honey. At first, we fully empathize with these innocent young newlyweds that have no idea what they have gotten themselves into- but our empathy behind to wake as we watch them bend to George and Martha’s will, and as we learn that they, too, have their dark secrets.
to George and Martha,
playing mind games or with lives?
makes no difference!
Humiliate the Host, Hump the Hostess, Get the Guests, Bringing up Baby, Curl up on the Floor, Snap the Dragon, Peel the Label. These are the cleverly created (by George) names of the games they play. Martha tells humiliating stories about George, purposefully shaming him. George takes a shotgun from the hallway closet, aims, and fires at Martha’s head. Out bursts an umbrella! Another trick; another mind game. And George bursts out in maniacal laughter, saying, “Did you think I was going to kill you?” Martha showers him with hugs and kisses, “You? Kill me? That’s a laugh!” “I might one day,” George retorts. “Fat chance!” replies Martha. Nick confesses to George that he married Honey for the money. And because she had a hysterical pregnancy (false pregnancy, often psychological). George cannot help but announce this to everyone in their party of four- in the style of telling a little story about a “young couple from the Midwest”. George talks about a novel he once wanted to publish, one where the protagonist kills his parents. Martha hints that this is in fact autobiographical. This causes George to physically attack Martha, nearly strangling her until Nick pulls then apart. George talks about institutionalizing Martha. Martha talks about their son, one we later find out is completely fictitious, created by the couple to fill the void in their marriage. Nick figured this out when George “kills” their son by telling Martha of a “little boy about 70” who delivered a telegram while she was upstairs possibly sleeping with Nick. Truth and Illusion, Truth and Illusion. Do any of them know the difference? Do any of us? “Spoiled, self-indulgent, willful, dirty minded, liquor-riddled”- these are the insults George throws at Martha in the parking lot of the roadhouse- but these are highly accurate descriptors for both of them. Or all four of them?
match made in heaven-
two turbulent marriages;
a match made in hell?
With passive-aggressive actions and words, conniving ploys, snide comments, aggressive slanders, threatening physical taunts, and physical abuse; interwoven with intimate hugs, kisses, and other affectionate gestures, we think we learn how messed up and unhealthy George and Martha are. Until they take it further. Until another secret is revealed. Until another mind game is uncovered. Until they have molded the susceptible and eager-to-please Nick and Honey to their liking and we no longer know who is playing who. Until the sun rises and we realize there are some things and some people in life we may never understand- and would be better off not trying.
sadistic sly schemes,
manipulative true love,
an organized mess.
Title Meaning: While this was never officially confirmed, the title seems to be combining the line “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” from the fairytale “The Three Little Pigs” and Virginia Woolf, the famous author. Woolf was a prolific writer with a specific style- most often in a stream of consciousness, she revealed depth and layers in her characters’ psyches. She hated pretension and show, opting to reveal the truth in her stories. In an interview with “The Paris Review”, playwright Edward Albee admitted, “Of course, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf means . . . who’s afraid of living life without false illusions?” The film ends with George asking Martha, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Teary-eyed, she answers, “I am, George. I am, George. I am.”