The Servant (1963)
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 (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Joseph Losey
Written By: Harold Pinter, Robin Maugham
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, James Fox, Patrick Magee, Sarah Miles, Richard Vernon, Catherine Lacey, Wendy Craig, John Dankworth
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
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The Servant belongs to 52 collections
1. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by kozan26 - 234 stars)
2. Psychotronic Film and Video Guides (collaborative: moderated by Gregzilla - 40 stars)
3. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2008 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Scottathon - 39 stars)
4. New York Times' The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made (collaborative: moderated by theficionado - 32 stars)
5. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2010 revision) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 32 stars)
6. The Guardian's 1000 films to see before you die (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 30 stars)
7. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2014 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Jehan - 27 stars)
8. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2012 revision) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 25 stars)
9. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2017 revision) (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 22 stars)
10. Based on a Book (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 21 stars)
11. Gay-Themed Films (Male) (collaborative: moderated by bobyang - 20 stars)
12. They Shoot Pictures' Recommended Viewing (collaborative: moderated by Cinephile - 19 stars)
13. Best of criticker: Drama (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 18 stars)
14. Edgar Wright 1000 Favorite Movies (Aug 2016) (collaborative: moderated by Aron Ericson - 17 stars)
15. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2013 revision) (collaborative: moderated by rant1229 - 16 stars)
16. Best film of top directors (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 15 stars)
17. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2011 revision) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 14 stars)
18. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2020 revision) (public: djross - 14 stars)
19. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 13 stars)
20. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 11 stars)
21. Criticker top 250 (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 11 stars)
22. The Bfi 100 (collaborative: moderated by nexus - 8 stars)
23. Amos Vogel: Film as a Subversive Art (collaborative: moderated by edsu - 8 stars)
24. Based On Novel (collaborative: moderated by tathiel - 7 stars)
25. David Thomson's 1000 Films (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 7 stars)
26. Black and White Photography (collaborative: moderated by JooJoo - 6 stars)
27. TSPDT Top 200 Directors: Best Film (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 6 stars)
28. Ekşi Sinema "Alternatif" Top 250 (collaborative - 6 stars)
29. British New Wave (collaborative: moderated by nexus - 4 stars)
30. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2007 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Scottathon - 4 stars)
31. Average Percentile >70 (collaborative: moderated by peyrin - 4 stars)
32. edkrak films to see (public: edkrak - 4 stars)
33. TimeOut Magazine's 100 best British films (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 3 stars)
34. 501 Movie Directors (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 3 stars)
35. British Classic Films with good ratings (pre-70s) (collaborative: moderated by 90sCoffee - 3 stars)
36. Djross film as art (public: djross - 3 stars)
37. J. Castedo's "The Top 100 Films of the 20th Century" (collaborative: moderated by CCLZA - 1 star)
38. BAFTA Award for Best British Film (Nominees) (collaborative: moderated by ellinikos - 1 star)
39. Sight and Sound 2002 (Single Vote) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 1 star)
40. 4k Ultra HD discs owned (collaborative: moderated by dumbjaw - 1 star)
41. Cinetheque (public: allegreller - 1 star)
42. toucé (public: rnest - 1 star)
43. The Greatest Movies of All Time - Filmweb's Alternative Top 500 (public: Hadleyreis - 1 star)
44. Stiff Upper Lip: rateyourmusic.com's Top 20 British film builder results (collaborative)
45. Servants & Maids (collaborative: moderated by Dunstan-xxx)
46. Djross 1963 top ten (public: djross)
47. Filmspotting Ratings Project: Week 29 (public: PeaceAnarchy)
48. Barry Norman's top 49 British films (public: juandr)
49. Forrest Watch List (public: ForrestQ)
50. Watchlist (public: Panunzio)
51. 90+ (public: Daria)
52. C-1960 (public: cantahta)
Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 4 |  |
MArkjp | 65 46th |
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Wonderful black and white cinematography, that brings memories of ze German expressionism to mind, ensures that the lovely mansion looks anything but cozy. Bogarde especially delivers a great performance and the plot is interesting. Especially the last third shows some interesting development in the balance of power between the two leeds. But I'll be damned if I gave a shit about any of it.
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| 2 |  |
Dean Franz | 100 98th |
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Superbly unpleasant and quitely decadent. There's no one to root for and the films all the better for it. Actually, it might be the best film of human parasitic behavior and pure hatred, class difference or nay. The emotional equivelant of 50 italian gore films put into a blender.
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| 1 |  |
Moribunny | 73 79th |
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An engaging, well-cast, sophisticated psychological drama, which kind of takes off on the Hegelian master-slave dialectic. Its biggest flaw is that it is a bit overboiled and over-long.
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| 1 |  |
PeaceAnarchy | 92 97th |
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Absolutely brilliant, right up to the end where I felt just a little let down. It's never quite clear throughout the film why things are happening in a specific sense, but the general reasons couldn't be more clear and the mix of scathing social commentary with flashes of absurdity works well. The plot is continually intriguing, the acting quite good, especially Bogarde, and the photography magnificent. I loved the use of shadows and mirrors. The ending's not clear cut but fits thematically.
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| 1 |  |
JooJoo | 4 55th |
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I do enjoy Dirk Bogarde [James Fox leaves no positive impression] but the importance of this is completely lost on me. It's not that I don't see the themes played with, it's that they're too plainly in view.
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| 1 |  |
miss jesus | 86 87th |
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Bogarde is excellent and naturalistic, as is the other fellow's girlfriend from the beginning of the movie. With everyone else the acting seemed stilted to me, if not weak. It's still a fantastic movie, though, and it would fit right in alongside the many Hand-That-Rocks-the-Cradle-style thrillers that were made in the 1990's. This film gets *really* interesting, though, when it finishes up that plot and then surprisingly keeps going. As a side note, the main character needs more records.
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| 1 |  |
woodoo | 90 82nd |
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Dirk Bogarde is incredible in this, malignant and corrupting by degrees, and Sarah Miles compliments him well as his tarty partner in crime. James Fox is so damn young looking in this, it's disturbing. I especially like the bizarre little asides in the movie whenever the film strays from the three lead characters, like the two priests having breakfast.
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| 1 |  |
kito1 | 40 10th |
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This film slipped my mind almost immediately after watching. More like a chore to endure and then move on.
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| 1 |  |
kfol | 96 99th |
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The film that made me love films. This complex psychological drama draws you into the characters and their surroundings with sharp cinematography, stellar acting and a story that's kept me raving about this film for years. The song that winds it's way through the house throughout the film twists and turns as the characters do, changing it's meaning, drawing out subtext.
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| 1 |  |
IsItSafe? | 83 93rd |
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The Servant in many ways is a frenzied narrative masterpiece. The film proceeds in such a fashion that it keeps you guessing at every turn, even when you think you have all the answers, you find yourself abruptly in a state of necessary re-evaluation. The atmosphere of the film is a thoroughly engaging one, the musical score and directing techniques wonderfully complement the mood required. The amount of effort that went into meticulous details is well noted. My only gripe is underused elements.
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| Average Percentile 73.85% from 624 Ratings |  |