Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes is Revealingly Raw and Honest

At one time, Elizabeth Taylor’s daughter was my talent agent in New York.  The partnership didn’t last long, but I remembering feeling blessed one of Hollywood’s most famous women had a daughter who believed in me and thought I could go the distance as an actress.

Taylor was regarded as one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood and a shrewd businesswoman, as she was the first woman to demand and receive one million dollars a picture for playing the title role in ‘Cleopatra.’  Remember, this was during a time where women barely had rights in America. She set a bar that has been surpassed by stars like Julia Roberts, Zendaya, the cast of ‘Friends,’ Margot Robbie and many more making it impossible to roll the dial backwards.

Directed by Nanette Burstein, Taylor´s own voice narrates her story, accompanied by personal photos, home movies, and clips from her iconic roles mirroring real life challenges and triumphs, while also challenging audiences to reconsider Taylor´s legacy. Through newly discovered interviews with Taylor and unprecedented access to the movie star´s personal archive, the film reveals the complex inner life and vulnerability of the Hollywood legend and of a life lived on a global stage.

Burstein’s melting of archives with re-enactments (with just hands, cocktails and cigarettes) forces the viewer to concentrate on the story being told by Taylor without distraction.  It is very reminiscent of how Ethan Hawke crafted  ‘The Last Movie Stars’ a few years back about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.

For generations familiar with this iconic woman, most of what is revealed is not a surprise.  However, she is unapologetically candid when it comes to her feelings surrounding her seven marriages and their circumstances. Most importantly, it is divulged that Taylor was a staunch supporter of women and LGBTQ+ rights during a time when most turned a blind eye to the stigma associated with the diseae.  Her organization amFAR (The American Foundation for AIDS Research) s dedicated to ending the global AIDS epidemic through innovative research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of AIDS-related public policy is still active and thriving.

More than just a movie star, she was a mother, grandmother, ally for the underdog and fiercely loyal to those she loved and who loved her in return. With those steely, yet warm and inviting dark blue eyes, she shares her insecurities of never really being a trained actress and how she fought to rising to the occasion of not be judged on her body and beauty. Since she burst onto the scene as in National Velvet, Taylor has left the world with a cinematic reminder of her skills, grace, resilience and no-nonsense spirit for an eternity that will surely outlive us all.