Monday, November 17, 2025

 The Driver's Seat aka Identikit. (1974) – Giuseppe Petroni Griffi.

This eerily oblique, melancholic, compellingly non-linear psychodrama follows the fascinatingly unbalanced Lise (Elizabeth Taylor) as she obsessively circumnavigates Rome, desperately searching for a man who might satisfy her singularly twisted desires. Having both the depth of an especially rich character drama, and the darker schematics of a psychological thriller, it would be impossible to imagine anyone else portraying Lise, Elizabeth Taylor's bravura, utterly scintillating performance is no small part of the film's brilliance. While it is not absolutely unprecedented for an experimental, intellectually robust European thriller to veer so dramatically away from stock tropes, it is certainly rare to experience one that does so with such conspicuous style, authenticity, and psychological intensity as Identikit. While mesmerized by Elizabeth Taylor's lurid couture, and almost Promethean acting rigour, it is the emotionally complex, no less inspired narrative that is guaranteed to provide additional grist upon a more than essential second viewing. 




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