Identikit

I disagree with the reviewers here whom simply write this off as a bad movie. "Identikit", or as it is known on the deceptively retitled US videotape release, "Psychotic", is a film that requires the viewer to think about what is happening, studying the disjointed events which gradually come to an ambiguous conclusion (which slightly echoes "Blow-Up" I might add). It is obvious that every detail of this film is deliberate and well crafted. Liz Taylor fans used to her more mainstream movies may be a bit put-off. If you like offbeat dramas from this time period that require a little brainwork then you may dig it. If you like having everything spelled out for you then you may find it "bad". I dug it!

Elizabeth Taylor gives a stunning performance as a disturbed spinster who is looking for a man, but not for the reasons you may think. It's a bizarre movie, but also a very good one thanks to Taylor's excellent portrayal of a troubled woman about to go over the edge. Based on a novel by Muriel Spark.

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.

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".

Amusing or alienating as many people as it intrigues, this fragmented psychological drama has some attention-getting elements, but can't quite overcome its limitations. Taylor plays an unusual and deeply troubled woman who heads to Rome, ostensibly to escape from her normal existence, but actually to complete a more deadly plan. Argumentative, demanding, disinterested and yet appalled, she wanders about airports, malls and parks, rather aimlessly awaiting the arrival of a man she feels destined to meet...but she isn't even sure who he is! The story is told in a fractured, flashback and flashforward-laden style. Taylor's intentions aren't spelled out clearly and the film often has a confusing or detached feel to it. This is, however, mostly intentional as her disintegrating mental state is exhibited. Sometimes Taylor's intensity during her episodes of anger and delusion gives the film an unintentionally humorous twist, such as when she resents being searched at the airport, throws a hissy fit over a smudged drinking glass, sprawls on the bed and fondles her own breasts and especially runs and falls after a car-bombing. Her story is punctuated by various encounters with strangers who find themselves in direct contact with someone who will later be the focus of a police investigation. Bannen plays a zealous macrobiotic swinger who wants to wine and dine Taylor. Washbourne is a kindly, but dotty, old lady who accompanies Taylor on a brief trip to a shopping center. Warhol is an austere and mysterious member of political society. She also encounters a skittish plane passenger and a lascivious (but scorchingly sexy) auto mechanic. Taylor, who is buried under a deliberately atrocious costume, huge, back-combed, frizzy hair, thick make up and a few extra pounds of weight, still manages to look beautiful in a few scattered shots. In certain light and at the right angle, she appears as striking as ever, though usually for just an instant or two. Somewhat rare, for her, is the amount of nudity she allows here, at one point standing for a long time with the sheerest of bras barely concealing her breasts. The cheapness of the titles, camera setups, dubbing, background music and lighting detract from the overall impact of the piece. Also, the script isn't coherent enough to really get it's points across. However, there is a certain level of interest in seeing Taylor go through the paces of this disturbed character. It's no classic, but it's unusual enough and striking enough, at times, to hold interest.