Joseph Losey

Director who worked with Harold Pinter on three movies.

The Servant (1963) -- Harold Pinter's first screenplay (adapted from the book by Robin Maugham) contains a lot of the stuff that makes his plays so great: dialogue that cuts and makes you laugh ("Do you wear a deodorant?"), power struggles, and an amazing amount of subtext--not only in the language but in the overall actions and plot. The servant in the movie doesn't seem to do anything more sinister than use his master's bathtub and private space while he's away (in any other movie, a harmless luxury and fantasy from the "lower class"), but by the end of the movie, the master is crawling around on the floor like someone in a dream who can't run away. The movie is shot in a 60s mod style, with lots of mirror reflections and stark compositions. All this and male homosexual overtones!