The movie "Spring Supper" / Who is afraid of Virginia Wolfe? Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966) American Blu-ray Edition cover
Mike Nichols (1931-2014) made his debut novel Spring Supper / Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? The who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966) trailer tells the audience this way: "We cordially invite you to the homes of George (Richard Burton) and Martha (Elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor) for a fun game night, but ironically, Ernest Lehman (1915-2005) There is an unreal feeling permeated with the mean play, which is adapted from the stage play of Edward Albee (1928-2016). ”
The movie "Spring Supper" / Who is afraid of Virginia Wolfe? The scenes from Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966) all unfold in this space
The film's English title, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" "Literally who is afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was a British female writer who was hailed as a pioneer of modernism and feminism in the 20th century, but Virginia Woolf in this film refers to "big bad wolf" (in English, Woolf pronounced the same as wolf).
Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf? It is the dialogue in the famous British fairy tale "The Three Little Pigs", and in fact, this film has nothing to do with this British fairy tale. In the English-speaking world, the fairy tale of the three little pigs is also a nursery rhyme, in which the lines of the big bad wolf are quite famous for their funny rhymes.
The movie "Spring Supper" / Who is afraid of Virginia Wolfe? During the filming of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Marlene Dietrich visited Elizabeth Taylor
Related to the film, the heroine of the film only sings the phrase "Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf?" at the beginning of the film. The name of the movie has only a little connection to the plot.
Because Edward Albi often explores the dark, complex psychological and social causes of characters and the world in which they live through a variety of strange forms and techniques, he has been called an absurdist playwright.
Edward Albi admitted to referring to "who is afraid of the big bad wolf", where the wolf refers to a life without false illusions, and the life of Martha and George, the daughter of the president of a New England university, and George is an associate professor of history at this university, who represents truth and lies.
The movie "Spring Supper" / Who is afraid of Virginia Wolfe? Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966) First hearth after forming the team, first row from left to right: George Sigge George Segal Elizabeth Elizabeth Elizabeth Taylor Sandy Dennis; second row from left to right: Director Mike Nichols Richard Burton Richard Burton Photography Haskell Wexler Haskell Wexler
In fact, the names of the two main characters in the play, George and Martha, are the names of the first president of the United States and his wealthy wife - marriage for convenience. But the audience still can't tell where his two chaotic, emotionally hurtful prank-like relationships in the film come from.
In 1965, Warner Bros. Pictures bought the rights to the play "Spring In the Spirit" and made it into a movie, which surprised many industry insiders and made a lot of buzz. The film, which depicts love madness and mutual hurt, is full of sarcasm and sexual innuendo, and has done a lot of processing when adapting due to too much foul language, but it is still the first film in the history of Hollywood cinema to use "Bugger", and the amount of foul language in the film was changed a lot during the film censorship at the time.
Jack Warner (left) and Dina Merrill in the film Spring Supper /Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966) premiere
The film touched the bottom line of social morality at the time and was considered a serious challenge to the Code of Filmmaking( commonly known as the Hayes Code).
But when Jack Warner (1895-1981) publicly requested that theaters showing the film be displayed with a "adults only" notice and restrict tickets to the film, the American Film Association had to give in, announcing that the film had become a special case because of its high artistic standards, and the film became the first film of the American Film Association to mark "audiences under the age of 18 need to be accompanied by their parents".
This incident also led to other filmmakers challenging the authority of the Filmmaking Code more fiercely.
Elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor in the movie "Spring Supper of Spiritual Desires/ Who Fears Virginia Wolfe?" Image in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966).
The ripples caused by "Spring Supper of Spiritual Desire" are enormous. When this wonderful play was brought to the screen in the 1960s, it caused great controversy.
It was also a landmark film, and it was because of this film and the subsequent film "Zoom in Blow-Up" (1966) by Michelangelo Antonioni (1912-2007) that the film classification system in the United States today has been established.
In fact, even with this restriction, the content of the film was further changed and censored. Martha's line in the original screenplay slash you!! was changed to GOD DAMN YOU!!
The movie "Spring Supper" / Who is afraid of Virginia Wolfe? Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966) stills by Elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor Richard Burton
When Elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) and Richard Burton Richard Burton (1925-1984) got the script first, Elizabeth Taylor turned a few pages and went to sleep first. Richard Burton, after reading the script through, was very excited, and immediately shook Elizabeth Taylor and said to her: "You have to take this role, she can definitely make you a female version of Hamlet, just like Hamlet is to me." ”
Elizabeth Taylor listened to Richard Burton's advice this time and immediately approached Jack Warner to sign a contract. Unsurprisingly, the role of Martha became the best role of Elizabeth Taylor's career.
Elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor auditioned, in color shots, even with makeup is not old enough, so decided to make a black and white film
In the film she looks fat and full of foul language, which is a breakthrough performance for Elizabeth Taylor, who has always paid attention to the image, she completely self-destructed in this film, in order to prove that success is not only based on charming faces, Elizabeth Taylor gained 10 kilograms and dyed her hair gray, the image of the jade girl disappeared, which shows her importance and dedication to this film, and this role also won her a second Academy Award for Best Actress.
At the same time as the honor, Elizabeth Taylor also received 1.1 million (plus 10% of the film's dividends), while Richard Burton received 750,000.
Elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor in the movie "Spring Supper of Spiritual Desires/ Who Fears Virginia Wolfe?" Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966) was completely free of self
Theatrical adaptations were indeed hotbeds of great performances, so much so that such films attributed to the works of actors rather than directors, such as Vivien Leigh's A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) by Vivien Leigh (1913-1967) and Katharine Hepburn's (1907-2003) Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962), Meryl Streep's August: August: Osage County, Osage County (2013), and Elizabeth Taylor's Spring Supper are all true. The reason why other theatrical adaptations are not as successful as these ones seems to be precisely because of the lack of great performances by great actors.
But Spring Supper was the most expensive black-and-white film to produce at the time, costing $7.5 million. In addition to paying Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, the other bulk was the $500,000 (royalties + screenwriting fees) paid to Edward Albi.
Edward Albi said in a 2005 interview that producer and screenwriter Ernst Lechman had asked him to adapt the script for $250,000, but after it was completed, director Mike Nichols and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton hated the script so much that after the elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burtons revised it, almost 100 percent were overturned and restarted, and only two sentences of the original script were retained. Edward Albi said those two sentences were worth $250,000 and was already a bargain.
The movie "Spring Supper" / Who is afraid of Virginia Wolfe? Scene from Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor Richard Burton
Although the story told in "Spring Supper" is simple, the connotation revealed is quite profound, and the film profoundly explores the issues of marriage, society and love, and is still deeply touched today. This is not a relaxed and pleasant film, the climax of the emotional collision, let the audience and the people in the play feel the same exhausted.
Late one night, an academic couple rushes home through the University of New England, and Elizabeth Taylor's drunken laughter sharply confirms "Who's afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" Walking into the house and turning on the lights, Elizabeth Taylor looked around the living room disapprovingly, imitating the demeanor of Betty Davis Davis (1908-1989) in the movie Beyond the Forest (1949): "What a dumping ground!" This is the official beginning of the scene.
The movie "Spring Supper" / Who is afraid of Virginia Wolfe? Stills from Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966).
On a dark night with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton using alcohol and resentment, Elizabeth Taylor invites a young newlywed couple, the young couple Nick (George Sigge Segal) is both talented, and lady Hani (Sandy Dennis) is cute and cute. The two couples look very different in their state.
Elizabeth Taylor's purpose is also vicious, that is, to let the young husband Nick's excellence to stimulate the aging and tired Richard Burton, Richard Burton of course understands Elizabeth Taylor's intentions, naturally not to be weak. So Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton fought in the drunken madness of the madness, which was completely dangerous for you to kill me and I to slash you with ten axes.
Through the conversation between the four people and two couples at midnight, a lot of contradictions are described. First, Richard Burton's lack of ambition in his career disappointed Elizabeth Taylor; second, Richard Burton's childhood life was not understood and ridiculed by his wife; third, Richard Burton's books were not appreciated by his father-in-law, which made him even less fulfilled; fourth, the emptiness of life caused by the couple's inability to have children, and Elizabeth Taylor's psychological abnormality; fifth, young Nick was tricked into marrying on the one hand, and on the other hand, for the money of his wife Hani's family. The lack of true love between the young couple is also responsible for Nick's infidelity; the sixth, Elizabeth Taylor's debauched life, is an escape from her own numb life.
The movie "Spring Supper" / Who is afraid of Virginia Wolfe? Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966) on set, from left to right: Director Mike Nichols Elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor Richard Burton
From this film, we can see how many undercurrents and contradictions lurk under the surface calm life of the American middle class. Feel the various social realities that existed in American society at that time, such as egoism, single-parent families, murder of one's own family, fake marriages, artificial termination of pregnancies, and so on. The most ironic thing is that when the dawn comes, people will be willing to return to their own hypocritical lives, no matter how much contradiction between them.
They would rather live a glamorous, false life than bring real relief to themselves. From these reflections, the characters in the play have become completely numb to life, and such a family is also a true portrayal of the lives of people in that era.
In addition, the contradictions depicted in the film not only exist in the 1960s in the film, but also in the 21st century in which we live, which shows that our current society has made no progress except for the progress of science and technology!
The four protagonists live in their own fantasy worlds, which makes it impossible for them to communicate and communicate with those around them. When alienation accumulates to the point where they quarrel and even hate each other. When they come out of their fantasy world, they can communicate and communicate with others, can they feel love, and can they love each other.
