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The Servant
- 131 statements
- 24 feature instances
- 2 referencing feature instances
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The Servant is a 1963 British film from expat American director Joseph Losey, adapted by screenwriter Harold Pinter from a 1948 novella of the same name by Robin Maugham.It is a story of Tony (James Fox), a wealthy aristocrat who hires a lowlife servant named Hugo Barrett (Dirk Bogarde, who won a BAFTA for his performance). Initially, Barrett does well at his job, but the relationship shifts as Barrett manipulates and corrupts Tony and dominates the household. Tony attempts a rebellion but in the end, he loses and remains subdued to his manservant for good.One of the film's main fortes is its gorgeous black-and-white cinematography by Douglas Slocombe. It also touches on the topics of social position versus psychological strength. | |
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Dropped link to Foil: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
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The Servant / int_127fc252 | type |
Creator Cameo | |
The Servant / int_127fc252 | comment |
Creator Cameo: Writer Harold Pinter appears as one of the restaurant patrons in the middle of the movie. | |
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Relatively Flimsy Excuse | |
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Relatively Flimsy Excuse: Barrett introduces his girlfriend Vera into the household by pretending she is his sister. | |
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Men Can't Keep House | |
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Men Can't Keep House: When Barrett and Tony live together without a woman, the house descends almost immediately into squalor, and Barrett makes it clear that he thinks of cleaning as "beneath" him. It's likely, however, that this is only a manipulation tactic from Barrett to get Tony to rehire Vera as the maid. | |
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No Hero to His Valet | |
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No Hero to His Valet: It is clear Barrett has no respect for Tony, even before his true nature becomes obvious. | |
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Home-Early Surprise | |
The Servant / int_1f50c188 | comment |
Home-Early Surprise: Tony and Susan catch Vera and Barrett having sex in his bed. Barrett is manipulating the situation so that he and Vera, on the brink of being fired, will confess that Vera and Tony were having an affair, and break up Tony's relationship with Susan. | |
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The Servant / int_25b05c04 | type |
Hitler Cam | |
The Servant / int_25b05c04 | comment |
Hitler Cam: Used on Barrett in the very first scene to show how the balance of power will play out for the rest of the film; Tony lies snoozing in a chair while Barrett towers over him, shot from near floor level. | |
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The Servant / int_347e35d6 | type |
Grim Up North | |
The Servant / int_347e35d6 | comment |
Grim Up North: Vera and Barrett are both scheming employees from the north of the UK, with distinctive northern accents. Tony lives in London and speaks in perfect R.P. | |
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The Servant / int_40c57041 | type |
Manipulative Bastard | |
The Servant / int_40c57041 | comment |
Manipulative Bastard: Hugo Barrett, as played by the suave and sinister Dirk Bogarde. Tony's relationship with Susan is at something of a crossroads, so Barrett destroys it by having Tony hire his "sister" (actually his girlfriend) Vera as a maid, then having Vera seduce him. When Tony fires Barrett after finding him and Vera in bed together, Barrett retaliates by revealing Tony's indiscretion with Vera in front of Susan, who breaks up with him. Knowing that Tony can't manage on his own for long, Barrett gets himself re-hired by pretending that Vera double-crossed him as well, whereupon his manipulations through drink and psychological abuse accelerate until he has Tony completely at his mercy while he and Vera (whom Tony has also re-hired) live off his money. | |
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FilmOfTheBook | |
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Film of the Book: Based on the novella by Robin Maugham. | |
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The Servant / int_4cacfcc3 | type |
Honey Trap | |
The Servant / int_4cacfcc3 | comment |
Honey Trap: Part of Barrett's scheming involves having his girlfriend Vera seduce Tony (who believes Vera is Barrett's sister). When Susan finally persuades Tony to fire Barrett after catching him in bed with Vera, Barrett snarks that sleeping with Vera is something he and Tony have in common, causing Susan to break off their engagement. Once Barrett is re-hired, he has Vera pretend she is still in love with Tony, who eventually capitulates and re-hires her as well. | |
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Wounded Gazelle Gambit | |
The Servant / int_567e7c4d | comment |
Wounded Gazelle Gambit: In a crossover with Playing the Victim Card, Barrett pretends to have been deceived by Vera, who has apparently stolen his money, to manipulate his way back into Tony's life and house. | |
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Homoerotic Subtext | |
The Servant / int_6056f853 | comment |
Homoerotic Subtext: A lot between Barrett and Tony. | |
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The Servant / int_663f35c0 | type |
Only One Name | |
The Servant / int_663f35c0 | comment |
Only One Name: Not by chance Tony's surname is not mentioned. While the antagonist is Hugo Barrett. | |
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Descent into Addiction | |
The Servant / int_71cc4b5a | comment |
Descent into Addiction: While Tony seems to have a predisposition towards drinking too much (he's passed out drunk in the first scene), Hugo gets him drunk on a daily basis until he's clearly an unraveling alcoholic. | |
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The Alcoholic | |
The Servant / int_7eebe99c | comment |
The Alcoholic: In the film's first scene, Tony is sleeping off "too many beers at lunch", thereby presenting Barrett with one of his avenues of attack for the final act of the film when he makes Tony completely dependent on him by getting him stinking drunk on a daily basis. | |
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Rule of Symbolism | |
The Servant / int_916c72b3 | comment |
Rule of Symbolism: When they play games, the servant Barrett has to play "uphill" while Tony gets the apparently superior position. | |
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The Servant / int_aa65b1e | type |
Haughty Help | |
The Servant / int_aa65b1e | comment |
Haughty Help: Barrett is a subdued example, but he is extremely passive-aggressive, dislikes Susan (the only member of the household to challenge him), and destroys Tony's sanity. | |
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The Servant / int_bc00493f | type |
Precision F-Strike | |
The Servant / int_bc00493f | comment |
Precision F-Strike: When Barrett phones Vera with the news that he has persuaded Tony to take her on as a maid, a group of young girls hammer on the sides of the phone box with growing impatience. When Barrett exits the phone booth, he shouts "Get out of my way, you fucking bitch!" to one of the girls (this being 1963, the offending words are partially drowned out by a vehicle, but what he says is still clear). | |
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The Servant / int_bd0230fb | type |
Ambiguously Bi | |
The Servant / int_bd0230fb | comment |
Ambiguously Bi: Both Hugo and Tony, necessitated by the time period. They have relationships with the same woman (Vera), but Tony is almost immediately dependent on Hugo and doesn't take kindly to Susan insulting him. His clear dependency on (and attraction to) Barrett becomes clearer after Susan leaves him. | |
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Antagonist Title | |
The Servant / int_cde51255 | comment |
Antagonist Title: Hugo Barrett is a definite villain here. | |
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Hidden Disdain Reveal | |
The Servant / int_dae3844e | comment |
Hidden Disdain Reveal: It gets revealed in parts to Tony that this is how Barrett feels about him, such as when they hear Vera and Barrett mocking him, and then more so at the end. | |
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The Servant / int_ef20dac5 | type |
Servile Snarker | |
The Servant / int_ef20dac5 | comment |
Servile Snarker: Barrett has a few moments when his manipulative nature starts to come through. | |
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The Servant |
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Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.