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The Night Porter

Original title: Il portiere di notte
  • 1974
  • R
  • 1h 58m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
14K
YOUR RATING
Charlotte Rampling and Dirk Bogarde in The Night Porter (1974)
Max (Dirk Bogarde) is a night porter in a Vienna hotel in the 1950's. When beautiful Lucia (Charlotte Rampling) checks in, they recognise each other from a terrible past; Max was an SS officer in a Nazi concentration camp who had abused and tortured then teenage Lucia, a prisoner. Lucia is travelling with her husband, an orchestra conductor and when he leaves to continue his tour, Lucia stays behind as she and Max find themselves compelled to renew their former, intense, sadomasochistic relationship. Max is reluctant member of a group of former SS who are ruthlessly covering up their pasts. They soon consider Lucia a threat and urge Max to hand her over. He refuses and hides our with Lucia, while his former comrades enact their threats.
Play trailer1:07
2 Videos
99+ Photos
Drama

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 associate... Read allA 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.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.

  • Director
    • Liliana Cavani
  • Writers
    • Liliana Cavani
    • Italo Moscati
    • Barbara Alberti
  • Stars
    • Dirk Bogarde
    • Charlotte Rampling
    • Philippe Leroy
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    14K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Liliana Cavani
    • Writers
      • Liliana Cavani
      • Italo Moscati
      • Barbara Alberti
    • Stars
      • Dirk Bogarde
      • Charlotte Rampling
      • Philippe Leroy
    • 104User reviews
    • 95Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 nominations

    Videos2

    Night Porter Trailer
    Trailer 1:07
    Watch Night Porter Trailer
    Il Portiere Di Notte: Bathroom
    Clip 1:10
    Watch Il Portiere Di Notte: Bathroom

    Photos122

    Charlotte Rampling in The Night Porter (1974)
    Charlotte Rampling and Dirk Bogarde in The Night Porter (1974)
    Dirk Bogarde and Isa Miranda in The Night Porter (1974)
    Dirk Bogarde in The Night Porter (1974)
    Charlotte Rampling and Dirk Bogarde in The Night Porter (1974)
    Charlotte Rampling in The Night Porter (1974)
    Charlotte Rampling in The Night Porter (1974)
    Charlotte Rampling in The Night Porter (1974)
    Charlotte Rampling and Dirk Bogarde in The Night Porter (1974)
    Dirk Bogarde and Isa Miranda in The Night Porter (1974)
    The Night Porter (1974)
    Dirk Bogarde in The Night Porter (1974)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Dirk Bogarde
    Dirk Bogarde
    • Max
    Charlotte Rampling
    Charlotte Rampling
    • Lucia
    Philippe Leroy
    Philippe Leroy
    • Klaus
    Gabriele Ferzetti
    Gabriele Ferzetti
    • Hans
    Giuseppe Addobbati
    Giuseppe Addobbati
    • Stumm
    Isa Miranda
    Isa Miranda
    • Countess Stein
    Nino Bignamini
    Nino Bignamini
    • Adolph
    Marino Masé
    Marino Masé
    • Atherton
    • (as Marino Mase')
    Amedeo Amodio
    • Bert
    Piero Vida
    Piero Vida
    • Day Porter
    Geoffrey Copleston
    • Kurt
    Manfred Freyberger
    • Dobson
    • (as Manfred Freiberger)
    Ugo Cardea
    • Mario
    Hilda Gunther
    • Greta
    Nora Ricci
    Nora Ricci
    • The Neighbor
    Piero Mazzinghi
    • Concierge
    Kai-Siegfried Seefeld
    • Jacob
    • (as Kai S. Seefeld)
    Anthony Forwood
    Anthony Forwood
    • Opera Audience
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Liliana Cavani
    • Writers
      • Liliana Cavani
      • Italo Moscati
      • Barbara Alberti
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Sir Dirk Bogarde considered retiring from acting after making this movie, which he found to be a draining experience.
    • Goofs
      In the flashbacks, Max is wearing the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords upside down on his SS uniform.
    • Quotes

      Hans: I'm only here to ask you some questions on behalf of myself and the others, and to have a look at you. Look, I could have come at another time to see him too, but, I don't need to speak to him. I don't need to speak to him... in front of you. Useless. With this business of the trial, he's... become too diffident.

      Lucia: He's right.

      Hans: What do you mean?

      Lucia: Because then for the first time he saw you all clearly. Nothing's changed, has it?

      Hans: You're wrong. We've all had our trials. Now we are cured and live in peace with ourselves.

      Lucia: There's no cure.

