The Caretaker (1963)
The Caretaker (1963)
BDRip 720p | MKV | 1280x720 | x264 @ 2943 Kbps | 105 min | 2,27 Gb
Audio: English AAC 1.0 @ 135 Kbps | Subs: English (embedded in MKV)
Genre: Drama
BDRip 720p | MKV | 1280x720 | x264 @ 2943 Kbps | 105 min | 2,27 Gb
Audio: English AAC 1.0 @ 135 Kbps | Subs: English (embedded in MKV)
Genre: Drama
Director: Clive Donner
Writer: Harold Pinter (play)
Stars: Alan Bates, Donald Pleasence, Robert Shaw
Aston (Robert Shaw), a quiet, reserved man, lives alone in a top-floor cluttered room of a small abandoned house in a poor London district. He befriends and takes in Mac Davies (Donald Pleasence), an old derelict who has been fired from a menial job in a café. In time Aston offers him a job as caretaker of the house. Aston's brother, Mick (Alan Bates) - a taunting, quasi-sadist - harasses the derelict when his brother is away, countermanding his orders. Eventually Aston, himself irritated by the cantankerous old man, puts him out.
The Caretaker is a truly great play and lends itself only to minimal tinkering for the screen. Thank goodness, that's what the makers of this film decided to do, so the film is barely an adaptation. One or two short scenes are moved out of Aston's claustrophobic attic room, but for the most part we're stuck in there, just like the play. I'm too young to have seen the original cast on stage, so it is good to see how Alan Bates and Donald Pleasence must have plied their craft on the stage. Robert Shaw does an excellent job of Aston, a part that is often under-rated as it is best performed under-stated. I have seen two fine productions of this play on the stage, back in the 70's I saw Max Wall play the lead and more recently the mighty Michael Gambon supported brilliantly by Rupert Graves as Mick and Douglas Hodge as Aston. If you can get to see a great production of this play, I recommend it for the stage rather than film. In the absence of a fine cast just down the road, this film is a super second best.
(click to enlarge)
The Caretaker (1963)
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