Zee and Co
6 /10 1 Votes
Director Brian G. Hutton Producer Elliott Kastner Writer Edna OBrien Language English | 5.8/10 IMDb Genre Drama Duration Country United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date 21 January 1972 (1972-01-21) Awards David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress Cast Elizabeth Taylor (Zee Blakeley), Michael Caine (Robert Blakeley), Susannah York (Stella), Margaret Leighton (Gladys)Similar movies Interstellar , The Time Traveler's Wife , Desire , All About Anna , Turkish Delight , Hemingway & Gellhorn Tagline An Absolute Ball | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Zee and Co, also known as X, Y and Zee and Zee and Company, is a 1972 British film released by Columbia Pictures. It was directed by Brian G. Hutton, and was based upon a novel by Edna O'Brien.
Contents
The film starred Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Caine as a middle-aged, bickering couple whose marriage is on its last legs, and Susannah York as the woman who comes between them. Margaret Leighton was also featured in a supporting role as a dizzy socialite.
The theme song, "Going in Circles", was covered by Three Dog Night on their album Seven Separate Fools (1972), as well as being the b-side to the single "The Family of Man" from the previous album, "Harmony" (1971).
Plot summary
Zee Blakely (Elizabeth Taylor) is a loud, coarse, forty-something socialite, whose marriage to her architect husband Robert (Michael Caine) is on the rocks, as witnessed by their frequent verbal sparring matches. Sick of Zee's antics, Robert is drawn to quiet boutique owner Stella (Susannah York) who is the complete antithesis to Zee in terms of personality.
Feeling bored and rejected, Zee attempts a number of methods to regain Robert's sympathy, such as attempting suicide, but these do not work. Zee discovers that Stella had a lesbian affair in the past, and uses this against both her, and Robert, to dare him to partake in a love triangle with Stella.
Critical reception
Critical opinions of the film were varied. Roger Ebert said that while the movie is "no masterpiece" it still satisfies audiences as it "unzips along at a nice, vulgar clip". He said that Elizabeth Taylor is the film's main attraction, but the emphasis upon her detracts somewhat from a fuller representation of the love triangle in the film. Steven Scheuer praised the film for its "intelligent dialogue" and as a "change of pace" for its director. Michael McWilliams cited Taylor's work as "her greatest movie performance" and called the film "outrageously funny" (McWilliams, 1987: 32).
Other critics were less sympathetic. Leonard Maltin said the film was "contrived [and] often perverse," with the Elizabeth Taylor/Susannah York love scene ranking "high in the annals of poor taste," (Maltin, 1990: 1386). Clive Hirschhorn felt the film was sabotaged by the director's "indulgent" take on it, thereby skewing Edna O'Brien's screenplay to its detriment (Hirshhorn, 1989: 298). Mick Martin offered a very brief review of the film being that it was a "pointless tale of sexual relationships", (Martin and Porter, 1996: p. 1213).
Cast
DVD
A remastered Region 1 DVD-R was released by Sony Pictures on 17 December 2010.
References
Zee and Co. WikipediaZee and Co. IMDb Zee and Co. themoviedb.org