Extremely controversial when it was released in 1974, The Night Porter remains uncomfortable experience largely because it refuses to provide clear, and easy answers for what is going on. The setting is Vienna, 1957. Max (Dirk Bogarde), a forty-something bachelor, works as a night porter at a posh hotel. Max has a secret former life; thirteen years before he was an SS officer in the Nazi concentration camps.

Working with a network of other former Nazis, he’s been able to keep his former identity a secret, but people are constantly on the lookout for Nazis. Especially those like Max, who haven’t completely let go of their previous ideology. One day, an elegant young woman (Charlotte Rampling) comes into the hotel, and immediately recognizes Max. Flashbacks reveal that she was one of his inmates in a camp where the Nazis performed various experiments. The two had a strange, intense relationship. The woman, Lucia is now the wife of a successful concert conductor who is visiting the city. Max is concerned that Lucia is terrified of her. While it would be natural for her to revile him, they fall back into the strange sado-masochistic relationship they had before.

Troubling, dark, and deliberately unclear, the idea of a former SS officer and a concentration camp victim restarting an affair after the war is a controversial one, even more so in The Night Porter because it’s never clear what either person is getting out of it. It seems reasonable that Lucia is a victim of Stockholm Syndrome but given the enjoyment of both power and submission, there seems to be something more to it. These are two smart people, they likely realize that what they’re doing is seen by most as perverse.

In the midst of all this, a small group of Max’s fellow former Nazi’s are determined to get rid of anyone with knowledge of their past who could possibly expose them for who they really are. Aware of Max’s reunion with Lucia and the difficulties this could cause them, they request her assassination. While the assassin is moving in on Max to track down Lucia, the increasingly kinky affair continues. When Max figures out what’s going on, he locks himself and the woman he is willing to risk it all for inside the hotel room. They continue to make love—until they run out of food.

The Night Porter is not for everyone. Some will see this film as little more than an exploitive attempt to titillate. While it would be easy to lump The Night Porter into the spate of ‘Nazisploitation’ pictures that came out of Italy and America in the seventies, it would be unfair. While the sex is undeniable graphic, this is a story about two irrevocably broken people. Given the material, the two main actors giving gripping performances. Dirk Bogarde’s Max is part pimp, part obsessive, and holds the screen excellently throughout. He holds Max’s true emotions close to the vest through much of the movie, until it just becomes impossible. Charlotte Rampling alternates between sparkle and zombie-like stiffness as Lucia relives disturbing memories, and compulsions. The Night Porter isn’t a film to enjoy, but it’s certainly one that will leave you thinking.

Presented in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio, Criterion’s 1080p transfer is very solid. Sharpness is very good for the scenes set in 1957, while those set in the concentration camp occasionally look a bit softer. Likewise, the color timing in the flashbacks is slightly desaturated, and a green tinge added to suggest the time lapse. In the 1957 scenes color is vivid, and skin tones appear natural. Black levels are okay, but could stand to be a touch more inky. A noticeable hair pops up on the screen during one of the sex scenes (likely part of the original photography).

The English LPCM 1.0. audio track provides very nice depth, and clarity. The dialogue is crisp, and understandable. There are no discernible cracks, pops, or dropouts. The moody music that occasionally intercedes also sounds clear, and full.

English SDH subtitles are included.

The following extras are available:

  • New interview with director Liliana Cavani (HD, 8:33) Conducted exclusively for Criterion in Rome in 2014, Cavani discusses what inspired the film, how she approached Charlotte Rampling about playing Lucia, the relationship between Max and Lucia, etc.
  • Women of the Resistance (HD, 49:56) In this documentary Liliana Cavani made for RAI Television in 1965, several women who participated in the Italian resistance discuss their activities and explain how the war changed them. Included with the documentary is a brand new introduction from director Liliana Cavani recorded exclusively for Criterion by Antonio Monda in Rome in 2014 (4:55, HD).
  • Leaflet: Featuring an essay by scholar Gaetana Marrone, author of The Gaze and the Labyrinth: The Cinema of Liliana Cavani, and an excerpt from a 1975 interview with Cavani.