Liliani Cavani's 1974 film, set in 1957 Vienna, is a puzzling and uncomfortable study of a sado-masochistic relationship, and is worth seeing for the performances of Dirk Bogard as night porter/ex-SS officer Max, and especially Charlotte Rampling as former concentration camp inmate Lucia. But it would be wrong to draw from it much in the way of generalised messages about fascism, concentration camps, or the holocaust. That some Nazis were sadists is hardly a revelation; that among their millions of victims a few might have enjoyed being dominated shouldn't surprise us; and that such a relationship should voluntarily be renewed after the war may be unlikely, but not entirely incredible.
So far as we can see in the film, the only point of contact between Max and Lucia is their physical relationship, based on mutual cruelty and pain, which we are shown via graphic, sometimes shocking, images. Apparently, they have no real desire to go beyond this physical relationship, which they lock themselves into, until it leads to their deaths. (They could easily evade the "siege" of their apartment by a group of ex-Nazis, if they so wished.)
The film enters the area of the overtly political in its sub-plot about this group of ex-Nazis, who try to come to terms with their pasts by confessing their crimes to each other; while at the same time taking direct action to "file away" both incriminating documents and awkward witnesses. The film leaves this story unfinished, with these fascists going about their business; in view of the recent resurgence of the extreme right-wing in Austria, this seems an appropriately open ending.
Music is prominent in the film. One scene takes place at a performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute. As well as reminding us of the sublime heights to which man can rise in contrast to the depths we have witnessed in the concentration camp scenes, Mozart's opera seems relevant because, like this film, it deals enigmatically with themes of good and evil, imprisonment and freedom. Also relevant is the song Lucia sings in the key scene where she imitates Marlene Dietrich's Lola in the Blue Angel; it was written by Friedrich Hollander and, roughly translated, it is about how the singer finds it difficult to choose between good and bad times, because happiness and sadness go together.
So far as we can see in the film, the only point of contact between Max and Lucia is their physical relationship, based on mutual cruelty and pain, which we are shown via graphic, sometimes shocking, images. Apparently, they have no real desire to go beyond this physical relationship, which they lock themselves into, until it leads to their deaths. (They could easily evade the "siege" of their apartment by a group of ex-Nazis, if they so wished.)
The film enters the area of the overtly political in its sub-plot about this group of ex-Nazis, who try to come to terms with their pasts by confessing their crimes to each other; while at the same time taking direct action to "file away" both incriminating documents and awkward witnesses. The film leaves this story unfinished, with these fascists going about their business; in view of the recent resurgence of the extreme right-wing in Austria, this seems an appropriately open ending.
Music is prominent in the film. One scene takes place at a performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute. As well as reminding us of the sublime heights to which man can rise in contrast to the depths we have witnessed in the concentration camp scenes, Mozart's opera seems relevant because, like this film, it deals enigmatically with themes of good and evil, imprisonment and freedom. Also relevant is the song Lucia sings in the key scene where she imitates Marlene Dietrich's Lola in the Blue Angel; it was written by Friedrich Hollander and, roughly translated, it is about how the singer finds it difficult to choose between good and bad times, because happiness and sadness go together.