The Driver's Seat

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 took a chance by doing this film, an exploration of the female psyche. Spark's novel, from which the film is adapted, is a satire, like most of her works. The object of her farce, is a woman who is desired by men, men who find their need to be paramount to the needs of the female. Elizabeth Taylor, as with many Cinema stars knows full well the objectification of her image, with her exquisite face and desirable body. She knows it is her selling point, but also that it relegates her as a subservient person. Miss Taylor explores this persona in her role here, in the role of this 'possessed' woman. The film did not do well in the US at the time of it's release, which may have to do with the startling subject matter, as well as Taylor stepping off the pedestal as the Goddess we want her to be. The film is unfortunately distributed by a company called Cheezy Flicks, which advertises the product with a campy flair. The movie demonstrates that it is a product of its time, but it also may be a farce for the ages. It certainly raises my estimation of Elizabeth Taylor as an artist, far above the Hollywood fabrication.

Low budget Italian film, which was filmed shortly after Elizabeth Taylor's divorce from Richard Burton, which may explain why she decided to make this movie. Film focuses on a lonely woman, who decides to leave work for a holiday in South Italy. However, Lise is not just an ordinary woman looking for a vacation because she is mentally unbalanced. Lise stalks a man on her plane carrying her to Rome and befriends an ecentric man, who wants her. What is Lise's goal? It is to find a man to kill her. Movie has elements, which make you think Elixabeth Taylor is a spy at first. There are several scenes of violence. For example, a shooting at an airport and a bombing at a park. There is even a soft masturbation scene with Elizabeth Taylor. Movie goes over the edge but is good because of Elizabeth's strong ability as a great actress. There is a nice cameo scene with Andy Warhol, who painted his famous painting of Elizabeth Taylor. Famous scene, Elizabeth Taylor getting mad at the sales lady for trying to sell her a dress, which is stain proof. It is a metaphor for what she is trying to accomplished and I will leave it up to the viewer to figure it out. I gave this movie a four star due to the low budget filming.

Based on Muriel Spark's harrowing novel (the film inspired another, 'The Public Eye') this is one of Elizabeth Taylor's best performances, which won European Oscars. Why have you never heard about it? It was considered obscene, and parts of it are shocking, still. It demonstrates that Taylor was a very talented actress strangled by the star system in the US, of which she was the last studio product. The film is damaged by extraneous scenes not in the novel, set in a police station. But when Taylor is on screen as perhaps the most neurotic woman in screen history - besides every Joan Crawford performance on film - you won't forget it. Sparks' dialogue, as in 'Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' - taken intact from the novel in Taylor's scenes - is sparkling. To best view this film skip any police scene, and the end will surprise you more as well. It's not too late, Liz - they are filming the musical of 'Sunset Boulevard'.

Excellent,bizarre movie starring Elizabeth taylor in one of her most underrated roles! She plays a distubed,half crazed woman named 'Lise' who travels to Rome in search of a lover who will kill her! I was really suprised with this movie,i love Elizabeth taylor & liked the sound of the odd plotline but in all honesty i expected it to be a mixed up mess- but i was so wrong! Not only is the story captivating as we join Lise on her bizarre journey but the characters are great too.I adored watching Elizabeth play such a dark crazy character- Lise with the wild eyed appearence,over the top wardrobe & detached unpredictable manner- she captures her perfectly! Andy warhol appears in a cameo role & Ian bannens performance as a sex crazed 'macrobiotic' obsessive is one of the highlights of the film! An underrated classic!

Terrible quality even my blue ray player which upscales DVDs and blue rays to 4K quality through my 4K 65" TV couldnt save the poor quality of this DVD. It's as if it was a pirate copy filmed directly off a cinema screen. The film itself was also painfully slow and so bad, it lacked any depth or substance. Even Elizabeth Taylor could t save this terrible adaptation of one of my all time favourite books. Divine would have been better cast in the part. Bloody awful and a waste of time watching it.

This is pretty awful, and if your disc is like mine, the visuals are a bit blurry and grainy, like it was copied from a VHS tape. The film itself is not one of Taylor's best. Indeed, she wanders around the film looking like she can't remember how to act. Ian Bannen tries his hardest to inject some life into the film - and something of himself into Taylor's character, but he just comes across as a bit of a boor. Avoid.

Doesn't appear to be an official release, but apart from an early 80s UK videotape, this film has been super hard to see for many, many years. She's on great form here, showing why she won two Oscars, and still looking fab as an older woman. Ian Bannen excellent as well, as you would expect.

A very strange film, like many Liz made during this era.Not as mind-bogglingly great as Secret Ceremony, but what is?The transfer (from a 30-year-old VHS cassette) is inevitably a bit below-par, but adequate.