Royal Holloway-University of London
Language Centre
Modern Britain: Language, Culture and Society since 1945
Example of a Short Critical Film Essay
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
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 dimlylit, 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.
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
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