Explicit drama

Press, 6 January 1987, Page 18

Explicit drama

“X, Y and Zee” (M), starring Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Caine and Susannah York, is an original screenplay by the Irish novelist Edna O’Brien who specialises in triangular romantic drama of an explicit nature. “X, Y and Zee” (also . known as the British film “Zee and Co”) centres on a childless but volatile marital relationship that appears to thrive on cruel role playing, below-the-belt sparring matches and occasional spates of adultery. Zee (Elizabeth Taylor) and Robert Blakeley (Michael Caine) are members of swinging London’s Bohemian upper crust. Their love-hate union seems to be headed for its ultimate destruction when he falls genu-

inely in love with Stella (Susannah York), a beautiful widow. At the story’s close, husband discovers wife and girlfriend in bed together, and the film ends in a “freeze-frame” leaving viewers to make up their own plot resolution.

For Elizabeth Taylor, “X, Y and Zee” offered a “tour de force,” the like of which she hadn't had

since “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?” She met the challenge in a manner few critics could ignore.