User reviews

This obscure movie, which has been so unfairly panned by the critics of its time, actually manages to deliver what I believe was the intention, a disintegrating world of a psychotic woman. As viewers, we are somewhere in the middle of two layers of realities, the one being the compulsive psyche of the main character, Lise, portrayed by Liz Taylor, and the other one being the absurd and incoherent events in her surroundings. I quite like this film, I had expected a B-movie with second rate production values, but I was at least partly mistaken, the cinematography is effective in painting the psychotic state of mind, example; Lise turning to her right, framed in the left side of the screen, when addressing someone. Another scene, where Lise is attempting to get in touch with a woman she befriended just recently, who may be stuck in the lavatory from some illness, we see Lise at the same time completely absorbed by her own mirror image, disconnected from any real emotional concern over the lady that might be in peril. Maybe some think these are cheap means of making a weird and psychotic setting, still the movie makes the viewer access the process of disintegration of Lise. Furthermore, some scenes are chillingly before its time regarding terror events and crimes; terror do pop up everywhere these days, and maybe a modern day public can better identify themselves with a confused and disintegrating persona as Lise. We can barely understand our own feelings and our driving forces - how can we then understand the complexity of the human society in terms of terror and conflicts?

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 ****

Beautiful and buxom Elizabeth Taylor (as Lise) is looking for something, but it is not sex. She does not want sex, and repeatedly asserts, "I don't want sex!" But, Ms. Taylor invites, "You can do anything you want afterwards, just (censored) me!" Some of the lines uttered by Taylor in this movie are really funny. On a plane, she asks Ian Bannen (as Bill), "You look like Red Riding Hood's grandmother, do you want to eat me?" Unlike Taylor, Mr. Bannen is interested in sex. He tells her he needs an orgasm every day. Taylor talks about orgasms, too. Other men making an impression on Taylor are Guido Mannari (as Carlo) and Maxence Mailfort (as Pierre). And, Mona Washbourne (as Helen Fiedke) is a sleepy shopping companion.

Keep your remote control handy to re-play the opening "dressing room" scene, because you may do a "double-take" upon seeing Taylor looking sexy in a very revealing see-through bra. Also note, the title "Identikit" is a misnomer; while made in Italy, "The Driver's Seat" is basically an English language film.

The main attraction is watching Elizabeth Taylor essay another of her most unusual 1970s roles. She is not entirely successful, and may have abandoned all hope of continuing a serious acting career with this one. Taylor had been, for a solid decade, one of the Hollywood's most respected actresses - but, sometime after "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (1966), she began to falter. There were, still, occasional interesting roles and moments; but, the missteps hurt Taylor's reputation. Critics would drool over each new Elizabeth Taylor film project (most with companion Richard Burton) because, frankly, their reviews were an opportunity to be more (perversely) entertaining than the films. Ironically, Taylor put film critics in "The Driver's Seat".

*** The Driver's Seat (5/20/74) Giuseppe Patroni Griffi ~ Elizabeth Taylor, Ian Bannen, Guido Mannari, Mona Washbourne

Quite mesmerizing film of a Muriel Spark novel, a grippingly nightmarish journey of a deranged woman travelling to Rome in search of her own death. The film has a fairly unique and dreamlike atmosphere all it's own, with every event heightened and irrational, filtered through the fevered consciousness of a frizzy-haired and panda-eyed Elizabeth Taylor. You can't, at any time, ever be sure what is supposed to be real and what isn't: every person she encounters is presented how *she* sees or imagines them, rather than how they objectively *are*, and as a result the film is so strange that even a couple of appearances by a white-suited Andy Warhol, as an English lord(!) seem perfectly reasonable and unsurprising.

Taylor is splendid in this highly unexpected and out-of-character arthouse role - her last great one: a madwoman striding around a world of her own making in a truly awful dress. It must have taken some courage for such a glamorous Hollywood icon to present herself in this unflattering a light, for she was still at the time a strikingly attractive woman, just slightly over the hill and going to seed, which she plays up and accentuates throughout.

