Elizabeth Taylor stars as a troubled woman who, upon arriving in Rome, finds a city fragmented by autocratic law, leftist violence and her own increasingly unhinged mission to find the most dangerous liaison of all.
Never before released in the UK, The Driver’s Seat(aka Identikit)remains the most obscure, bizarre and wildly misunderstood film of Taylor’s illustrious career. Adapted from an unnerving novella by Muriel Spark (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), the film marked a wild step into the unknown for the screen icon, as she cast off the shackles of the US studio system in the shadow of her tumultuous personal life. Co-starring Ian Bannen, Mona Washbourne and Andy Warhol, The Driver’s Seat stunned critics and audiences alike upon its premiere in 1974 but failed to secure a UK release – until now.
Directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi ('Tis Pity She's a Whore) and featuring cinematography by three-time Oscar® winner Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now), this much-sought after cult classic is presented in a new 4K restoration by Cineteca di Bologna and Severin Films.
Extras
Restored in 4K by Cineteca di Bologna and Severin Films and presented in High Definition
Introduction By Kier-La Janisse, author of House of Psychotic Women (2022, 6 mins)
Audio Commentary with curator and programmer Millie De Chirico (2022)
A Lack of Absence (2022, 22 mins): writer and literary historian Chandra Mayor on Muriel Spark and The Driver's Seat
The Driver’s Seat credit sequences (1974, 4 mins)
Waiting For… (1970, 11 mins): a young woman embarks on a filmmaking project when some mysterious men give her a camera and tell her to capture her everyday reality
The Telephone (1981, 4 mins): a young woman enacts an imaginative revenge on her boyfriend for being unfaithful in this short film by Chris Petit (Radio On)
Darling, Do You Love Me? (1968, 4 mins) in a hugely entertaining parody of her media persona, Germaine Greer stars as a terrifyingly amorous woman who pursues a man relentlessly.
National Theatre of Scotland trailer (2015, 2 mins): The trailer for the National Theatre of Scotland's 2015 stage production of The Driver's Seat
**FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film by the BFI’s Simon McCallum and Canadian artist, writer and filmmaker Bruce LaBruce. Also includes Kier-La Janisse’s writing on The Driver’s Seat, previously published in her acclaimed book, House of Psychotic Women
