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Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? [Blu-ray]
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Genre | Drama |
Format | Blu-ray |
Contributor | George Segal, Mike Nichols, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Sandy Dennis |
Language | English |
Runtime | 2 hours and 11 minutes |
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Product Description
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are ideal as malevolent marrieds Martha and George in first-time-director Mike Nichols’ searing film of Edward Albee’s groundbreaking Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Taylor won her second Academy Award* (and New York Film Critics, National Board of Review and British Film Academy Best Actress Awards). Burton matches her as her emotionally spent spouse. And George Segal and Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Sandy Dennis score as another couple straying into their destructive path. The movie won a total of five Academy Awards** and remains after five decades a taboo-toppling landmark.
Product details
- Product Dimensions : 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches; 2.4 ounces
- Item model number : B01CZ2NFP2
- Director : Mike Nichols
- Media Format : Blu-ray
- Run time : 2 hours and 11 minutes
- Release date : May 3, 2016
- Actors : Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis
- Studio : Warner Archive Collection
- ASIN : B01CZ2NFP2
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #6,570 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #814 in Drama Blu-ray Discs
- Customer Reviews:
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It is hard to believe that as of this writing, we are coming upon the 50th anniversary of this seminal film, one that helped the contribute to the long-needed end to the ridiculous censorship that plagued American films for decades. The stinging, biting wit of playwright Edward Albee's 1962 play arrived on the big screen virtually intact, thanks to the care of producer Ernest Lehman (who adapted Albee's play as screenwriter, by barely changing a word, and carefully opening up the action a bit from its proscenium-based origins), and director Mike Nichols who burst on to the big screen with one of the most impressive directorial debuts in this history of cinema. It earned 5 Oscars, including Best Actress for Elizabeth Taylor (richly deserved), who was not yet 34 years old when she took on the challenge of playing the role of Martha opposite Richard Burton as George. Burton and Taylor are both magnificent here, with his carefully nuanced performance likely being the best he ever was on screen, with time proving he was robbed being overlooked as Best Actor by the Motion Picture Academy, as was the film itself. Look at "Virginia Woolf" today vs. the film that did earn the Best Picture Oscar that year (A Man For All Seasons). While non un-impressive the chosen winner seems like a snooze-fest made 25 years earlier, as opposed to this film, with its view on the human condition as timely as ever.
Warner Bros. released a very special DVD edition of this film several years ago, and it looked good for DVD, and came chock full with amazing supplements. The Blu-ray blows the DVD away in every respect in terms of the format's added resolution and better sound quality. Blacks are inky, whites are just perfect, and shadow detail is carefully preserved. The image is more immaculate than it likely was when the first print came off the negative in 1966....it's that perfect. Happily, all the very special features from the DVD are carried over on this new Blu-ray, including 2 great commentaries, one from the late Mr. Wexler, and another one with Director Mike Nichols in conversation with Steven Soderbergh discussing in detail the making of the film, and its legacy. It is riveting to listen to these two talents talk about the film, almost like mentor and student, and it provides a fascinating back-story to understand the context of how difficult it was to make this film, and to have it result in the grand success it was and remains. There are two excellent contemporary 'making-of' pieces, as well as a vintage interview with Nichols being interviewed by Barbara Walters in 1966, screen tests featuring the wonderful Sandy Dennis (who also would win an Oscar for her incredible performance as "Honey"), and a throng of Burton/Taylor trailers with the "Virginia Woolf" trailer thankfully being remastered in HD. One can't complete a review of this film without also acknowledging the rich and bravura performance of Mr. George Segal (the only surviving cast member as of this writing) as Nick. Like everything else in the film, his work is stellar and couldn't possibly be any better. The ensemble work of the cast under Nichols' direction, is a wonder to behold.
All of this makes for an impeccable release. In a time when the major studios are bailing on releasing new classics on Blu-ray, it is always a thrill to receive a new Warner Blu-ray, as they seem to have now set a gold standard of excellence with every great film they release. I didn't know if anything could top their presentation of "The Big Sleep" earlier this year, but now it is "Virginia Woolf" that gets my vote for the very best Blu-ray released thus far in the year. Simply stated, it is riveting cinema, beautifully preserved on Blu-ray.
This movie was shot in glorious black and white to reflect the nature of the story and of the troubled marriage between George and Martha. The extras are great to see. The first two, which are documentaries, provide a wealth of information regarding the production in retrospect, and how the story transferred to the big screen from the play (I learned that the play was great). I have not seen the vintage "Intimate Portrait" of Elizabeth Taylor, or the other extra, but the two documentaries are enough to look at.
It was a wise decision for this movie to be shot in black and white. Reason being, the subject matter would retain all of the drama, and the performances of Burton, Taylor, Segal and Dennis would look a lot better. If this movie had been shot in color, the drama would not stand out, the acting performances would not be dramatic enough, and viewers would have difficulty understanding that the movie is a drama and not a comedy. The first documentary, "Too Shocking for Its Time" touches base on why it was shot in black and white instead of color. Here are several things about that:
1. The movie is a drama. Edward Albee said that when he saw that it was shot in black and white, and asked why it wasn't shot in color, he was told that movies that were dramas had to be shot in black and white, and movies that were musicals and comedies would be shot in color. (This is how it was with movies being made in the 1960s, which makes perfect sense.)
2. Dr. Drew Casper said that the movie's subject matter didn't lend itself to color. He added that the performances of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor would look more awful in black and white instead of color.
3. The cuts, framing and close-ups were another reason for the movie being shot in black and white. For this, the conditioning of how audiences saw drama at that time was that black and white would be more visceral, and that color would be more show-off.
4. In the scene where George and Martha have that bitter argument outside the roadside club, the sky in the background retains its darkness. If in color, the sky wouldn't be dark enough.
I totally agree with all of these things. This movie would not have looked good in color, and the drama would have been missing entirely. All dramas from the 60s look much better in black and white, so that the mood stands out better. I am also glad that this movie was not colorized, because, again, the drama would have been missing entirely from the story.
So, everything about this film is excellent. The acting is superb, and the extras are great to see.
The film itself is a definite classic, maybe a bit too serious in tone, whereas a good production of the play is riotously funny. This seems pretty heavy going and somber most of the way through because they felt they had to be so in order to pass muster with the censors.
All four of the stars are perfect. Burton probably has his finest moments ever on screen, and there's nothing like this anywhere else in Taylor's career.
The plot is a puzzlement, but that's as it should be. This is not THE VIPS, BOOM or THE SANDPIPER. In fact, it's not a Taylor/Burton film at all. It's an honest attempt to turn one of the top pieces of dramatic literature in the last half of the 20th Century into a marketable big studio film. It isn't destroyed, as is so often the case. Although, to listen to Nichols on the commentary. it came dangerously close.
Top reviews from other countries
Incluye subtítulos al español tanto en la película como en los 2 documentales que trae de extras, y además el doblaje original en español latino (muy fiel a los diálogos originales).
Será de 1966 y en blanco y negro pero sus temas no envejecen nada y la narrativa se siente totalmente contemporánea.
Reviewed in Mexico on January 2, 2020
Incluye subtítulos al español tanto en la película como en los 2 documentales que trae de extras, y además el doblaje original en español latino (muy fiel a los diálogos originales).
Será de 1966 y en blanco y negro pero sus temas no envejecen nada y la narrativa se siente totalmente contemporánea.