The Night Porter
Thirteen years after the end of WOII, Holocaust survivor Lucia (Charlotte Rampling) meets her tormentor and former SS officer Max (Dirk Bogarde) again in a hotel in Vienna, where he works as a night porter. After their meeting, the couple reignites the sadomasochistic relationship they started in the concentration camp. But their relationship is seen as a threat by Max’s old colleagues and still proud SS members.
With THE NIGHT PORTER, director Liliana Cavani created a stir with audiences and critics alike. The themes of sexual and sadomasochistic obsession, the use of images from the Holocaust and the obscure circumstances of the love story’s origin, made for a controversial release. As with many cult movies, it took a couple of years for the film to be seen through a different lens and was appreciated for its underlying importance. Cavani wanted to probe the unsettling sexual and psychological ambiguities that surface in times of war. Holocaust survivors negatively experienced the content of the film: the idea that love could grow between an SS officer and a prisoner of the concentration camps was considered impossible.
In her career spanning almost 60 years, Cavani often used transgressive relationships and their impact, as well as obscurity and threat as a breeding ground for love. In her own words: “Fascism is not only an event of yesterday. It is with us still, here and elsewhere. As dreams do, my film brings back to the surface a repressed ‘history.’” Which unfortunately remains relevant in today’s political and social climate.
Trigger warning: violence, Holocaust references
Showtimes
On 17 March, film and art historian and professor Steven Jacobs (University of Antwerp, University of Ghent) will give a lecture: ‘Italian modernism: Michelangelo Antonioni & Pier Paolo Pasolini’. The lecture takes place from 17h00 until 20h00 and is included in the film ticket price. The FILM CLASS PASS is not valid for this screening.
