The Night Porter (1974)

Directed by Liliana Cavani. Starring Dirk Bogarde, Charlotte Rampling, Philippe Leroy, Gabriel Ferzetti, Isa Miranda, Amedeo Amodio, Giuseppe Addobbati, Marino Masé, Nino Bignamini. [R]

More than a decade after the end of the war, Holocaust survivor Rampling visits a hotel where she discovers that the night porter was the SS officer (Bogarde) that tortured and abused her during her time in a concentration camp. But theirs is a twisted and sadomasochistic relationship compelled by Stockholm Syndrome, so it’s not justice or revenge she seeks, but rather a chance to pick up where they left off. Deliberately provocative art-trash is too serious-minded to be pure exploitation but too exploitative to take seriously; despite the classic richly somber tones of the visual palette, the filmmakers present libidinous fetishism in gaudy terms for deviant arousal while merely skimming the surface of the deeper psychological issues involved. Those who find eroticism in suffering may discover something to latch onto here, but those looking for a mature examination of difficult subject matter won’t be challenged beyond the occasional repellent thought or image, and those who are merely curious will probably just be bored.

39/100