Royal Holloway-University of London

Royal Holloway-University of London

Language Centre

Modern Britain: Language, Culture and Society since 1945

Example of a Short Critical Film Essay

The Servant presents a complex picture of human behaviour to its audience. The puzzles of Pinter’s dialogue, the shifting perspectives of Losey’s camerawork, the play of light and shadow in Douglas Slocombe’s house interior, and the enigma in the dark pools of Dirk Bogarde’s eyes make this more than a simple story about a servant getting the better of his master. This multi-layered film suggests a range of readings: an exploration of a very English form of class conflict; a probing of secret and destructive sexual desires; an examination of the moral confusion of a society still in shock from the Suez Crisis and the Profumo affair. This essay will, however, consider a further reading based on close analysis of the ‘Vase of Flowers’ scene. There is evidence in this scene to suggest a diabolical nature for the manservant that evokes the myth of Dracula. However, careful evaluation of the evidence will conclude that such a reading is too simplistic and ignores the rich complexity of a film that delights in mischievous allusions.

The ‘Vase of Flowers’ scene sees Susan’s return to the house in order to visit Tony who is in bed with the flu. This scene contrasts Susan’s attempts to restore life-affirming elements (flowers, daylight, fresh air, children’s voices) and, on the other hand, Barrett’s malevolent counter-scheming from a dimly-lit, below stairs underworld. In the first establishing shot, Susan arrives in Tony’s bedroom and soon assumes a brightly lit dominant position in the frame making her seem almost angelic. The sound of children playing in the distance and Susan’s remark that Tony needs ‘fresh air’ seem to further suggest that Susan’s role is benign. The deep focus shot that follows then underscores key differences in the way Susan and Barrett are presented to the audience. The camera offers a low angle perspective of Barrett in medium close up dusting books at the bottom of a dark stairwell. His face is shadowy and inscrutable offering a striking contrast to the figure of Susan swathed in bright light at the top of the frame as she moves to pick up the flowers from the landing. However, this does not suggest that Barrett is subordinate to Susan since his dark, looming figure in the foreground of the image dominates our attention, suggesting a diabolic presence - a creature of the night and of the depths.

When Susan returns the flowers to the table in the bedroom, Tony jokes that Barrett is ‘a vampire too on his days off.’ While this is said in jest, the audience cannot fail to recognise some truth in his comment and this thought would seem to be supported by what follows. Barrrett now enters the room and moves swiftly forward to take a high central position in the frame between the two. What is most striking here is that his figure blocks out much of the light from the window, so shrouding and dominating the lovers with his dark presence. A Western audience may well think of the vampire’s preference for the night and aversion to ’the purifying rays of the sun’ (Flynn, 1992, p.3). It is also significant that the sound of playing children suddenly stops when Barrett enters the room so suggesting further diabolical powers for the manservant.

Although Barrett fails to remove the vase of flowers which stand in symbolic opposition to him, he manages to achieve dominance over Susan by the end of the scene. The penultimate shot takes us downstairs again to Barrett’s domain where he is viewed from a low angle moving towards the camera. He is spraying disinfectant around the hall and we infer that this is an attempt to rid the house of Susan’s perfume or perhaps the ‘fresh air’ which she wanted for Tony. We then see Susan descending the stairs, moving from a high, brightly lit place in the frame to a position at the bottom of the frame which she will have to share with Barrett. This descent clearly mirrors her fall in status and confirms who has won the battle for dominance in the household. At the door, Barrett utters the menacing line about the ‘weather forecast’ and in the final shot, we are left with a lingering image of leaves blown left across the frame confirming the onset of winter weather. It also confirms that Barrett – and his apparent life-denying powers- are in the ascendant.

Notwithstanding the evidence discussed so far, it is very moot whether the film seriously suggests that the manservant is a truly diabolical figure. His struggle with Susan is driven by very human desires for power and domination. Tony says, ‘Look he may be a servant but he is still a human being!’ and these words are important because Barrett is indeed human, not a one-dimensional demon but a complex personality. In a later scene Barrett drugs Tony in a way that echoes Faust and so might suggest that Barrett is Mephistopheles (Palmer, 1993, p.60), another diabolical figure. But the point here is that the film is teasing us with possibilities for interpretation. This is also true of the ‘Vase of Flowers’ scene with its allusions to Dracula which are entirely playful. When Barrett glances back at us fleetingly after closing the door on the defeated Susan, we see what could be a devilish look of triumphant evil. However it could equally be the satisfaction of a vengeful working class man, or, perhaps, the knowing smirk of a mischief-maker. It is undoubtedly and deliberately ambiguous, evoking nothing more than the mystery of the human heart itself.

Bibliography

Flynn, 1992, ‘Introduction to Cinematic Vampires’ [online], Towson University: Maryland, USA, Available from:

http://www.towson.edu/~flynn/vamp.html [Accessed 9 November 2004]

Palmer,J., 1993, The Films of Joseph Losey, CUP: Cambridge