Those looking for a simple and easily-digestible narrative may find it all very pretentious and frustrating, but I found I was thoroughly absorbed by every scene up until the very end, which looked good but I didn't feel resolved the story in a satisfactory-enough way.

It's definitely not for most, but if you're a fan of other classics in the 'Crumbling Female Psyche' genre, such as Mulholland Drive, Persona or Repulsion, there's a lot here to like.

7½/10.

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...

Since this Italian-shot art film... looking science-fiction futuristic with hypnotic phosphorescent interiors from an ominous airport to a vibrant shopping mall... stars screen legend Elizabeth Taylor, it's considered an utter travesty...

Yet THE DRIVER'S SEAT is actually a unique, sparse yet hallucinatory neo noir in which the central plot's completely spoiled from the online description all the way back to the back of the VHS tapes:

A woman travels through Italy to find someone to kill her... But are we really supposed to know that?

Taylor's Lisa... a temperamental middle-aged lady (colorfully dressed like for a circus, one neighbor scoffs)... to an unaware audience, seems to be looking for (while randomly auditioning for) the perfect LOVER as opposed to KILLER...

Each visited locale is investigated by detectives in a non-linear timeline, running concurrently with the immediate past where she's dodged by a quiet handsome Italian, attacked by a brash aggressive one, briefly joined by an old British woman (Mona Washburn, originally intended for Bette Davis) and bothered by a rambling vegetarian (Ian Bannen) while her destiny carries both plot and character, hence the title...

A shame that the DRIVER is revealed before the ride even begins.

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".

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.

Elizabeth Taylor is one of the most beautiful and exciting actresses ever to grace the screen. In this film she exemplifies these qualities, along with her talent for portraying a woman of wild abandon and audaciousness. Her work in this film will remain with the viewer long after the credits roll.

The film is almost impossible to describe. I saw it not long after seeing Luis Bunuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie...and I must say that I sensed some similarities between the two. While Bunuel allows mundane situations to evolve into surreal jokes and absurdities, and injects social commentary, The Driver's Seat portrays surrealism literally, in the form of a psychotic character who appears ridiculous and unintelligible, but in fact mirrors the chaos and violence of the society in which she lives.

Wow! What a boring movie! Being a MST3K fan I'm no stranger to bad movies and I actually can find them enjoyable every now and then. But this one is a complete waste of time. Maybe some riffs would improve it but overall it is one hell of a stinker to watch.

The Driver's Seat, aka Psychotic, aka Identikit - of the titles of this film I think Psychotic fits the film best, followed by Identikit. I have to say Elizabeth Taylor is fantastic in this one - the role suited her quite well. Too bad she didn't make more films in this vein.

This is an artful film with subtle and a few quite "out there" psychotic episodes from Lise (Taylor) - not to mention the two men on the plane with her and Andy Warhol. There are some other weird characters too.

It's an intelligent type of "madness" movie that is not for just anyone. Some find the film boring because they don't get the subtle things going on. If you get subtle things in films then you will get this film. I guess you can call this piece of cinema an acquired taste. I get the subtleness so this is my type of flick.

8/10

This is one of those crazy movies, like The Virgin Suicides and Doll's House, but with the European art house feeling of a movie like Breathless.

What I like about it is that it keeps you guessing until the end, not knowing exactly what is going to happen, even though you kind of have an inkling. It keeps you engrossed. But it's also gross.

And here, I thought the kind of insanity that we see on screen today is a reflection of how uniquely disturbed we are as a society today. And it's true that we are, but this movie will let you see that the roots of that disturbance were planted years ago. While this is still nowhere near as grotesque as some of the movies made today, the feeling of unease that one gets by the end will linger on long after the end credits roll, and it will make you want to promptly put on a Hayes code era film, from a time when none of these things were even allowed to enter the discussion! You will want to be protected, you will want to clear your mind of it all.

The irony is that Elizabeth Taylor started out in such gentle films as the golden age of Hollywood era demanded, and then she ended up in highly disturbing material like this. I guess it takes all kinds. And that's why this film is effective.

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