Secret Ceremony (1968)

We're into our obscure films this week - this is one of Joseph Losey's more obscure works, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Mitchum and Mia Farrow. Ostensibly a psychological thriller about a prostitute (Taylor) who becomes embroiled in a series of mind games when she 'adopts' Farrow's character, the film has a darker, sicker feel to it. This is partly down to Mitchum's character, who is absolutely vile, and partly because of the theme of assumed identities; Farrow latches onto Taylor because she reminds her of her dead mother and Taylor accepts her because Farrow resembles her dead daughter. My copy (on VHS) has long given up the ghost but there are a couple of clips on the elektroweb. Check out this fragment, complete with a bit of Richard Rodney Bennett's eerie soundtrack:



It's on DVD but only Region 2. I'd class this one as 'Acquired Taste Psychodrama'.