Seven Servants
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''Seven Servants'' is a 1996 English-language German
comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
film directed by
Daryush Shokof Daryush Shokof (Persian: داریوش شکوف, born 1954) is an Iranian artist, film director, writer, and film producer based in Germany. Biography He was born as Ali Reza Shokoufandeh on 25 June 1954 in Tehran, Imperial State of Iran. Sho ...
and written by Daryush Shokof and Juliane Schulze. The film is about a man named Archie, portrayed by
Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...
, who wishes to unite and "connect" the races until his last breath. The film premiered at the 1996
Locarno Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...
.


Plot

A wealthy old man named Archie hires seven servants of both genders and different races to get connected to him by plugging his body openings and remain connected to him until his last breath. The servants are to stay connected to the old man's body for the next ten days. They eat, sleep, and even use the bathroom and fight thieves together. The party for his reunion with old friends is a lavish one. It includes the once love of his life (Hilda, portrayed by
Alexandra Stewart Alexandra Stewart (born June 10, 1939) is a Canadian actress. Biography Born in Montreal, Quebec, Stewart left for Paris, France, in 1958, to study art. Within a year, she made her film debut in '' Les Motards'', and has since then enjoyed a ste ...
), the one and only true friend he ever had (
David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to: Sports * Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor * David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier * David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer Oth ...
), and the Opera singer (
Audra McDonald Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four act ...
in her film debut) plus the maid (
Sonja Kirchberger Sonja Kirchberger (born 9 November 1964 in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian actress. From 1974 to 1978 she was a dancer in the Ballet of the Opera in Vienna ( Wiener Oper). She became popular to the European public as ''Coco'', a sensuous bu ...
). The servants overcome many difficulties by staying "united which is the core reason for the whole ritual". The best friends are asked to fill up the remaining openings of his body. Hilda is set upon him to do the final act of love between the two of them, something they never ever did though they have loved each other most of their lives. She commits to the act. Then it is time for David Warner to plug up his rear hole, an act he refuses to deliver and the beautiful maid takes the responsibility on her shoulders and does the impossible act of filling his rear end hole instead of David Warner having to go through the pain. In the final scene where all his openings are filled up except for his mouth, it is time for the opera singer to plug up his facial opening while singing a most beautiful opera piece. She sings with the greatest heavenly voice by
Audra McDonald Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four act ...
into his mouth and thus takes the last breath away from him as she blocks his mouth with her lips hence delivering the last kiss of death and preventing Archie from ever breathing again. Archie dies in peace, in pleasure and harmony for he achieved unity of the races around him though he pays for this eternal obsession and desire with his life. The plot is in actuality Shokof's own manifest of yekishim with which he believes the human beings have only come to earth to unite both in heart and mind. Archie ascends to the heavens while his round bed turns in circle and joins the skies and the stars in the universe peacefully. Unification prevails amongst the servants even though it is just a bodily experience and through him as the catalyst.


Cast

*
Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...
*
David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to: Sports * Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor * David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier * David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer Oth ...
*
Alexandra Stewart Alexandra Stewart (born June 10, 1939) is a Canadian actress. Biography Born in Montreal, Quebec, Stewart left for Paris, France, in 1958, to study art. Within a year, she made her film debut in '' Les Motards'', and has since then enjoyed a ste ...
*
Sonja Kirchberger Sonja Kirchberger (born 9 November 1964 in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian actress. From 1974 to 1978 she was a dancer in the Ballet of the Opera in Vienna ( Wiener Oper). She became popular to the European public as ''Coco'', a sensuous bu ...
*
Audra McDonald Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four act ...
* Johnathan Staci Kim *Reza Davoudi * Ken Ard *Gerald Moore


Music

Gato Barbieri Leandro "Gato" Barbieri (November 28, 1932 – April 2, 2016) was an Argentine jazz tenor saxophonist who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and is known for his Latin jazz recordings of the 1970s. His nickname, Gato, is Spa ...
composed the music for the film.


Reception

''
American Cinematographer ''American Cinematographer'' is a magazine published monthly by the American Society of Cinematographers. It focuses on the art and craft of cinematography, covering domestic and foreign feature productions, television productions, short films, mu ...
'' wrote that it "presents a truly eccentric premise ... ''Seven Servants'' Iranian born director, Daryush Shokof, is a former painter whose experimental art videos were, he admits, 'too conceptual or philosophical to win mainstream acclaim.' This video work, however, gave him tremendous freedom to experiment with the camera, framing and lighting techniques that he applied to his first celluloid project." David Rooney of the magazine ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote, "If it didn't lapse midway into monotony, ''Seven Servants'' might have made its mark as a camp classic of high-art folly. This twaddle about an oldster drawing on youth and vitality by having an ethnically balanced bunch of hired hands jam their fingers in his ears and nostrils is just an elaborately embroidered account of going out with a bang."
MovieWeb MovieWeb is an entertainment news website and video brand. Overview MovieWeb reports on entertainment news through their long-running website and related social media and video platforms. The site also maintains a searchable database of films. H ...
wrote, "In this film from Iranian director Daryush Shokof, Anthony Quinn plays an elderly man who wants to exit earth in a state of unity with all creatures. To that end, he hires a quartet of manservants to plug his facial orifices with their fingers. Not your typical solution, but it seems to work for Archie (Quinn), who moves through the rest of the film thus connected. Audra McDonald appears in the final moments to sing a "death aria" into his mouth." After Quinn's death,
Contactmusic.com Contactmusic.com is an online magazine of cultural criticism based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, and ...
quoted Quinn as saying that ''Seven Servants'' was "really a film for the 21st century". According to them, Quinn felt that the film was "too visionary" and should be withheld from release until the 21st century. Referring to the film's delayed release, they said that it was "worth the wait".


References


"Seven Servants"
Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
31/1995 vom 31.07.1995, p 166a *
Quinn embraces tentacled role in ''Seven Servants''
" August 24, 1995, ''
Daily News of Los Angeles The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''Dai ...
'' * Alex Witchel, published: July 6, 1995, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' *
Eric Gutierrez Eric Rigoberto Gutierrez is an American college baseball coach and former professional baseball first basemen. He is the volunteer assistant coach at Texas Tech University. He played college baseball at Texas Tech University from 2013 to 2016. ...
, Aug. 6, 1996, ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' * Brook Comer, "Digital Manipulation takes new ....in ,''Seven Servants''", Dec.01, 1996, ''
American Cinematographer ''American Cinematographer'' is a magazine published monthly by the American Society of Cinematographers. It focuses on the art and craft of cinematography, covering domestic and foreign feature productions, television productions, short films, mu ...
''


External links

*{{IMDb title, 0117604
''Seven Servants'' at IFVC.com
1996 films German comedy-drama films 1996 comedy-drama films Films shot in Bavaria English-language German films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Daryush Shokof 1990s German films