The Night Porter (1974)

After a chance meeting at a hotel in 1957, Holocaust survivor Lucia (Charlotte Rampling) and Nazi officer Max (Sir Dirk Bogarde), who tortured her, resume their sadomasochistic relationship.

Director:

Liliana Cavani

Writers:

Liliana Cavani (screenplay), Italo Moscati (screenplay)

Stars:

Dirk Bogarde, Charlotte Rampling, Philippe Leroy

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dirk Bogarde	...	Max
Charlotte Rampling	...	Lucia
Philippe Leroy	...	Klaus
Gabriele Ferzetti	...	Hans
Giuseppe Addobbati	...	Stumm
Isa Miranda	...	Countess Stein
Nino Bignamini	...	Adolph
Marino Masé	...	Atherton (as Marino Mase')
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

Storyline

Thirteen years after World War II, concentration camp survivor Lucia (Charlotte Rampling) and her tormentor Max (Sir Dirk Bogarde), currently the night porter at a Vienna hotel, meet again and fall back into their sado-masochistic relationship.

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Plot Keywords:

female full frontal nudity | female nudity | 1950s | survivor | ss | 

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Taglines:

The Most Controversial Picture of Our Time!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 October 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Night Porter

Filming Locations:

Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Italnoleggio Cinematografico, Lotar Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor) (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Romy Schneider turned down the role of Lucia. Mia Farrow was considered, as well as Dominique Sanda, before Charlotte Rampling was selected based on her work alongside Sir Dirk Bogarde in Luchino Visconti's The Damned (1969).

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Goofs

In the flashback with the ballet dancer, dancing in a kind of gym, there is a shot with a poster of Himmler against a pillar. There are also 2 guards standing on the right. A bit later the same angle and the poster is gone and the guards have disappeared.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Bert: Well?
Klaus: He doesn't answer. It's off the hook.
[lights a cigarette]
Klaus: Tell me, Bert. How long have you known Max?
Bert: Let's not talk about it.
Klaus: You don't, er... dance for him anymore?
Bert: I've lost him.

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Connections

Spoofed in Yad skorpiona (1992)

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Soundtracks

Portiere di notte
(uncredited)
Composed by Daniele Paris

User Reviews

Bleak

This is quite dark. If you are seeking material that can be described as "happy" or "light", you will not find it here. I didn't know anyone in this prior to viewing. This deals with Max, the night porter of the title, who has tried to put his past in the SS behind him. 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. The plot is captivating. 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. 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. The acting is excellent. All of the leads disappear into their roles. They are all well-cast, too, talent as well as physical types. 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. The editing mixes flashbacks and the present effectively. This has disturbing content, including violence, sexuality that is not graphic and explicit nudity. None of it is gratuitous. The DVD has credits and posters, and while the print starts out looking shabby, it turns out to be perfectly fine. I recommend this to anyone who believes they can handle it, and is mature enough, from reading this review. 7/10