      Hans: It is you who are ill. Otherwise, you wouldn't be with somebody who made you...

      Lucia: That's my affair.

      Hans: Very well. But nevertheless, your mind is disturbed. That's why you're here, fishing up the past.

      Lucia: Max is more than just the past.

      [Lucia crawls under a table]

      Hans: Listen. Why don't you go to the police? If you want to, I'll take you. Hm?

      Lucia: Dr. Fogler, I remember you so well. You gave a lot of orders.

      Hans: Then you can't have forgotten that your Max was an obedient Sturmscharführer. Remember?

      Lucia: I don't remember.

      Hans: I certainly can't oblige you to remember if you don't want to.

      [clears his throat]

      Hans: I'm only here to ask you to testify, to find out... if the situation in which you find yourself is of your own choice.

      Lucia: I'm all right here.

      Hans: Yes. You both want to live in peace, right? One lives in peace... when one is in harmony with one's close friends, when one respects an agreement. Tell Max that. We could have denounced him to the police for the murder of Mario. But we didn't. Max is ill. He mustn't be too far away from us! He's locked you up here. We could go to the police about that, too, no?

      Lucia: I'm here of my own free will. This chain is because of you, so none of you can take me away.

      Hans: If we wanted to carry you off, would this chain stop us? You poor fool. A chain can be cut. None of us is thinking of violence.

      Lucia: Hmm, I know how your, your witnesses end up. Max told me.

      [Lucia crawls out from under the table, away from Hans]

      Hans: Max doesn't know what he's saying or doing. His mind is disordered.

      Lucia: [crawling into the bathroom] Get out. Go away. Go away!

      [slams the door]

      Hans: If you change your mind, if the chain grows heavy... call me.

    • Connections
      Edited into Bellissimo: Immagini del cinema italiano (1985)
    • Soundtracks
      Don Juan
      (uncredited)

      Music by Christoph Willibald Gluck

    User reviews104

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    Very flawed but interesting and often beautiful film
    It's easy to dismiss a film like this or Salo or In the Realm of the Senses as garbage. It's too easy, in fact, and not very fair. These films are all very interesting, if you can take them. And, if you can't stand the heat, hey, stay out of the kitchen.

    Among the ranks of what I'll call the Artsploitation flick, The Night Porter is rather tame. There are only a couple of hardcore sex scenes, and there are really only two scenes with nudity.

    What I like about this film is, first and foremost, the performance by Dirk Bogarde. The subtle guilt and shame he projects is simply amazing. He really builds a three dimensional character, and mostly without dialogue. Other performers are weaker. Charlotte Rampling, his captive, gives a very uneven performance. Sometimes it seems on the money, other times it seems forced, or blank. None of the others are really worth mentioning, except for that one actor's ballet dancing, which is quite remarkable.

    Cavani's direction is sensuous. I saw this film for the second time today,

    and I had failed to notice before that it was directed by a woman. Unfortunately, that doesn't affect my reading of the film any, but it is interesting. This definitely seemed like a male project. Cavani's direction has a certain grace, a certain elegance. The film contains several scenes that could be called masterpieces in the midst of a lesser work. My favorite in the entire film is the one where Lucia locks herself in the bathroom, breaks a bottle in front of the door, and then allows Max to run in after her. This scene is so marvelously directed, it would work particularly well when seen as a separate entity. The famous nude cabaret song, the one depicted on the Criterion cover, is also exquisite.

    Technically, it is perfect. The cinematography is beautiful, as I've mentioned. The musical score is also gorgeous. It's possibly one of the greatest. The biggest failure of the film is definitely its script. The story is very difficult to follow. It's never clear exactly what has happened since the war, and what these former Nazis are doing in Vienna. It's also unclear what exactly the trials are that are always being brought up. And I'm not sure what they are afraid of, what they originally plan to do with Lucia, or anything like that. Or why they can't break into Max's apartment again. A lot of this stuff seems silly. I would have also liked Lucia's character better developed. We get the sense that she accepted Max's advances so quickly so that she could get his protection, which she receives in that biblical dance scene. I want more yet. With Max so well developed, Lucia feels somewhat like an object for the plot.

    I rate this a high 7/10.
    helpful•48
    22
    • zetes
    • Dec 23, 2001

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 1, 1974 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Italy
      • France
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
      • Latin
    • Also known as
      • Nocni portir
    • Filming locations
      • Vienna, Austria
    • Production companies
      • Lotar Film Productions
      • Les Productions Artistes Associés
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross US & Canada
      • $633,298
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 58 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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