The Servant

A uniquely dark and disquieting film, Joseph Losey's The Servant (1963) is a must-see. This movie's warped take on class structure and personal dominance makes Stanley Kubrick look like Frank Capra.

Tony (James Fox), a wealthy young dilettante, hires Hugo Barrett (Dirk Bogarde) as his manservant. With a well-credentialed CV and a mild, uncomplaining manner, Hugo seems an ideal servant at first. But Tony's girlfriend Susan (Wendy Craig) senses something amiss, suspecting Hugo's civil demeanor hides something more disturbing. When Hugo's sultry "sister" Vera (Sarah Miles) arrives, it becomes clear that Hugo is playing a twisted mind game with his master.

The Servant remains a seminal title in British cinema. From "angry young man" films like The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner to social dramas like Sapphire and Victim, British films in the early '60s viciously assaulted the lingering class structure, postwar destitution and social mores. Adapted from Robert Maugham's novel by playright Harold Pinter, The Servant goes a step further, depicting British society (and human nature generally) as rotten to the core.

The Servant begs for analysis, but its caustic view of humanity is plainly evident. Tony seems a likeable dimwit at first, nursing dreams of a business deal in Brazil, but his engrained snobbery marks him as both narcissistic and naive - fair game for the vicious Hugo, more appealing than the likeable but plain Susan. Hugo and Vera are a perverse embodiment of the new generation, using raw sexuality to destroy the accepted order, bringing Tony down and loving it. Losey and Pinter make Hugo not so much an avenging lower class angel as a moral vampire, spreading decadence and decay wherever he goes.

Joseph Losey's (King and Country) direction, all brooding deep focus photography and cramped sets, creates the perfect air of tawdriness. John Dankworth's score makes excellent use of a Cleo Laine tune, warping from a sweet love ballad to a marker of moral degeneracy. The movie takes an odd turn in the final half-hour, with the increasingly dissolute Tony and Hugo wallowing in figurative filth. The perversity of these final scenes strikes a thematic chord but is dramatically awkward, Susan's actions in particular coming out of left field. Nonetheless, it's hard to imagine a more appropriate ending.

This is Dirk Bogarde's signature performance. Bogarde provides the right mixture of obsequious charm and warped decadence, making Hugo a uniquely loathsome personage. James Fox (A Passage to India) makes a perfect patsy to Hugo's scheming. Sarah Miles (Ryan's Daughter) is incredibly sultry, featuring in one of the steamiest seduction scenes in film history. Wendy Craig does well with a difficult role, the straight woman in a cast of warped characters. Patrick Macnee (Zulu) appears in a bit part.

The Servant makes for rather disturbing viewing. With its tawdry characters and bleak atmosphere, it's not an easy watch, yet it remains perversely fascinating.