The film is excellently photographed and edited… There is much artistry in the acting, especially by Dirk Bogarde, who is able to genuinely convey strong mixed emotions. The Night Porter is very atmospheric, with subtle lighting, lots of detail and excellent costuming and sets. Furthermore, the studio's expectancy of an automatic "X"-rating (a great way to mount a publicity hullaboo in the early 1970s) was dashed when the jolly folks at the MPAA let it slip by with an 'R' rating (sans cuts). Operatic and disturbing, The Night Porter deftly examines the lasting social and psychological effects of the Nazi regime. However, after seeing it come up again and again, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a go. Photo by Getty Images Porter has a record of 31 wins (17 knockouts) against three losses and one draw. The film certainly lived up to my expectations. Definitely, and the way some people today profess to be jaded about "The Night Porter" says more about our current culture than about the movie itself. Playback options Word-of-mouth from Europe created such hype that American moviegoers salivated for its release in the U.S. "Even more outrageous and erotic" than "Last Tango in Paris" was the verdict I'd heard from my few privileged friends lucky enough to savor its "charms" when they saw it abroad. It jars the mind and keeps us aware of this inordinate love and why these people are so confused and attracted to one another. Metacritic Reviews. What should be a dark, seedy, erotic, subversive journey through Nazi sadism and sexual obsession becomes a bland, stoic, embarrassing disaster. Directed by Liliana Cavani. All of the leads disappear into their roles. In fact, "the Night Porter" is a perfect psychological study of masochism. With Dirk Bogarde, Charlotte Rampling, Philippe Leroy, Gabriele Ferzetti. External Reviews Rather than “file her away,” as he is told to do, he locks his willing partner in his apartment where they replay their concentration camp scene.Lucia is not the only former prisoner who seeks to re-create the conditions of intense sensation—there is also a young male dancer who used to perform seminude for the SS, and who now has Max arrange lights in his hotel room so that he can do his number once more.The obscene instances of replay constitute a role-reversal, for one flashback presents Lucia as a Nazi emblem: in the requisite smoky cabaret scene (of which variations can be found in The Damned, Cabaret, Just a Gigolo, The Serpent’s Egg, Lili Marleen, and The Formula) Lucia sings in German—wearing only pants, suspenders, and an SS cap—while invoking Salome.The obsessive love of Max and Lucia ultimately re-creates a concentration camp situation in which they are both victims. Alan J. Pakula captured the anxiety of the seventies in this noir-inflected conspiracy thriller, which offers a critique both of American institutions and of the self-made heroes who do battle with them. Piero Tosi. After the war he joins a group of men with similar backgrounds who are devoted to the task of erasing all evidence of their iniquitous pasts, including the rubbing out of living witnesses. Because he is in a position of absolute power of course he is the exploiter, but also it is almost as though he is held captive by "her", the illusive girl/child/women he want to both take care of the way one would a daughter and also penetrate like a lover. One night, he spots a woman, Lucia, and they both recognize each other... she was one of the concentration camp prisoners, and the two had a specific relationship with one another. Some time after World War 2, a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp, Lucia (played by Charlotte Rampling), stumbles across the Nazi officer who tormented her, Max (Dirk Bogarde). | Can you watch The Night Porter with a streaming service? In this unsettling drama from Italian filmmaker Liliana Cavani, a concentration camp survivor (Charlotte Rampling) discovers her former torturer and lover (Dirk Bogarde) working as a porter at a hotel in postwar Vienna. This film stands out as one of the 70's bleakest contributions. One cannot say for certain. Although it is neither violent nor vulgar, the situation is disturbing and violent -actually it's something we DON'T see with our eyes: a psychological violence. Charlotte Rampling's postwar concert pianist is beautiful, refined, successful and married. There has also been, though, an awful lot of politically-correct garbage and pretentious nonsense written about "The Night Porter," much of which has missed or misinterpreted some of the strongest elements of the movie. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1975 Vinyl release of "愛の嵐 = The Night Porter (Il Portiere Di Notte) - Original Soundtrack" on Discogs. I found the behavior of all of the characters chillingly psychologically accurate, and this definitely takes a long, hard, unflinching and uncompromising look at human nature and the mind, and not everyone is going to like the observations. When Lucia enters the lobby with her husband, there is a tense exchange of looks whose significance is fleshed out in flashbacks: she was a concentration camp inmate. Feeling that it was far too interesting, she would see just how much she could whittle it down until no one would care one way or the other. The Night Porter is a provocative and problematic film. I recommend this to anyone who believes they can handle it, and is mature enough, from reading this review. By accident, the ex-Nazi, now a hotel porter, runs into his former victim. 