Between the Pages

Real life couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor star as married couple George and Martha, in this intense and absorbing film adaptation of Edward Albee’s play.  Fuelled by alcohol, and years of resentment, disappointment and bitterness, the couple take verbal swipes at each other, and drag young couple Nick and Honey (George Segal and Sandy Dennis) into their drama – manipulating the younger couple, as well as each other.

This film left me feeling as though I had been through an emotional wringer, but for all that, it was very satisfying, and impossible to stop watching.  Taylor and Burton are both wonderful (if anyone has doubts about whether or not Elizabeth Taylor could act, watching this film will put paid to any reservations).  Martha is, by her own admission, loud and vulgar – the kind of person you avoid at parties, because you know they’re a nightmare when they’ve had a few drinks.  Initally, George seems the more reasoned and put-upon member of the couple, but it becomes clear that in fact, he is just as cruel (crueller, probably) than Martha, and knows exactly how to push her buttons.  Both of them are obviously disappointed by the path their lives have taken, and in each other.  They have both obviously failed to live up to each other’s expectations.  Nick and Honey are both fascinated and repelled by the warring couple – and George and Martha seem to get some kind of perverse pleasure out of making Nick and Martha uncomfortable.  Nick is a young professor at the college where George is also a professor, and while George’s career has not taken him where he and Martha hoped that it would, he sees Nick as a threat – a younger, more handsome man, ready to usurp George.  Martha is quick to exploit this.

Sandy Dennis was wonderful as Honey, who was the most sympathetic character of the four.  That is not to say that she was particularly likeable, but whereas the other three actually came across as unpleasant, Honey is merely irritating, especially to her husband, who clearly does not find her stimulating, either intentionally or physically.  But despite the behaviour of George and Martha, I did find myself feeling sympathetic towards them, especially as the story progresses, and you see that they are acting more out of frustration and dashed hopes, than any kind of intrinsic nastiness.

There are just four members of the cast throughout (to be exact, six people appear on screen, but the other two appear for about 30 seconds each, and one of them doesn’t have any lines), and there is a general feeling of claustrophobia and tension throughout the film.  The glaring close-ups on people’s faces, and fact that it is filmed in black and white rather than colour – quite unusual for 1966 – add to the general atmosphere.

I found the film emotionally draining, and after finishing it, felt like I needed to watch something light-hearted and funny, but Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is also compelling viewing, thanks in large part to the skill of Taylor and Burton, and the screen chemistry between them.  Definitely recommended.

Year of release: 1966

Director: Mike Nichols

Producer: Ernest Lehman

Writers: Edward Albee (play), Ernest Lehman

Main cast: Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, George Segal, Sandy Dennis