My Easy Marketplace - X Y & Zee

The film is an unmistakeable icon of the 1970's lifestyle with loud music, dreadful clothes, long hair and over the top makeup. To enjoy the film you have to put your own set of beliefs and personal style on hold and just sit back for the ride. "X, Y And Zee" tells the story of the ongoing self destructive marriage of successful architect Robert Blakeley (Michael Caine) and his wife Zee who enjoy an affluent lifestyle and are part of the swinging cafe society of upper strata London. However their life is far from ideal in that they seem to enjoy testing the strength of their marriage through often quite savage mind games and personal baiting that in a way tends to keep the partnership exciting and unpredictable. Into their lives comes young dress designer Stella, a widow with two small boys who is instantly attracted to Robert and offers him a way out of the tiring merry go round of verbal sparring and violence that is the norm in his life with Zee. The film chronicles their growing love for each other and Zee's attempts to break up the relationship by fair means or foul. These involve her screaming abuse and emptying rubbish bins on their doorstep, to attempting suicide in a futile attempt to win Robert back. The story has a quite startling twist in its conclusion which I wont devulge here but it brings in a possible lesbian element to the story which is left up to the viewer to work out.

"X, Y And Zee" is an exhausting film to watch in some repects but it is very enjoyable and is totally dominated by Elizabeth Taylor's performance as Zee. Michael Caine and Sussanah York, both fine performers with many great roles ahead of them are totally sidelined by Elizabeth's flamboyant playing here. Zee with her loud music, garish and trendy clothing, over the top makeup and tendency to dramatise everything makes the other performers pale into insignificance. Zee however is not a total monster and at times Elizabeth is able to breath extra dimension into her character to reveal that behind the confident facade and biting humour is a woman scared about what will happen and about being left alone. I always like to compare this 1972 effort by Elizabeth with her effort in following year in 1973 "Ash Wednesday" where she plays a character a million light years away from Zee's personality. It really reveals Elizabeth's often underestimated range as an actress.

Despite its dated 70's dreck as one critic called it, "X, Y And Zee" is a fascinating look into another time. The film also has a great performance from veteran actress Margaret Leighton who I always loved as the other woman in Noel Coward's "The Astonished Heart". Here she plays eccentric and bohemian society hostess Gladys complete with flowing gowns,frizzy wig and spangled eye glasses who is a friend of the Blakeley's and is responsible for introducing Stella to Robert. Some of her dialogue is priceless and she almost succeeds in moving the attention off Zee on occasion, in particular the big party scene at the beginning.

Directed with gusto by Brian Hutton, who also guided Elizabeth Taylor through the very interesting but unfortunately seldom seen thriller "Night Watch", it really is a celebration of the times and might not be a film nowadays to everyone's taste. I enjoy it for its look at 1970's mores and for the wonderful full blooded performance by Elizabeth Taylor in the central role. She works very well with Michael Caine and it's a pity the two never teamed up again in a movie. So get out your platform shoes, flares, and loud music and sit back for a dip into the swinging 1970's London lifestyle.

Out of bored habit more than passion, Caine erotically targets Susannah York, a vague country wife who may or may not be a widow. They begin an affair. Zee cottons on right away and does her utmost to play both ends against her full-figure-gal middle. Taylor's bitch-queen act lends a certain verve; she barges about the screen in a wardrobe of multicolored, tent-like horrors that suggest, oh, Genghis Khan in Arabia. It's a measure of the film's muddled sense of itself that Zee's early description of her rival--"a soulful slob [who's] always a little out of breath and sees beauty in everything"--is dead-on about the character and the normally lively Susannah York's performance.

Zee (like Virginia Woolf's Martha) is childless, and Edna O'Brien's script underscores how often the three principals call one another "baby." We won't tip the surprise-twist climax, but the ending is the nadir of '70s pseudo-sophistication, mindless technique mongering, and cluelessness masquerading as "adult" ambiguity. Not one freeze frame but a dozen... overlapped... with zooms in and out, yet. Turn on the lava lamps, get out the throw cushions, zap the microwave popcorn--this is a definitive trash wallow. --Richard T. Jameson