1957, Vienna. Silly, S&M Nazi soft-core porn that had many in a tizzy. And masochism is not cheap sleaze, it is a terrible addiction that even basically "normal" people can get trapped into, even though they know it will destroy them. A film that now plays like a harbinger of the #MeToo movement, Joyce Chopra’s first fiction feature shows how the myths that direct how girls come of age threaten their safe passage to womanhood. I couldn't help thinking of Lolita and indeed it is a similar idea. The acting is excellent. … I believe this is one of the most intriguing stories of human connectedness you will ever see! They are all well-cast, too, talent as well as physical types. Other persons who experienced the Holocaust first-hand have reacted negatively towards it for its portrayal of a destructive but loving relationship born amidst the Holocaust. I saw this film quite by accident last night on IFC and have been walking around in a state of near tears ever since. The filmed bombed in the U.S., despite the dyspeptic performance by poor Dirk Borgarde, the wretched-excess directorial work of the hideously overrated Liliana Cavani, and the film's only asset, the excellent work of the always fascinating Ms. Rampling, even in meretricious tripe such as this. The Night Porter isn't one of these films. Max, a former SS officer, is a night porter in an elegant hotel. Does Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Peacock, and 50+ streaming services have The Night Porter (1974)? All at the same time. Annette Insdorf, author of François Truffaut and Indelible Shadows: Films and the Holocaust, directs undergraduate film studies at Columbia University. Set against a forbidding backdrop of war, this masterpiece of Soviet cinema contemplates the sources of evil while also searching for signs of meaning and divinity in a fallen world. "The Night Porter" can be slow-moving, yet this is punctuated by some very vivid scenes. This film is both disturbing and effective. Liliana Cavani. The Divine Jewels and Crystal Explosions perform a burlesque act inspired by the classic Liliana Cavani film, The Night Porter. User Ratings Disturbing and unforgettable story of a deadly passion, Worth seeing but not for any insights into fascism, An unsettling trip into decadence, eroticism, and bondage. The other members of his group discover that he is now living with his lover. Officer and concentration camp survivor who chance to encounter one another after the war and resume their "affair?" A film of sublime idiocy with each scene of kinky Nazi atrocities attempting to out-do the one before, and leaving audiences in a state of uncontrolled hilarity. The plot is captivating. When I saw this movie for the first time, it left a depressive and nauseating feeling. I am your average film lover who eagerly seeks out the most transgressive films, and devours the Criterion Collection. I simply cannot fathom how a film with a premise like this can fail on every level to strike one iota of interest in the viewer. He calls her "his little girl" throughout the movie and indeed that seems to be the most accurate description of his feelings. A film about the inward journey of a transgressive couple, it followed years of ambitious and impressive work in which Cavani experimented with traditional cinematic techniques and narratives and became increasingly concerned with … A Sturmbahnfuhrer more or less falls in love with, and adopts, a beautiful young inmate of a concentration camp. Their objections are certainly understandable. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the CD release of "Night And Day - The Cole Porter Songbook" on Discogs. Get info about new releases, essays and interviews on the Current, Top 10 lists, and sales. I don't know if anything similar to this has truly happened, but I can imagine it, and this does pay respect to the historical events. | It feels as if Liliana Cavani saw this material as a challenge. Under the headline “The Night Porter Is Romantic Pornography,” he began, “Let us now consider a piece of junk.” And some viewers were disturbed that a woman director was portraying a female concentration camp survivor as the masochistic sex object of her Nazi captor.However, much like another controversial Italian director at the time, Lina Wertmüller, Cavani has never presented herself as a “feminist” director; indeed, her subsequent movies, such as The Skin (1981, with Marcello Mastroianni and Burt Lancaster), and Francesco (a.k.a. The Night Porter depicts not only the political continuity between wartime Nazism and 1957 Austria, but also the psychological continuity of characters locked into compulsive repetition of the past. To begin with, this art-house lunacy about a Nazi commander's S&M relationship with a beautiful Jewish prisoner(Charlotte Rampling, the only worthwhile element in a way-overlong two-hours) that is resumed some 30-years-later when they accidentally meet at an elegant party, and resume their affair (get out