Love from War: "Night Porter"
Media / 6/16/2008 10:24:05 PM
Back again our guest writer, Michael Penkas, with another piece on boundary pushing celluloid. (See his previous article on "Cannibal Holocaust") This time he brings us a lovely romantic horror shot in 1974 by Italian director Liliana Cavani. Movie posters announced this one as "One of the most controverial movies of our time." Today Amazon.com calls it "operatic and disturbing". We're inclined to agree.
Love can be the most frightening emotion, especially if you find someone who
loves you because of your worst traits rather than despite them. The Night
Porter is the story of a Nazi concentration camp guard and prisoner who fall in
love.
The story begins in Vienna 1957. Max (Dirk Bogarde) is the night porter at a
hotel, living a life of quiet obscurity, but seemingly content. He still has
ties with his old Nazi allies, men in hiding who occasionally meet to discuss
their past actions. Their conversations resemble a grim parody of group therapy
sessions, in which the Nazis try to purge their own feelings of guilt (while at
the same time plotting the murders of any witnesses who could turn them in to
the authorities). It is noteworthy that even the other Nazis find Max's crimes
to be especially hideous. Max is not portrayed as a man filled with regret for
his past crimes, nor as a man filled with hope for the resurrection of the Third
Reich. At the story's beginning, he seems to lack emotion entirely, content with
his quiet life.
Into the story comes Lucia (Charlotte Rampling), wife of a composer
staying at the hotel where Max works. She is also a former camp prisoner with
whom Max had an affair. We see in flashbacks that this courtship involved rape,
humiliation and exploitation. Max is at first afraid that Lucia will expose his
terrible past to the authorities; while Lucia is overwhelmed by her buried
memories. Both are surprised to find that they have feelings for one another
besides fear or hate and they re-kindle their love affair.
Max and Lucia end up risking everything, including their lives, to keep one
another safe from Max's Nazi allies (who want to silence them both). What at
first appears to be a film about an abusive relationship slowly becomes a story
about star-crossed lovers, whose love is challenged by forces far greater than
themselves. Like all great love stories, there is an undercurrent of tragedy.
The viewer is left to wonder if the greater tragedy would be splitting these two
apart or keeping them together in a relationship that truly should not exist.
Michael Penkas
Jill's p.s. Will wonders never cease? You can get the DVD of "Night Porter" from our very own Killer-works Store . Send us your thoughts, ramblings, and queries to us here at comments@killer-works.com. Operators are standing by...
p.p.s. Our Killer-short Film Contest is still looking for entries! Send us 3 minutes or less of your gory film bits and you could be almost FAMOUS!!
