The Night Porter (1974)
Il Portiere di notte,
The Most Controversial Picture of Our Time!
Director
Liliana Cavani
Writer(s)
Barbara Alberti story
Liliana Cavani screenplay
Liliana Cavani story
Italo Moscati
Amedeo Pagani story
Producer(s)
Esa De Simone producer
Robert Gordon Edwards producer
Cast
Dirk Bogarde - Maximilian Theo Aldorfer
Charlotte Rampling - Lucia Atherton
Philippe Leroy - Klaus
Gabriele Ferzetti - Hans
Giuseppe Addobbati - Stumm
Isa Miranda - Countess Stein
Nino Bignamini - Adolph
Marino Masé - Atherton
Amedeo Amodio - Bert
Piero Vida - Day Porter
Geoffrey Copleston - Kurt
Manfred Freyberger - Dobson (as Manfred Freiberger)
Ugo Cardea - Mario
Hilda Gunther - Greta
Nora Ricci - The Neighbor
Piero Mazzinghi - Concierge
Kai S. Seefeld - Jacob
Luigi Antonio Guerra
Review by Sven Soetemans
Alright! Who's up for some controversy
It isn't exactly my cup of tea, but if you're into artsy euro-exploitation you might want to check out this ambitious Italian examination on the Nazi culture. The film's style reminded me a little of "Last Tango in Paris" as it equally centers on bizarre and "forbidden" sexual fetishes. Yet, in this case the setting and characters are even more controversial (and thus more cult-like) : Dirk Bogarde (a former concentration camp guard) who recreates his sexual relationship with the now adult prisoner Lucia (a very convincing Charlotte Rampling). The events are set in the beautiful city of Vienna, in the post WWII-era. Bogarde's character carefully tries to keep a low profile there as a porter in the hotel where Lucia is at guest with her famous husband. For as long as director Cavani simply focuses on the interactions between the two protagonists, this is a gripping and very intense drama! Too bad she eventually attempts to cover too many moralistic topics (remorse, politics, decadence...) and the whole thing starts to feel like a high-school history lesson...only with sleaze. The sequences shot at the opera are beautiful and the flashbacks to the concentration camp are visually astonishing but neither of these aspects can save "The Night Porter" from boredom. I do reckon it's value in the exploitation field, as this film heavily influenced later shock-films such as "The Beast in Color","Salon Kitty", "Red Nights of the Gestapo" etc etc etc
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