the jelly jar, whips & chains, broken glass, etc.) There is an overwhelming feeling that perhaps the material actually was too risqué or subversive for her, and as not to offend by going to any extreme, it was kept generic out of safety. I must say though that I put off watching this for a long time because the subject matter and idea of a film that romanticizes Nazism just seemed one step too far, especially as a Jewish person. And therein lies the mystery. The action is set in 1957 Vienna, where a secret organization of former Nazis meets periodically and “eliminates” dangerous witnesses. W ith her 1974 The Night Porter, Liliana Cavani established her reputation as one of international cinema’s most provocative artists. Passion from both sides lead them to the untime death as the remaining members want to eliminate the only witness of their black deeds. Foldout info: Credited liner notes in English (James Isaacs August 1990) plus a quote from Cole Porter. He is now a night porter at a hotel. It seems an idiotic and offensive subject for a movie: a relationship between a concentration camp inmate and a nazi war criminal, revisited ten years after the war, when the criminal is in hiding. The Night Porter (Italian: Il portiere di notte) is a 1974 Italian erotic psychological drama film. Max is the ex-SS officer who enjoyed a complex, sado-masochistic relationship during WW2 with Lucia (Charlotte Rampling), his Jewish captive. Awards Directed and co-written by Liliana Cavani, the film stars Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling, and features Philippe Leroy and Gabriele Ferzetti.Its themes of sexual and sadomasochistic obsession have made the film controversial since its initial release, dividing critics over its … Made in 1974 by Italian director Liliana Cavani, it can be seen as an exercise in perversion and exploitation of the Holocaust for the sake of sensationalism. 1973; 1 hr 57 mins Drama R Watchlist. This is quite dark. Many people have thought this was a loathsome one, and I can't blame them. It's an intense and compelling study of these characters who flow in the most opposite of circles (one a Nazi, the other a Jewish prisoner in the concentration camp he works at) and a love that transcends anything I've imagined experiencing. Late Night with Seth Meyers is available now on Peacock, … The transfer from film to Blu-Ray is beautifully done, but there are a couple of things you need to know before buying. Watch Late Night with Seth Meyers weeknights 12:35/11:35c. The Night Porter, the classic 1974 feature from Liliana Cavani – a story of obsessive passion and tragic destiny – has been given the 4K restoration treatment and will head to … With Dirk Bogarde, Charlotte Rampling, Philippe Leroy, Gabriele Ferzetti. Way back in the mists of time, in the early 1970's, there were some directors (both male and female) who made sincere efforts to make films that dealt with themes of fringe-sexuality and dark nihilism, but create them with seriousness, mood, and poignancy: in other words, they tried to raise the fringes up to the level of High Art. Hyundai Porter The fourth generation is called the Porter II. The Night Porter is a provocative and problematic film. But I cannot agree that this is barely "nazi sexploitation" sleaze. In some ways this film is still very shocking. | Dirk Bogard's former S.S. officer is resigned to quietly living out his days incognito as a night porter in a hotel, secretly preserving his true identity and trying to avoid detection by authorities. A jaw-dropping study on love in the most obscure of circumstances. I didn't know anyone in this prior to viewing. Unsettling, Haunting, Beautiful, Chilling, Poetic, Disgusting and perhaps even Romantic. Where to Watch. I've heard the film called dull numerous times and I could see why one would think this, but I thought the haunting silences only made the film more engaging and had my eyes further glued to the screen. But some scenes found a place in the back of my mind and stayed there. But skip "The Night Porter." None of it is gratuitous. St. Francis of Assisi, 1989, with Mickey Rourke), were hardly concerned with positive female role models.Cavani’s casting of in The Night Porter Dirk Bogarde as Max and Charlotte Rampling as Lucia recalls the roles they played five years earlier in Luchino Visconti’s The Damned. A controversial and shocking movie? After a chance meeting at a hotel in 1957, Holocaust survivor Lucia and Nazi officer Max, who tortured her, resume their sadomasochistic relationship. The Night Porter, the classic 1974 feature from Liliana Cavani - a story of obsessive passion and tragic destiny - has been given the 4K restoration treatment and … Their performances are passionate, intense and natural. "The Night Porter" is as nasty as it is lubricious, a despicable attempt to titillate us by exploiting memories of persecution and suffering. 