The Servant(2013)

Storyline

• The aristocratic Tony (James Fox) moves to London and hires the servant Hugo Barrett (Dirk Bogarde) for all services at home. Barrett seems to be a loyal and competent employee, but Tony's girlfriend Susan (Wendy Craig) does not like him, and asks Tony to send him away. When Barrett brings his sister Vera (Sarah Miles) to work and live in the house, Tony has a brief hidden affair with her. After travelling with Susan and spending a couple of days in a friend's house outside London, the couple unexpectedly returns and finds Barrett and Vera, who are actually lovers, in Tony's room. They are fired and Susan breaks with Tony. Later, Tony meets Barrett alone in a pub and hires him back, and Barrett imposes his real dark intentions in the house, turning the table and switching position with his master. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Professional servant Hugo Barrett (Dirk Bogarde) is hired by a wealthy young man, Tony (James Fox), as his man-servant. Initially, Barrett is the ideal man-servant, quiet, loyal, submissive, unquestioning, and very helpful. However, over time the shine wears off and he reveals more of his true self, and it's far from submissive. Also, with time the master-servant dynamic starts to shift. — grantss In desperate need of an impeccable valet, the vain and work-shy London aristocrat, Tony, employs working-class Hugo Barrett as his live-in manservant. Of course, at first glance, Barrett is a keeper; however, imperceptible nuances of misconduct and a subtly intense power-play between master and servant will soon lead to a corrosive undercurrent of pent-up emotions, rendering Hugo indispensable. Then, Vera, Barrett's seductive sister from Manchester, enters the picture, and the pernicious psychological abuse escalates. But, what does the insidious servant want? — Nick Riganas This movie takes a sharp look at British class relations via a dramatic turning of the tables between a dainty Oxbridge bachelor and his contemptuous manservant. The servant slowly realizes and exploits his expanding powers over his "master" as the bachelor steadily loses his authority and becomes enslaved to his own "employee". — Alan H. Bloomgarden