Vienna, 1957. Max, a former Nazi concentration camp officer, is now employed as a respectable night porter at one of the city's most luxurious hotels. Still anguished by the guilt of his actions during the war, he attempts to relieve his conscience by devoting himself to his work while awaiting the upcoming trial of himself and his fellow Nazi officers. But one fateful evening Max's disturbing past catches up with him in the form of the beautiful and alluring Lucia. Now the wife of a respected American classical composer, almost 15 years earlier Lucia was a teenage concentration camp inmate and Max's lover in an aberrant sado-masochistic relationship. Bound by their memories and uncontrollably drawn to each other, Max and Lucia rekindle their bizarre love affair. But their future together becomes threatened by other ghosts from the past.
Directed by Liliana Cavani (Ripley's Game) and starring Dirk Bogarde as Max and Charlotte Rampling as Lucia, The Night Porter (Il portiere di notte) was released back in 1974 to divided critical opinion due to its controversial subject matter and imagery, with Roger Ebert famously complaining that the film was "as nasty as it is lubricious, a despicable attempt to titillate us by exploiting memories of persecution and suffering. It is – I know how obscene this sounds – Nazi chic." More recently however, Twitch described it as "A superb piece of work anchored by two phenomenal performances from the leads… a film that deserves virtually every bit of acclaim it's received."
You can make your own mind up on 30th July 2012 when The Night Porter is released on UK DVD and Blu-ray from Anchor Bay at the RRP of £9.99 for the DVD and £15.99 for the Blu-ray.