1974 English/italian drama..Post world war II a group of nazi officers are surviving in Vienna and eliminating the past records of their war sins..Max, a night Porter of a hotel and member of this SS group comes across a Holocaust survivor young girl Lucia he fell in love in the concentration camp. In both stories the man is both the tormentor and the tormented. They experience paranoia because they are being pursued; they no longer go out; finally, hunger and lack of air make them regress to an animal level. Despite this, the subject matter is never taken far enough to even be called exploitation. The Night Porter's salaciousness gives its exploration of historical trauma a bitter aftertaste, but audiences seeking provocation are unlikely to forget the sting of this erotic drama. The story is mechanically simple. Bogarde’s potential for sleek savagery and Rampling’s skeletal beauty are well suited to these demonic films, where the only exit is death. Yet, as E.M. Forster said, "Only connect." | Compelling character study of a man (Dirk Bogarde as Max) who is both eager to erase his past and determined to cling to its pleasures. The editing mixes flashbacks and the present effectively. was laughed off the press-screening at Embassy. In South Korea, it is available as either a single-cabin, extended-cabin or a double-cabin model. Watch the video for All Through the Night from Cole Porter's Anything Goes The Music of Cole Porter for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. Find out where you can buy, rent, or subscribe to a streaming service to watch The Night Porter (1974) on-demand. Shawn Porter beat Danny Garcia in 2018. It's just….nothing. 7/10. But when Avco-Embassy finally picked it up for domestic release, it hardly made a ripple. This has disturbing content, including violence, sexuality that is not graphic and explicit nudity. It is (I know how obscene this sounds) Nazi chic. The Night Porter - Full Cast & Crew. Made in 1974 by Italian director Liliana Cavani, it can be seen as an exercise in perversion and exploitation of the Holocaust for the sake of sensationalism. On the surface, THE NIGHT PORTER will be at a minimum, politically incorrect to some, repugnant and perverse to others. Beloved "Saturday Night Live" personality — and the longest serving anchor on the show's wildly popular "Weekend Update" — Seth Meyers takes over as host of NBC's "Late Night," home to A-list celebrity guests, memorable comedy and the best in musical talent. Morose and reserved ex-Nazi Max (superbly played with tremendous restraint by Dirk Bogarde) keeps a low profile by working as a night porter at a posh hotel. Liliana Caviani's "The Night Porter" is a movie I have known about for a long time, but never watched until now, because its subject always gave me pause. Even though I was planning to watch something else that Saturday night, I came across BBC2 where "The Night Porter" was on and saw it once again. It's easy to dismiss a film like this or Salo or In the Realm of the Senses as garbage. Dick Bogarde and especially Charlotte Rampling are phenomenal. Believe me, you'll have more fun at your neighbors' tupperware party. They fall in love and reestablish their sadomasochistic relationship. Director 1 Credit. But indeed, the power of this film is in that very choice. In his servile role as a night porter, it's hard to believe he was ever in a position of power over anyone else. FAQ Playing via Spotify Playing via YouTube. If you're truly in the mood for films depicting the actrocities of the Third Reich, allow your neglected dog to take this one out in the backyard and bury it, and rent instead Visconti's "The Damned" or--for that matter--any of the "Ilse She-Wolf of the S.S." delicacies. That some Nazis were sadists is hardly a revelation; that among their millions of victims a few might have enjoyed being dominated shouldn't surprise us; and that such a relationship should voluntarily be renewed after the war may be unlikely, but not entirely incredible. He and Lucia are finally reunited in a scene of violent passion, all the more steamy for their accumulated repression. It's very hard to obtain just one feeling towards the film since it has so many layers and creates so many emotions. The second time I saw it I was intrigued more and more and ever since I see it as the classic it should be. In fact, the movie is actually somewhat restrained, considering the grim subject matter. This deals with Max, the night porter of the title, who has tried to put his past in the SS behind him. Can be purchased on its own or as part of The Complete Cole Porter Songbooks. There is simply an unending buffet of explorable ideas with the lingering pain of concentration camp imprisonment/sexual abuse and transgression, yet somehow this film seems content with not really exploring anything. This is a French made Blu-Ray created for the French video market. Costumes 1 Credit. If you are seeking material that can be described as "happy" or "light", you will not find it here. Against the two fighters competing in Saturday's main event he is 1-1. This is deliberately paced, and those who have short attention spans, and/or wish for a lot of developments in a feature are not the intended audience for this. Charlotte Rampling is gorgeous as usual and Dirk Bogarde at his best. Some films which deal with the issue of the Shoah usually end up repeating certain, rather stereotypical narrative mechanisms, depicting shocking images of war, its casualties and concentration camps, which usually end up 'distancing' the viewer from the events. Very flawed but interesting and often beautiful film, This