The Caretaker (1964)

[zoomboogity]

Alan Bates is my new hero. "I'm going to Sidcup."

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Well, I liked it.

Okay, not much of an opening post, but I didn't really have much to say about it, other than to mention how much I enjoyed this film. I've read a couple Pinter plays, but was unfamiliar with this one (and the film on which it is based).

I was having a conversation with a friend about how I prefer films that base their action on interesting dialogue rather than on special effects and deafening hit-laden music soundtracks. He said, "Here's something that's right up your alley, then: three actors, no music, just lots of dialogue."

The first time I watched it was at 3am, and it just seemed ominous and spooky. I made a point of not looking up anything about it on the internet, so had no idea what to expect, whether it was a comedy or drama or what. It moves very slowly, and if you don't realize the final scene is in fact the final scene, it seems to end very oddly and abruptly.

But it's one of those films where, once you are aware of the pacing and how the events unfold, you can watch it again and realize how hilarious the whole thing is. I've still got my friend's DVD, and I've given it a few more viewings. The more I see it, the funnier it gets!

[EDIT: Now that the whole thing is on youtube (for now), no need for my little synopsis.]

Before The Caretaker was made into a film, it had been a hit play in London, then on Broadway. A critic wrote a review saying that, for a comedy, it was rather unsettling and disturbing, and asking Pinter if he thought this was supposed to be funny. Pinter's reply was (paraphrasing): "The Caretaker is meant to be funny, but up to a point. After that point, it's not funny at all, and that point is the very reason I wrote it."

In the end, I see it as a morality play with a "happy" ending (for lack of a better term). The dialogue is so well-written that repeated viewings are necessary to catch all the subtle nuances in not only the dialogue, but the pauses between the words and how it all comes together.

The scenes with Alan Bates and Donald Pleasence are priceless. One of my favorites is where Jenkins is sitting on a park bench and Mick pulls up in his van. He asks Jenkins to hop in, then tells him he's driving to Sidcup, where Jenkins claims he has "all his papers" that prove who he is so he can get proper work (i.e. his excuse for never doing anything). Mick drives around the block once, then drops Jenkins off right where he picked him up, firing off all the reasons why he "suddenly can't do it after all" as Jenkins just stares at him. Makes me laugh now, just thinking about it.

Well, that's my take on it. I really enjoy this style of filmmaking, especially British films. Any of you film buffs know of others like it, I'm interested in hearing about them.

[Sneelock]

great post. I haven't seen it for a while but it put Bates on the map for me.
I'd like very much to see it again. You know those Joseph Losey films? I was watching them at the same time. Also, you've seen Polanski's "Cul De Sac"? I only mention that one because Donald Pleasance was such a terrific actor. it's always nice to see him in a film that uses his singular talents.

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I'm not familiar with Losey or the Polanski film, but I'll be on the lookout for them now. Thanks for the tip.

I just looked it up, and Pleasence was only 45 when he did The Caretaker. He looks at least twenty years older! I guess some of that is stage make-up, but his baldness adds to it. I don't know his history very well - was he prematurely bald, or did he shave the top of his head for the effect?

The DVD ends with a newsreel from the time the film was made. It was made on a shoestring budget, and when the American financiers pulled out, the filmmakers sought financing from private backers. The opening credits list them by name - Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Leslie Caron being the more familiar ones - and ultimately more people were interested in helping out than were needed, once the budget had been met. The crew (make-up artist, continuity girl, etc.) were paid standard wage, but the actors, producer and director agreed to work for free until such time as the film made a profit. It was a real labor of love, and that much is evident from watching it.

If you're thinking about it seeing it again, rent it this weekend and have a good laugh! "If you stank, I'd be the first one to tell you!"

[The Modernist]

Definitely see Cul de Sac, it does have a Pinterish quality in its ominous claustrophobia..and if you like that watch Knife in Water.
The Losey you should start with is The Servant -repressed sexuality and class resentment; a great snapshot of early sixties Britain. Of course it is co-written by Pinter and has similar dynamics of power struggles between the oppressor and the oppressed as The Caretaker.

Bates is fantastic in The Caretaker, he manages to exude menace while often doing very little.

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"Just doing some spring cleaning!"

[Quaco]

Nothing to add except it sounds great. I'd really like to see it.

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Well, whaddya know - someone slapped it up on youtube a few months ago! Here's part 1:

[echolalia]

Thanks for that – I’ll watch it today.

Did you check out any Losey films? I’d add The Go-Between, also written by Pinter, also with Bates, also great.

[zoomboogity]

I did, but this thread is so old that i don't recall anything about them! I know, lame (as am I). I'll try them again soon. I do recall seeing them all the way through, so i must have enjoyed them. Didn't care for Cul-De-Sac, though. Yesterday I found another film based on Pinter and starring Alan Bates, The Collection. Good, but didn't resonate with me as did The Caretaker. It's like music - sometimes the same elements don't add up the same way for you personally. Yesterday I found another Pinter-based film called The Birthday Party, which sounds promising based on the title alone (something tells me that the partygoers don't have the best of times!). Going to watch that in the next day or so, as well as The Go-Between. Thanks!

[echolalia]

So I watched The Caretaker yesterday. It’s grievously fucked-up stuff. It’s difficult to decide which actor gives the best performance but Donald Pleasence’s is definitely the most kinetic, with that ghastly restless right hand of his.

The cluttered attic room with its sloping ceilings is a perfect setting. Everything’s aslant or propped up against something else and nothing’s settled or on the level, and nothing’s settled in the lives of the characters either. They’re in suspension like the junk that surrounds them and even their plans and aspirations – getting to Sidcup or building the garden shed – are held in check by some opposing force. The ending is good in that the tension remains unresolved. There are some excellent, eerie, squonking sound effects too.

I don’t know The Collection but it put me in mind of The Collector, directed by William Wyler. It has similarities with the Caretaker in its Britishness, confined setting (a bijou basement apartment/prison), very small cast, and the mind games the characters play with each other. I liked it but it hasn’t got the menacing dynamics of The Caretaker (no Pinter involvement).

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I like stuff like this that lingers in your mind long after you see it. I watched The Birthday Party yesterday and... whoa. It seemed pretty harsh at the time, but I sensed that it would be worth seeing it through, then thinking about it afterwards. Underneath the harshness was something else entirely. I won't be forgetting that one for a long time!

[zoomboogity]

Well, whaddya know - someone slapped it up on youtube a few months ago!

And now it's gone. Okay, okay, I'll buy it already!