#1 ·
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Mike Nichols...
The broadcast on PBS should be wrapping up soon. The first part of this topic title refers to that famous work by E. Bern—which really laid the groundwork for transactional psychology, as you can see here then here and finally here
... Many people who dive into popular psychology suggest starting with this very film.
Then there are the actors; honestly, their transformations alone deserve an entire discussion.
And the theatricality of it all; since it's essentially a stage play, a few clever camera angles and artistic shots help bridge the gap for the big screen—but the movie truly lives or dies on Burton and Taylor—specifically through their eyes and gestures.
The comedic timing is in a league of its own. Deciding how to pace those beats—which is largely thanks to the playwright Edward Albee—is tricky... when Burton is suffocating Taylor, Sandy Dennis screams "Violence !!"... within Mike Nichols' sharp editing... then, during the exchange between Burton and Dennis, she says
Sandy Dennis: «Oh god, I'm gonna be sick!»
Burton: «How nice!»
Sandy Dennis: «I'am gonna die»
Burton: «Sure, just go ahead!»
Or, take the beginning, where Burton asks Segal why he became a college professor; Segal gives this cliché response along the lines of "From the same reasons you did, I imagine...", only for Burton to snap back cynically, "Tell me what were my reasons!"...
Did you catch how Burton breaks down when he thinks his wife has been unfaithful with Segal?
That moment belonged on a Broadway stage...! Taylor isn't just one of those women so stunning it's hard to look away from her face—she is a powerhouse actress.
At its core, the story is actually quite grounded—how does a couple deal with the reality of being childless? The resolution to the puzzle, this domestic war between husband and wife, and the revelation that the child doesn't even exist, provides a retroactive sense of meaning to the whole "performance"... everything that seemed like the "mad games of decadent people with no real problems in a lush setting" suddenly finds its human release.
In the end, there's this meta-aesthetic, philosophical question—or perhaps a message—about how a PERFORMANCE, a psycho-drama, can "digest" such situations, whether in a good or a bad way...
The broadcast on PBS should be wrapping up soon. The first part of this topic title refers to that famous work by E. Bern—which really laid the groundwork for transactional psychology, as you can see here then here and finally here
... Many people who dive into popular psychology suggest starting with this very film.
Then there are the actors; honestly, their transformations alone deserve an entire discussion.
And the theatricality of it all; since it's essentially a stage play, a few clever camera angles and artistic shots help bridge the gap for the big screen—but the movie truly lives or dies on Burton and Taylor—specifically through their eyes and gestures.
The comedic timing is in a league of its own. Deciding how to pace those beats—which is largely thanks to the playwright Edward Albee—is tricky... when Burton is suffocating Taylor, Sandy Dennis screams "Violence !!"... within Mike Nichols' sharp editing... then, during the exchange between Burton and Dennis, she says
Sandy Dennis: «Oh god, I'm gonna be sick!»
Burton: «How nice!»
Sandy Dennis: «I'am gonna die»
Burton: «Sure, just go ahead!»
Or, take the beginning, where Burton asks Segal why he became a college professor; Segal gives this cliché response along the lines of "From the same reasons you did, I imagine...", only for Burton to snap back cynically, "Tell me what were my reasons!"...
Did you catch how Burton breaks down when he thinks his wife has been unfaithful with Segal?
That moment belonged on a Broadway stage...! Taylor isn't just one of those women so stunning it's hard to look away from her face—she is a powerhouse actress.
At its core, the story is actually quite grounded—how does a couple deal with the reality of being childless? The resolution to the puzzle, this domestic war between husband and wife, and the revelation that the child doesn't even exist, provides a retroactive sense of meaning to the whole "performance"... everything that seemed like the "mad games of decadent people with no real problems in a lush setting" suddenly finds its human release.
In the end, there's this meta-aesthetic, philosophical question—or perhaps a message—about how a PERFORMANCE, a psycho-drama, can "digest" such situations, whether in a good or a bad way...