It's a dialogue-based film with only four characters, all relying on the actors' dialogue, expressions, and body language to drive the plot, much like a stage play.
Since it relies on dialogue and actors' performances to show the plot, the performance of the actors in this film is the key to the success of this film. In this regard, this film can be called perfect. The performances of the four actors completely supported the 131-minute film.
The actor Richard Burton is the most important, in addition to the role with Elizabeth Taylor, but also with George Siger and his wife Sandy Dennis (1937-1992) alone.
In these scenes, large sections of dialogue, especially many close-up shots, test the actor's acting skills very much. But such a difficult performance, Richard Burton did it, and it was done perfectly. He put the old man's indecisive, resentful, lonely character and emotions very well, and he presented the audience with a perfect performance in the film.
The movie "Spring Supper" / Who is afraid of Virginia Wolfe? On the set of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor helps Richard Burton cut a birthday cake, with her daughter Lisa in between
Richard Burton was as great as George; he was an old, failed college professor whose initial meekness gave way to his own berserk torment. His verbal altercation with Elizabeth Taylor, like two cows in an endless bloody fight on a bullring, has become a classic. Every sentence carries malice and contempt, and every sentence is meant to leave the deepest wound on the other side.
During the filming of Spring Supper, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were often in full swing in front of the camera, sometimes leaving all the crew confused about whether he was acting or living.
On set, Elizabeth Taylor also helped Richard Burton celebrate his birthday and gave him gifts in front of everyone; sometimes, Richard Burton was on the verge of collapse because Elizabeth Taylor often scolded him in public outside the crew's camera, and was in a state of sadness and despair every day, and repeatedly tried to escape the "Spring Supper" crew to borrow wine to pour sorrow, and even begged director Mike Nichols for this.
However, Richard Burton was eventually forced to stay and shoot the classic crying scene in the film.
Director Mike Nichols in the film Psychic Spring Supper / Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966) set, his debut game, made his debut with fame and was blessed with two world-class stars
Like most successful visual adaptations of stage plays, the film's excellent cinematography and editing have left a lasting impression. In the history of American cinema, the film created many firsts — and left behind a "last time": the last film to win the Academy Award for Best Black and White Cinematography.
Of course, like many of today's excellent black-and-white films, this film is also filmed with a color camera and then processed into black and white tones. The cinematography of Haskell Wexler (1922-2015) paints an absurd, mysterious and ghostly atmosphere for the film, with the rapid movement of each shot often accompanied by a violent shift in mood.
Elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor in the movie "Spring Supper of Spiritual Desires/ Who Fears Virginia Wolfe?" The performance in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966) is precise in every frame
Not an easy movie to release, Spring Supper offers a disturbingly realistic analysis of the fragility of human emotions and the out-of-control way this insecurity leads us to lash out not only at those closest to us, but at the world as a whole. This is definitely a movie that encourages the audience to watch it repeatedly, because after the first time you watch it, you will get an incomplete feeling from it.
It is also worth mentioning that at the 39th Academy Awards in 1967, it was the only film in Oscar history to nominate all the awards that could be nominated at that time (a total of 13 awards) since 1931's "Cimarron" (1931), which shows its perfection (although it lost to Fred Zinnemann (1907-1997) fred Zinnemann (1907-1997) in many important awards for All Seasons》)。 With the number of Oscars, this record is likely to remain forever.
Sandy Dennis for the film "Spring Supper of The Spirits/ Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" A promotional photo by Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966), for which she was aborted on set, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress that year
Of Elizabeth Taylor's 5 Oscar nominations, this is her second Little Golden Man Award, and it's definitely a well-deserved acting explosion (after all, she got a lot of sympathy votes for the Oscar for Best Actress for "The Whore/Butterfield 8" and the brightest moment of her life – Martha, played by Elizabeth Taylor, is definitely one of the greatest performances in film history.
Elizabeth Taylor subtly shifts from sadism to tenderness, from bullying condescension to exhaustive vulnerability, and is a master of character building. Martha is a truly scary character, yet Elizabeth Taylor can give her sympathy and give you a glimpse of what she could have been a warm and lovely woman.
Elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor with the film "Spring Supper of The Spirit / Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966) attended a press conference with Richard Burton richard Burton when he won his second Oscar
The film also earned Sandy Dennis the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in her only nomination; Richard Burton and George Sigge were nominated for Best Actor and Supporting Actor, respectively. For Richard Burton, this is the fourth of his seven nominations (6 nominations for Best Actor and 1 nomination for Best Supporting Actor), and this is George Siege's only nomination to date. In addition, this was the 5th and final time that Erin Sharaff (1910-1993) won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.
As compensation for Mike Nichols' defeat, he won best director at the 40th Academy Awards in 1968 for His Graduate The Graduate (1967) over Norman Jewison's In the Heat of the Night (1967) by beating Norman Jewison.
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