|
|
 |
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
R4 - Australia - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak and Jarrod Baker (30th July 2007). |
|
The Film
 "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" was significant for several reasons : to start with, it was the first film adaptation of a play by American playwright Edward Albee : who by that time had already won a Tony Award for the production of the same play, and who went on to win three Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Secondly, it was the first ever film directed by Mike Nichols : who went on to film adaptations of "The Graduate" (1967) and "Catch-22" (1970), among other acclaimed films. Finally it was nominated for an Oscar in every single category for which it was eligible, with first time director Nichols nominated for the best director statuette. Controversial upon its first release, due to at the time unheard of levels of profanity and implied sexual content, the film is somewhat less shocking today, in an age where swearing and nudity are often the domains of the mainstream comedy film. Nevertheless it still carries a great deal of intensity, helped along by some strong performances. It was the first film to receive the MPAA warning "No one under 18 will be admitted unless accompanied by his parent." The basic thrust of the film is as follows: Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) and George (Richard Burton) are a married couple who invite another couple, Nick (George Segal) and Honey (Sandy Dennis) over for dinner after meeting them at a party. George is a history professor; Nick is a new biology professor at the same university. Nick and Honey effectively become the audience for Martha and George's constant and explosive tormenting of one another, both verbally and physically. Their relentless and spiteful battling begins almost immediately, and provides the movie's overall momentum. Burton and Taylor are revelatory in their roles : married in real life at the time, they bring a ferocious passion to their onscreen warring that you can't help but think is driven by their actual relationship. The pair was apparently a surprising casting choice : Taylor in particular was regarded as one of the most beautiful women in the world at the time, while the character of Martha is an unfashionable housewife in her fifties. It's safe to say she proved the doubters wrong : gaining a reputed thirty pounds for the role and crafting an entirely convincing transformation with the help of director Nichols (who Taylor specifically requested for). Ultimately, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" has stood the test of time relatively well. It may no longer be shocking, but it still makes for compelling and gratifying viewing : and a welcome reminder of the time when all involved were at the top of their game.
Video
Presented in widescreen 1.78:1, this black and white anamorphic transfer is a bit on the grainy side but sharpness and detail hold very well. Contrast is spot on perfect between the whites and blacks with the grey range adding to the overall mood and tone of the film. Few scratches and minor dirt does pop up but this is few and far between, overall Warner Brothers have done a fine job of cleaning up and re-mastering this film for DVD release. It is a consistently good transfer for a film of its age and presents the film better than it probably has looked in years.
Audio
Three audio tracks are included, an English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono track as well as German Dolby Digital 1.0 mono and finally a Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0 mono track. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its English soundtrack. This is the original 1.0 mono track and Warner Brothers has done a fine job of cleaning it up, there are no pops, hiss, drop-outs or other flaws normally associated with films of this age. It's mainly dialogue centered and as a result it comes across clear and without distortion, range and depth are a non-issue considering it's a 1.0 mono track so don't go in expecting something special. It's a fine track that suits the film and that's about it, nothing to write home about other than the fact it's clean and doesn't offer up distracting noise. Optional subtitles are also included in English, English for the hearing impaired, Czech, Finnish, German, German for the hearing impaired, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish and Turkish.
Extras
DISC ONE: First up we have a feature-length audio commentary with the film's cinematographer Haskell Wexler. The Oscar winning cinematographer shares his memories from the production, he provides some interesting trivia about the film's director and stars especially on Burton's drinking and how surprised he was that it didn't affect his performance. Although he does retell stories he does mainly focus his comments towards the photography ranging from lighting schemes and creating depth with lights and camera movements (use of deep focus) as well as the various shooting requirements and working with black and white film stock. There are occasionally gaps of silence but otherwise this is an excellent track to listen to as he does provide some wonderful bits of information. A second feature-length audio commentary is included with the film's director Mike Nichols and filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, much like Paramount's DVD release of "Catch-22" Soderbergh accompanies Nichols on this track taking on the role of interviewer as he keeps the track moving giving Nichols topics to comment on. Topics such as his urge to make the film despite having to deal with people such as the notorious Jack Warner as well as the big name stars of the film (Taylor, in fact, requested Nichols to be her director on this film). He comments on hiring the right cinematographer and the choice to shooting in black and white when a lot of films were being made in colour at that time. Other areas of interest include the difficult editing process considering the amount of overlapping dialogue throughout the film and additional memories are shared about the production but also on the film's stars. Nichols displays an unbelievable knowledge about the film's characters, themes and tone of the material as a result this track is very engaging as he reveals a multitude of information that fans and film buffs should consider very valuable. DISC TWO: The major supplement on this disc is the feature-length "Elizabeth Taylor: An Intimate Portrait" a TV special made in 1975 that runs for 66 minutes 41 seconds. This piece focuses on Taylor's career but also looks at her childhood and her rise to the top female star of her generation. It's basically a vanity piece that fawns over the star and her films and includes interviews with collaborators and friends such as Roddy McDowall, Vincente Minnelli, Rock Hudson, Richard Brooks and Sam Marx among others that talks about her beauty and talent. Next up is "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: A Daring Work of Raw Excellence", this featurette runs for 20 minutes 12 seconds. This is a look at the play and its journey to the big screen as well as the impact it had on Hollywood. It was a daring project that no one though would be successful considering the profanity and the blunt sexual dialogue. We also get a behind-the-scenes look at the casting of the two lead stars, getting director Nichols onboard, plus critics, film historians and key crew comment on the production in a sort of video-time-line style from start to release and reaction. Following that is "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: Too Shocking for Its Time", another featurette which runs for 10 minutes 35 seconds. This clip examines the raciness of the film, the taboos broken and censorship which was challenged and the historical significance of the liberalisation of the production code of movies at that time. More specifically this film and "Blow-up", which was also released in 1966 helped initiate the current rating system in the United States. Also on this disc is a 1966 interview with the film's director which runs for 8 minutes 58 seconds. In this clip the director responds to critical reviews of the film as well as talks about Taylor's performance, on directing the two stars, as well as comments on his directing style and on the insulation of success among other things. Additionally we have Sandy Dennis' original screen test which runs for 6 minutes 53 seconds, in this test we see Dennis acting along side Roddy McDowall in the scene where she drunkenly dances. Rounding out the extras is the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 2 minutes 11 seconds.
Overall
|
|||||
|