Accident (1967 film)
| Accident | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Joseph Losey |
| Produced by | Joseph Losey Norman Priggen |
| Written by |
Harold Pinter (screenplay) based on the novel by Nicholas Mosley |
| Starring |
Dirk Bogarde Stanley Baker Jacqueline Sassard |
| Music by | John Dankworth |
| Cinematography | Gerry Fisher |
| Edited by | Reginald Beck |
| Distributed by | London Independent Producers |
|
Release date
|
February 1967 |
|
Running time
|
105 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £299,970 |
Accident is Harold Pinter's 1967 British dramatic film adaptation of the 1965 novel by Nicholas Mosley. Directed by Joseph Losey, it is the second of three collaborations between Pinter and Losey, the others being The Servant (1963) and The Go-Between (1970). At the 1967 Cannes Film Festival it won the award for Grand Prix Spécial du Jury. It also won the prestigious Grand Prix of the Belgian Film Critics Association.
Stephen, a married Oxford tutor in his forties, has two students: the rich and likeable William, of whom he is fond, and a beautiful, enigmatic Austrian named Anna, whom he secretly covets. William also fancies Anna and hopes to know her better. Stephen, while his wife is away having their third child, looks up an old flame in London and they sleep together. Returning home, he finds that his pushy colleague Charlie has broken in and is using it for sex with Anna. Her tryst discovered, she tells Stephen privately that she is getting engaged to William. Excited at his good fortune, William says he will call round to Stephen's house after a party that night. As William is too drunk to drive, Anna takes the wheel and crashes the car outside Stephen's gate. Upon finding the accident and William dead, Stephen pulls the deeply shaken Anna from the wreckage and hides her upstairs while he calls the police. When they have gone, he forces himself on her although she is still in shock and then takes her back to her rooms. He comes by in the morning to find a bemused Charlie who cannot prevent Anna from packing to go back to Austria.
The screenplay showcased playwright Harold Pinter's trademark style, depicting the menace and angst bubbling just beneath the surface of commonplace remarks and seemingly innocent or banal situations. The crowning metaphor of the film comes when we see a dazed but unhurt Anna crushing her dying fiancé beneath her high-heeled shoe as she steps on his face while trying desperately to climb out of the overturned car.
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