#1182: LOSEY, Joseph: The Servant (1963)

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LOSEY, Joseph (United Kingdom)
The Servant [1963]
Spine #1182
Blu-ray


The prolific, ever provocative Joseph Losey, blacklisted from Hollywood and living in England, delivered a coolly modernist shock to the system of that nation’s cinema with this mesmerizing dissection of class, sexuality, and power. A dissolute scion of the upper crust (James Fox) finds the seemingly perfect manservant (a diabolical Dirk Bogarde, during his transition from matinee idol to art-house icon) to oversee his new London town house. But not all is as it seems, as traditional social hierarchies are gradually, disturbingly destabilized. Lustrously disorienting cinematography and a masterful script by playwright Harold Pinter merge in The Servant, a tour de force of mounting psychosexual menace.

115 Minutes
Black and White
Monaural
1:66:1
Criterion Release 2023


Director/Writer

Joseph Losey was 54 when he wrote and directed The Servant.

Other Losey films in the Collection:

#1123: Mr. Klein (1976)

The Film

a

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Commentary

Video tribute

Documentary 1

Documentary 2

Documentary 3

Controversial altered ending

Theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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