When we meet the overly-privileged young Londoner Tony (James Fox), he’s passed out in a makeshift chair in his empty new townhouse with a drink in his hand, only to be awoken by the polite, prospective manservant Hugo Barrett (Dirk Bogarde) reminding him of their 3 p.m. meeting. In almost no time, Tony brings on the impressive Barrett to be the one to not only tend to his every need but to also help him in furnishing his new home. In Barrett, Tony gets everything he could ever want in a manservant and more…much more. Barrett, in fact, doesn’t just serve Tony, but starts running and ruling his life, without the clueless rich boy even realizing it.

The genius of the picture is embodied by the character of Barrett. His entrance into Tony’s barren home, seemingly neat, subdued, and polite, shows him as another unassuming and professional servant. But what Tony, nor we, initially realize is that Barret does not simply enter Tony’s home, but invades it. They get along, and even bond, almost seemingly like friends rather than employer-employee. Tony treats him with dignity, though his uptight fiancée Susan (Wendy Craig) forcibly attempts to keep Barrett in his subservient place.

Despite Susan, the scheming Barrett does successfully start to exploit his and Tony’s quiet bond, taking certain small liberties and even trying to convince Tony that a maid needs to be hired since Barrett cannot keep up with Tony’s needs. With Tony’s permission, Barrett brings his supposed sister, Vera (Sarah Miles) to come stay with them, quickly filling the role of Tony’s maid. But there’s something not quite right here. Barrett and his “sister” seem…too close. Yeah…Vera’s not his sister, but his lover. Another pawn in Barrett’s game, Vera seduces Tony – an affair that quickly gets exposed to Susan, who leaves Tony. It’s here, encapsulated in a bold and memorable shot (probably the film’s most famous shot) exhibiting Barrett’s true, audacious, and shameless self that Tony has completely lost control.

After Susan’s leaving, Tony becomes a drunk and is completely reliant on Barrett and Vera. The lines between master and servant are irrevocably blurred, and Barrett comes to dominate as he rids himself of the servant façade. And, by the end, roles are completely shifted.

And on top of everything that The Servant already does so well, it is also able to reflect the transformative time of 1960s Britain when the class system basically started to crumble. Especially in the latter half of the film, it is able to highlight the upper class’s fear and paranoia of what this crumbling system could come to.

With a brilliant screenplay penned by playwright Harold Pinter and expertly directed by Joseph Losey (then-exiled in London from the communist-persecuting America) with top-tier composition, 1963’s The Servant is a juicy, slow-burn psychological drama centered on the subtle, shifting power dynamic between master and servant. In its provocative themes of power, dominance with an undercurrent of gay subtext, sex is used as a tool of manipulation and invasion turns into domination all confined in the claustrophobic and tense atmosphere that is intriguing, disturbing, and even delicious at times. Led by a magnetic performance by Bogarde, The Servant is absolutely mesmerizing, and it’s now available on Blu Ray with a gorgeous new 4K restoration courtesy of The Criterion Collection.

Home Video Distributor: Criterion
Available on Blu-ray - June 20, 2023
Screen Formats: 1.66:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: English: LPCM Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

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.

Video

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, the 4K restoration taken from the 35 mm original camera negative, besides one very tiny, almost unnoticeable imperfection right in the beginning of the film, is absolutely impeccable. The greyscale is balanced well with a great range that is also able to show off some deep blacks and shadows when necessary. The definition and details shown are clear and very impressive overall.

Audio

Everything in the remastered uncompressed monaural soundtrack, from dialogue to the score to the ambient noises come in crisp, sharp, and clear. Nothing is subservient here.

Supplements:

With new analysis, archived interviews with the cast, writer and director, there is an absolute wealth of delightful extras despite the absence of a commentary track.

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

• New program on director Joseph Losey by film critic Imogen Sara Smith
• Rare interview with Losey, conducted by critic Michel Ciment in 1976
• Interview from 1996 with screenwriter Harold Pinter
• Interviews with actors Dirk Bogarde, James Fox, Sarah Miles, and Wendy Craig
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by author Colm Tóibín

	Movie
	Video
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	Extras
Composite Blu-ray Grade

MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 116 mins
Director: Joseph Losey
Writer: Harold Pinter; Robin Maugham
Cast: Dirk Bogarde; Sarah Miles; Wendy Craig
Genre: Noir | Drama
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote: "I'm not staying here in a place where they just chuck balls in your face."
Theatrical Distributor:
Official Site: https://www.criterion.com/films/31285-the-servant
Release Date: March 16, 1964
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: June 20, 2023
Synopsis: 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.