Losery directs a wonderful film full of tension where the balance of power between the characters on stage is reversed, effectively staging a struggle between the wealthier class and those who have less.
The film is full of sequence shot and camera movements and they are never gratuitous, in fact these serve to shift the points of view of the subjects on the scene but also to have multiple subjects cohabit the scene in order to capture their reactions in "real" time.
Barret, the servant and Tony, the landlord are great characters in their respective roles and Losery also insists a lot on creating a homoerotic verve between the two.
Tony begins the film that has to put the house and Barret will take care of this, obtaining the trust of the bourgeois.
The management between Susan, Tony's girlfriend and Barret is excellent, the distrust between the two is immediately noticeable, "it is omnipresent" says Susan and In fact, the direction makes Barret continually appear to undermine the intimacy of the engaged couple.
The wide angle of the mirror that reflects the characters and anticipates the future reversal of the face is wonderful.
Between Barret and Susan, the memorable long shot with Susan's continuous orders to show and reiterate her superiority in the role where the viewer can see and understand all the timing and annoyance that Susan brings to Barret.
The entrance on the scene of Vera, presented as Barret's sister, preceded by the excellent scene of the servant in the telephone booth looking at the legs of the waiting women, pointing out the excesses of the short skirts which he will then also do to Vera.
These episodes pose further doubts about Barret, about his plan even Susan herself will ask him what he is really looking for in this house.
In fact the film plays on whether everything is a domestic plan or not, the relationship between Vera and Tony, the sex scene between the two is fantastic with the detail of Vera's legs stretching out.
Sister, girlfriend, friction between Vera and Barret themselves, the moment where they are caught in the act by Susan and Tony is wonderful here too, almost a biblical "expulsion" of the two servants who desecrated the forbidden room, Tony's bedroom, but this time Losery, through Barret's shadow, placed above, warns of the fact that the relationships are for a change.
Tony without Barret is lost, he can't manage the house and his return will drastically change everything.
The two will behave like a couple, the master-household relationship will increasingly diminish until the climax of the beautiful ending, during the party a stunned Tony is now at a "disadvantage" compared to Barret who will even have "power" over Susan too, the echo of his laughter will be perennial for Tony, the reversal of the situation is complete.
The shot of Tony crawling on the ground between the handrail and the bars of the house shows how he is now almost a prisoner of the situation and how Barret is now the master.
A film that anticipates many films about class struggle set in the bourgeois home, here too staged very well, classic and elegant by a very inspired Losery who directs a pearl.