film explores the mystery of human relationship in extraordinary circumstances. But we see in flashbacks what he became when he did have that power, and it isn't pretty. How can something so offensive be so boring? It's too easy, in fact, and not very fair. The structure of spasmodically switching from scenes in the concentration camp to when the two lovers see each other again in 1957 really helped put the viewer into the mind-set of the two main characters. The ex-Nazi refuses to turn her over and as a result they are both murdered. Released in a standard black tray jewel-case with a 4-way 8-panel foldout. The first time I saw the movie I was a bit disappointed. Find out where to watch it online and stream The Night Porter with a free trial today. I had heard so much about this movie that the film couldn't live up to my high expectations. And so what were audiences left with? The core of the film might be Max’s confession that he works at night because during the day, in the light, he is ashamed.His repressed guilt is perhaps as great as his initially repressed lust, and Max’s ultimate action is to turn himself into a physically degraded and emotionally shattered prisoner. A concentration camp survivor rekindles her sadomasochistic relationship with her lover, a former SS officer - now working as a night porter at a Vienna hotel - but his former Nazi associates begin stalking them. Images of the past punctuate the present narrative with urgent frequency, and suggest that Lucia survived by being Max’s plaything.Amid the growing tension of their mutual anxiety over being alone together, Max eliminates a former prisoner who had been his friend. It's been taken seriously in some circles, mostly by critics agile enough to stand on their heads while describing 180-degree turns, in order to interpret trash as "really" meaningful. Directed by Liliana Cavani. When the film was released in the United States, critical response was hardly favorable; indeed, Vincent Canby’s New York Times review was nothing short of scathing. Skip it. A truly original technique that I really admired. For no matter how one points a finger at these lovers and declares them to be "sick," they are indeed lovers and their attraction to one another compels them to act in spite of the danger to both of them. Liliani Cavani's 1974 film, set in 1957 Vienna, is a puzzling and uncomfortable study of a sado-masochistic relationship, and is worth seeing for the performances of Dirk Bogard as night porter/ex-SS officer Max, and especially Charlotte Rampling as former concentration camp inmate Lucia. When, more than a decade and a half later, Lucia turns up at the hotel where Max now works as a night porter, old pains and pleasures are reignited. On the other hand, a closer reading of this English-language psychological thriller suggests a dark vision of compelling characters doomed by … And, if you can't stand the heat, hey, stay out of the kitchen. For me, the most striking one is a flashback to a time during the war when Bert, a Nazi associate of Max, puts on a performance for a group of SS men and women, to the accompaniment of some gorgeous classical music. We compare Disney+, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video to show you the best place to stream The Night Porter. Spoilers. What really struck me about the story was not the sadomasochistic aspect which I actually found to be rather minor, (He slaps her around a bit and there is a scene where she is chained to a bed), but rather the tenderness and love shown by Max. The DVD has credits and posters, and while the print starts out looking shabby, it turns out to be perfectly fine. These films are all very interesting, if you can take them. Liliana Cavani uses angles and wide-shots that create a haunting sense of passion and really made the cinematography rank high among my all time favorites. Compelling character study and explosive drama. On the other hand, a closer reading of this English-language psychological thriller suggests a dark vision of compelling characters doomed by their World War II past. Foldout cover is release/jewel-case cover. If you can get past the impulse to respond like the rest of the pack, you may get a glimpse at the mystery of the human condition. I have mixed feelings about this film, owing partly to the way it was promoted on its original release in the U.S. in 1974, as a titillating quasi-porn movie. Ousmane Sembène’s second feature departs from his early-career critiques of colonial power, instead focusing on the oppressive forces manifested within postcolonial African society. How can one find redeeming virtue in the sado-masochistic affair between a former S.S. Max by chance gets reunited with concentration camp survivor Lucia (a very strong and fearless performance by Charlotte Rampling) and resumes the dangerous sadomasochistic affair that they started back in the 1940's. And in both stories this proves of course to be impossible as the mans very nature (in one case he is a pedophile, in another a Nazi) prevents it from being so. But it would be wrong to draw from it much in the way of generalised messages about fascism, concentration camps, or the holocaust. Very much like drug addiction. Consequently you have two viewing options.