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

A jaw-dropping study on love in the most obscure of circumstances. It's an intense and compelling study of these characters who flow in the most opposite of circles (one a Nazi, the other a Jewish prisoner in the concentration camp he works at) and a love that transcends anything I've imagined experiencing. I've heard the film called dull numerous times and I could see why one would think this, but I thought the haunting silences only made the film more engaging and had my eyes further glued to the screen. The structure of spasmodically switching from scenes in the concentration camp to when the two lovers see each other again in 1957 really helped put the viewer into the mind-set of the two main characters. It jars the mind and keeps us aware of this inordinate love and why these people are so confused and attracted to one another. A truly original technique that I really admired. Liliana Cavani uses angles and wide-shots that create a haunting sense of passion and really made the cinematography rank high among my all time favorites. Dick Bogarde and especially Charlotte Rampling are phenomenal. Their performances are passionate, intense and natural. The film certainly lived up to my expectations.

THE NIGHT PORTER is one of those Italian art-house movies that goes out of its way to shock and as such has gained some notoriety over the years. In essence, the film charts the torrid love affair between a Nazi who managed to escape from the clutches of the Allies and one of the victims he tortured in a concentration camp. Instead of hating him, his victim finds herself falling for him, and the two embark on a painful, sadomasochistic relationship years before FIFTY SHADES OF GREY made the whole thing popular.

I admit this whole set-up isn't really my cup of tea and I prefer films where the Nazis are being shot at rather than presented as broken, sympathetic people. Still, THE NIGHT PORTER is undoubtedly a well-shot movie, and Dirk Bogarde (VICTIM) is always fine playing these dark characters with their hidden secrets. I was a little cold where Charlotte Rampling's concerned, but then I've never really warmed to the actress. The plot is slow moving in this film but it always holds your attention and I appreciated the bleak ending, but it's the sexually-charged midsection that left me rather bored.