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Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? film image; yelling woman throwing up her hands while a man laughs

Young couple Nick (George Segal) and Honey (Sandy Dennis) accept an invitation for a nightcap with history professor George (Richard Burton) and his wife Martha (Elizabeth Taylor). At first it’s fun and games. But what passes for caustic wit soon degenerates into vicious mind games as their hard-drinking hosts let rip with burning resentment and hostility.

Edward Albee’s lacerating play about the cruelties of marital dysfunction evidently struck a chord with Elizabeth Taylor and husband Richard Burton, who seized on it like vultures on carrion. (In his book about the Burtons, Erotic Vagrancy, Roger Lewis said the film encapsulated “their entire marriage, crammed into a single picture.”) Taylor, 33, happily gained weight and embraced a character 20 years her senior, performing the part so convincingly there was no going back. Burton, a heartthrob, was equally persuasive as a gone-to-seed intellectual. This was Mike Nichols first film as director and he made a film that secured the play’s reputation as a modern classic. All four actors were nominated for Academy Awards in their respective categories (Taylor and Dennis won).

 

Jul 9: Intro by filmmaker and educator, Professor Harry Killas

Harry Killas is Professor and Assistant Dean in the Film + Screen Arts program at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver. His most recent documentary films include COLLECTIVE AGENCY, about a group of seniors who became photo-artists in late life, and GREEK TO ME, an autobiographical documentary about his family and ethnic identity. His research/ filmmaking theme areas include education, the arts, and social, political and other histories. As a curator, Killas programmed seven seasons of the series THE IMAGE BEFORE US: A HISTORY OF FILM IN BRITISH COLUMBIA at The Cinematheque.

Director

Mike Nichols

Cast

Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

1966

Language

English

Awards

5 Academy Awards including Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress (Sandy Dennis), Best Black & White Cinematography (Haskell Wexler)

19+
131 min

Book Tickets

Wednesday July 09

2:00 pm
Guests/Q&As Hearing Assistance
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Sunday July 13

7:30 pm
Hearing Assistance
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Credits

Screenwriter

Ernest Lehman

Cinematography

Haskell Wexler

Editor

Sam O’Steen

Original Music

Alex North

Production Design

Richard Sylbert

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Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

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A young couple accept an invitation for a nightcap with history professor George (Richard Burton) and his wife Martha (Elizabeth Taylor). At first it's fun and games. But what passes for caustic wit soon degenerates into vicious mind games.

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