The Night Porter

The Night Porter is a 1074 film that was notorious in its day, with sharply divided critical opinion. Directed by Liliana Cavana, it depicts a sado-masochistic sexual relationship, but pushing the envelope even further that relationship is between a member of the SS and a concentration camp prisoner.

DIrk Bogarde is the title character. The setting is Vienna in 1957. A group of guests arrive at the hotel where he works and among them is an American conductor and his wife (Charlotte Rampling) whom Bogarde recognizes. We will eventually learn that he was an SS officer and she was a prisoner in a concentration camp, where they had a very kinky affair.

In a far-fetched coincidence, a group of other Nazi war criminals have destroyed documents and eliminated witnesses to hide their guilt. Bogarde is one of them, and they are putting him on mock trial. They believe there are no living witnesses to his heinous crimes, but they get wind there might be a woman still alive.

But Rampling is not going to turn him him n, instead they rekindle their affair. Bogarde refers to her as his "little girl," and holes up with her, in his apartment, while the other Nazis try to get to them, cutting off their food and then their elect4idiy.

There are flashbacks, and perhaps the most iconic image of the film is Rampling, wearing pieces from an SS uniform but topless, entertaining the guards with a Marlene Dietrich song. I think what is so offensive, or daring, depending on your point of view, is portraying a sexual relationship between prisoner and guard as consensual, especially when it concerns Nazis.

Beyond the controversial plot the movie is only so-so. The lead performances are good, but the film isn't erotic, even to fanciers of S&M. It's also a sluggish film, poorly paced (there is a long, strange scene in which one of the Nazis, who is a dancer, performs a ballet in his hotel room while Bogarde watches).

The Night Porter, so Wikipedia tells us, is now a cult film, but I wouldn't want to belong to that cult.