Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes Is a Must-See Documentary

In it, Taylor truly speaks in her own voice leaving you to decide how you see her

There’s so much more to Elizabeth Taylor than we give her credit for. There’s so much more to her being just a pretty face. There’s so much more to her than being married umpteen times. There’s so much more to her gaining weight at the end of her life. These are all things the world and media have picked apart and tried to dissect of her life. But, she was a woman with feelings, desires, struggles, mistakes, and wisdom. During the Cannes Film Festival, Nanette Burnstein unveiled her HBO Original Documentary of the renowned actress, called: Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes.

In the 101-minute documentary, lets you hear Taylor in her own words, and some words are from people who knew her best. We can forget that she was a child actor, and that her early start in cinema shaped the woman that she would become. Not having many life experiences to guide her early on, this shielding was the basis of her sometimes-irrational decision-making. But one thing Taylor is adamant about in the film’s audio is that she was fully aware of most of the decisions she made. She owns her life and didn’t shy away from her reality.

The documentary’s director Nanette Burnstein | Photo provided by Cannes Film Festival

At the start of the Cannes premier, Burnstein was welcomed on stage by Thierry Frémaux. A passion project, she spoke on how Taylor was an inspiration for her. Burnstein was given access to Taylor’s personal archives and seventy-hours of newly-surfaced audio. One thing any viewer will appreciate about the documentary is that it gives you another view to Taylor. One where, if you had any judgements against her, you’ll certainly look at her with grace, pushing aside those preconceived notions about her life.

A telling moment is that when Taylor made the film Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958) with Paul Newman her husband, film director Mike Todd had died part way through filming. The true love of her life, the way their relationship is portrayed in the documentary, it seems he was “the one” for her. And, perhaps if he didn’t die, that may have been her last marriage.

There are moments of humor in the documentary, there are moments where you really feel her painful moments in life, and there are moments where you understand why she made the decisions that she did. A formidable woman, her legacy lives on. A moment where viewers may identify with her the most is not her many failed marriages, but her alcohol and drug challenges that caused to her to spiral a bit. But then she caught herself and received help, and became one of the world’s greatest humanitarians of HIV and Aids.

Burnstein has done a good job humanizing Elizabeth Taylor to the world with this film.

Photo of Elizabeth Taylor by Frank Worth.