Elizabeth Taylor is considered by many to be the last great Hollywood star, and we need to contextualize “star” to understand what that means. Today we have – in comparison – famous people, but few who could be on the same level as the actress. With a career in cinema that began when she was only 10 years old, “Liz” literally spent her entire life being adored, hated, idolized, ridiculed, but never ignored. A legend.

The actress, who passed away in 2011, at the age of 79, had a life off-screen that was even more glamorous and dramatic than her characters, without being able to have privacy or normality at any time.

Known for her stunning beauty, great talent, and passionate life, she was truly one of Hollywood’s most iconic stars, with two Oscars for Best Actress and no less than eight marriages (two of them with Richard Burton). Towards the end of her life, after retiring, she became a fervent defender of humanitarian causes, especially in the fight against AIDS, raising millions of dollars for research and treatment of the disease.

There are as many “definitive” biographies about her (already three) as there are about Marilyn Monroe, but none of them are authorized, which makes the documentary Elizabeth Taylor – The Lost Tapes a rare opportunity to hear the actress herself narrate her career and talk about behind-the-scenes stories that we only know about from gossip magazines, yes, like her marriages and separations.

Recorded at the height of the star’s career, in 1964, when she earned a million dollars to star in Cleopatra, and allowed intimate conversations to be recorded for an autobiography that would be written by her friend, Richard Meryman.

Do you know what makes her irresistible? The actress’s frankness about everything and any subject, especially her long romantic life. Combined with never-before-seen images of Liz with her family, her private life still arouses curiosity today. We heard testimonies from her best friend, Roddy McDowell, and Richard Burton, but right away she warns that on the inside she is neither beautiful nor innocent, but that she also had no way of “paying for her mistakes”.

When narrating the chronology of her life, it is absolutely charming to hear how she had both feet on the ground: nothing is dramatic, nothing is fantasy. There is no false modesty, nothing is thought out. Elizabeth Taylor‘s honesty reveals a determined, talented, and coherent woman; it is impossible not to fall in love with her.

She admits that she has bad jobs, that she married the wrong people, and that her passion for Burton caused sadness in others. One of the funniest parts is when she loses her patience with being called a sex symbol. “You put so much emphasis on this sex goddess thing! I am a woman! I am a woman,” she complains.

It is fun to discover that her lack of sympathy and occasional aggressiveness were precisely what made Liz the legend she always was. It is so interesting to see how much greater and different she was from other actresses, still trying to justify her choices with pseudo-documentaries to control negative narratives. With Elizabeth Taylor – the lost tapes, we could hear complaints or excuses, but that never happens. An undeniable and still rare merit that only Ava Gardner (her friend) shared.

Elizabeth also experienced the last years of American studios being the “owners” of their stars, having debuted at the biggest one at the time: MGM. She achieved something rare for many since then: managing to make the transition from child star to adult, as well as “overcoming” her beauty to reveal herself as an actress respected by her peers. And I assure you, at the end of the documentary, ours will be too.

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