The Driver's Seat

This strange little film has a small but devoted cult following, due to it's haunting atmosphere, obscure storyline, and a hypnotic performance by the Great Elizabeth Taylor. She stars as Lise, a spinster who makes a decision to go on a holiday, a trip that will be her last, to Rome. Dressed in a psychedelic outfit made up of every color in the rainbow, she is a peacock, using colors to attract a certain man. A man that will fulfill her darkest wish. The viewer must wait until the end of the film to find out just exactly what the crazed Lise is looking for. The ending is pretty gruesome, and not expected. But before we get there, Taylor, as Lise, gives us a guided tour of a very different looking Rome, as well as a tour of her own warped and desperate psyche. This film is what art-house cinema is all about. As far away from Hollywood as you can hope to get, there has never been a film quite like this one. Taylor exudes such an intense feeling of loneliness here, so much so, that some will find this to be a somewhat depressing film experience. But this is not a 'feel-good' film, although it is filled with some truly hilarious one-liners that you might find yourself repeating with friends who you watch this with. Some critics call this Taylors worst film, but that is utterly preposterous. It doesn't have the glossy, expensive look of her earlier Hollywood films, but then again this is a much darker and more serious film than say, "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof". Also she isn't as young and beautiful here, but if she were than the tale would not be so sad, and the desperation of this woman would make no sense. 'Identikit' is filled with familiar actors, all in totally memorable performances. Ian Bannon is hilarious as one of Lise's companions. Guido Mannari, a familiar presence in countless Italian exploitation movies is cast here as a lecherous mechanic who attempts to rape Taylor in a car. His performance is over-the-top sleazy. And veteran actress Mona Washbourne is priceless as the impromptu shopping companion of Lise, forever looking for the perfect gift for her nephew. Strangely, the shopping center sequence with Washbourne and Taylor, is one of my favorite scenes in all cinema. I don't know why, but I never get tired of listening to the strange conversation between the two eccentric characters as they wander around that modern-looking Rome shopping mall. And it is fitting that Andy Warhol has a cameo here, as both this film, and Warhol, are bizarre entities indeed. Also worth mentioning is the dark, moody background music, which compliments the feeling of the film perfectly. 'Identikit' is not for people who enjoy mainstream cinema. If 'Pretty Woman' is your idea of a good film, then you will most likely find this dark, murky film deplorable. But for fans of the precisely weird, i recommend this little-known gem. It is available as a 'cheapo' DVD. I paid around $5 dollars for it. Don't expect anamorphic widescreen here. In fact this looks like it was copied directly from a video tape. But for this film, it is somehow fitting. And I am grateful, and surprised that it is available at all. And incidentally... Do you have a gun?? Because if you did, you could shoot me...

Elizabeth Taylor reportedly said those words to her director Griffi when she came on the set the day after she left Burton for their first divorce. So with that mindset she went to work on one of her most unusual, daring and controversial films. From the moment 'The Diver's Seat' begins you know you are in a strange place. In Europe the movie was called 'Idendikit' so, with two names tagged to it thus making it schizophrenic from the first it easily falls into the realm of the ambiguous art film genre of the late 60's and early 70's. It's star, Elizabeth Taylor, appears here in one of her most remote and dangerous roles. She plays Lise a woman who is consumed by insanity and the desire to find the ultimate lover, the be all and end all of boyfriends you might say. As the film opens you are presented with a shattered view of a woman on the edge of something terrible. The camera moves past bald mannequins in a disjointed way. Is this Lise's view of others or is it a reflection of her ultimate fate? Upon being told to take a holiday from work after causing a scene in the office the film opens with her preparations to take flight to Rome. The film jump cuts from past to present as the police in Rome try to reconstruct her final fatal holiday in terrorist gripped Rome. Even Rome comes off as off kilter. This is not the Rome of Audrey Hepburn or Marcello Mastroianni but a city one hardly recognizes from the lack of typical filming locations one associates with 'Made In Rome!' movies. Director Giuseppe Patroni Griffi succeeds in presenting a uniquely Italian cinema verite film of the Muriel Spark novel. This is a unique film and very much of it's day. Its non-linear, experimental, almost documentary style will be hard to get into for any one not used to movies of this sort. But it is well worth the effort. So strange and challenging a film it is that it left the opening night audience at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival in stunned silence. The cast is well chosen and gives some oddly memorable performances. Ian Bannan as the macrobiotic sex-nut who tires to pick up Lise on the plane to Rome seems almost as mad as she is. It is a wickedly off kilter wild-eyed performance. The charming and always wonderful Mona Washbourne is sweetly touching as the woman who befriends the mad Lise and in doing so leads her to meet the man of her dreams. But the glue that holds it all together is provided by Miss Taylor who tops off her short list of insane characters from Susanna Drake to Catherine Holly with this daring and shocking portrait of Lise. She opens up as an actress that at the time would have been unthinkable to most of her contemporaries from the old M.G.M. days. That's one of the wonderful things about her film career. She came from an era in old Hollywood where she was trained and groomed to be glossy and perfect. But as times changed so did she and in doing so became much more than an MGM glamour girl, she became an actress with guts. In 'The Driver's Seat' she shows her chops as an actress and her willingness to accept challenges in her roles and in Lise she found a great one. One stunning image of her is when in her loud madwoman dress and raccoon painted eyes she challenges the airport security to frisk her. In that scene she seems totally there, totally gone, and totally in control as an actress.

Presented out of sequence (either a trenchant move or merely ineptness), this Elizabeth Taylor melodrama, adapted from Muriel Spark's novel by director Giuseppe Patroni Griffi and Raffaele La Capria, is rather seductive on its slim budget and fascinating in its wrong-headedness. Filmed in Italy, the story concerns a mentally disturbed woman on the hunt for the perfect man to be her...murderer? The film has such a loopy, surreal quality, you can almost feel something extraordinary happening here but without the necessary talent to make it a success. Taylor is actually attempting something (rather than just posing), but one can only wonder what she made of this script and her odd, underwritten character. Most bad films are simply boring or uninspired, but "The Driver's Seat" has an almost accidental reverse-magic. On first glance, the construction of the picture appears to be amateurish--and Taylor set adrift--but Griffi has moviemaking fever and his film is almost always interesting. ** from ****

You can see me walking behind her for a few seconds in around 22 minutes or so from the beginning and a few other shots of me from behind... she was actually very nice but well she was drinking and her language was a bit "rough" but lovely to see... I did hear her talk about her ending relationship with Mr Burton because they placed me in the airplane sequence in the row of seats in front of her so I heard her conversations with Ian Bannen between takes. She even mentioned that she usually wore her wedding ring in all her films and disguised it with stones during shoots but her ring was bare at this time.... it was a great experience and I even got paid a free lunches for two weeks.. Film barely released in cinemas. A gigantic flopperou

I have been watching and enjoying Elizabeth Taylor films all my life and this is one of her best. I think this film is one of the most underrated films of all time. It is flawless in every aspect...story, directing, set, music, clothes, and of course acting. The beautiful and talented actress Elizabeth Taylor does not walk through this one. She gives it her all, as well as does everyone else involved in this work of Art. This is not a spoon fed piece of sugar, rather a serious and artistic look at the psychology of a "person".