Joseph Losey - The Servant (1963)

Posted By: FNB47

Date: Feb. 28, 2007

Joseph Losey-The Servant (1963)
| 1441.8 MB | Runtime 1:50:46 | b/w |
Language : English
- no subtitles -
Audio : AC3, 48000 Hz, 192 Kb/s, 2-ch
Video : XviD, 1650 Kb/s, 25 frm/s, 656x400 (1.66:1)

This film takes a sharp look at British class relations via a dramatic turning of the tables between a dainty Oxbridge twit bachelor (played by a young and dapper James Fox) and his contemptuous manservant (Dirk Bogarde). Bogarde's servant slowly realizes and exploits his expanding powers over his "master" as Fox steadily loses his authority and becomes enslaved to his own "employee". (http://imdb.com/title/tt0057490/plotsummary)

Harold Pinter in the background

Winner of three British Academy Awards including Best Actor to Dirk Bogarde. In this landmark drama of class struggle and moral decay, a pampered playboy (James Fox) acquires an elegant townhouse complete with a dedicated man servant (Dirk Bogarde). But when the young man's fiancÃ©e (Wendy Craig) becomes suspicious of the servant's intentions, he and his "sister" (Sarah Miles) thrust the household into a sinister game where seduction is corruption and power becomes the most shocking desire of all. (www.amazon.com)

The Servant marked the first of three brilliant film collaborations between director Joseph Losey and playwright Harold Pinter, and was nominated for eight British Academy Awards including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Film, Best Cinematography and Best Screenplay. (www.amazon.com)

When upper class gent Tony (James Fox) returns to London from Africa, he acquires a house, and he also advertises for a manservant. Hugo Bennett (Dirk Bogarde) applies and is speedily employed. At first, he is the perfect servant. He's quiet, obsequious and efficient. Tony's girlfriend Susan (Wendy Craig), however finds Hugo sneaky and suspicious, and she considers the entire notion of having a manservant archaic. (www.amazon.com)

"The Servant", directed by Joseph Losey, is based on a Harold Pinter play and is a perfect example of the Hegel theory of the master-slave relationship. Hegel's theory is that both the master and slave are inevitably corrupted by the unhealthy mutual need in this relationship. The relationship between Tony and Hugo is the main focus of the film, and Pinter's screenplay is a scathing metaphor for the class war. The relationship between Tony and Hugo swings wildly from cutting, humiliating, gratuitous comments, to fumbled attempts at friendship. But with such inequities in position alone, any attempt at some sort of equality is ludicrous. The roles of exploiter and the exploited switch back and forth between Tony and Hugo as the power base in the household moves. (www.amazon.com)

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