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The Night Porter - Criterion Collection

The Night Porter - Criterion Collection

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $26.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Doesn't it sound exciting?
Review: It's really not. Who'd a-thunk a film with subject matter as sensational as this could be so dull? And not even a respectable, important dull. This is BORING. You WILL be disappointed. Not that I expect you to move along and pick something else, but when you come back to this page to add your own "0 STARS" review, just remember I told you so.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "TRISTAN + ISOLDE, later at CASANOIR"
Review: It's very close to "In the Realm of the Senses" and it leaves you with that same taste you wake up to after surgery ...... what is it? Possibly FEAR, this one comes close, it peers closely into the dark heart of despair.

PLOT: Two souls connect in a concentration camp, HE, a sadistic guard, SHE, a mere child, she observes and complies; amidst all of the perversions, they bond and fall in love. [Yes, there is that odd 'Salome' sequence involving a bodypart presented as a gift to the girl, AND her amazing, erotic dance, and THAT 'merry-go-round' sequence].

CUT to a "Casablanca" moment": A seedy hotel years later, the war is over and a visiting American conductor and his wife are checking in, and who's behind the reception desk? Oh yeah - HIM! [It cuts close to that line, "Of all the places ...."; but this is not Bogart and Bergman] AND it starts all over again, he "kidnaps" her, only this time insanity reigns and this obsession with the now missing woman [hiding in his apartment] threatens to expose his WWII concentration camp accomplices.

I have never quite seen a bleaker movie. This is a mood piece, filmed in washed-out tones.

CHARLOTTE RAMPLING and DIRK BOGARDE are our spiritually and physically bound Tristan and Isolde. Bold performances, Rampling astounds, pity we see less and less of her - [she's also spectacular in "Farewell, my Lovely" with Mitchum].

Director, Liliana Cavani allegedly based this movie on a chance meeting at a concentration camp after the war.

Companion pieces? "In the Realm of the Senses", "Salo", "Last Tango in Paris".

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Difficult but important film
Review: Maybe after another viewing I will go up to 5 stars - right now I am just caught up in uncertainty.
Nevertheless, it is a darn good movie starring Dirk Bogarde (who is, in my opinion, one of the great actors of the last century)
What troubles me is the motivation of the female character in the film - I guess she is kind of like Margit Carstensen in Fassbinder's 'Martha' (which i give 5 stars).
Maybe I just need to watch it again-


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Long, Slow Danse Macabre
Review: One of the great cult films of the early 70's, The Night Porter can be viewed as a treatise on the decadence of the Nazi regime or an exploration of the lingering ties between abuser and abused. Gruesome and surreal in some scenes, passionate and haunting in others, it is definitely one you will never forget. The cabaret scene and the final image of the two doomed companions walking along still haunts me today. If you are looking for a great cult movie or just something different, well now you've found it!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Disturbing and not for everyone
Review: One of the more interesting films ever made! Outstanding performances by Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling as the reunited BDsm lovers after WWII. This film has made every BDsm top ten list and is on many list as a film that has had impact on the industry and/or the times.

The film askes questions and provides no easy or quick answers.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dark and powerful film that makes you think.
Review: Reading these other reviews only leads me to think that their viewing was only superficial. This is really a marvelous work of ART, folks -- dark art, and two brilliant, startling performances by Rampling and Bogard. And remember, it is indeed based on A TRUE STORY. But as stylization is not trendy these days thanks to wearisome reality type films from Hollywood, what you get here is a stylized, artful portrayal of an inner hell, obsession, and shackles of the past....Those of you who think this just doesn't ring true, only need look at many marriages of today and past, where the husband beats the crap out of the wife who continually comes back for more.....not an easy film to sit through, but afterwards you will be unable to return to Hollywood. Be warned. Not for everyone, but if you like dark art or music, you're gonna slap your head on this one....I LOVE THIS MOVIE. Cinematic film as art, and as a powerful moving drama that will leave you on the floor in front of your TV gasping for air. And the bottle of whiskey.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brilliant, a work of dark genius. Forget the other reviews!
Review: Reading these other reviews only leads me to think that their viewing was only superficial. This is really a marvelous work of ART, folks -- dark art, and two brilliant, startling performances by Rampling and Bogard. And remember, it is indeed based on A TRUE STORY. But as stylization is not trendy these days thanks to wearisome reality type films from Hollywood, what you get here is a stylized, artful portrayal of an inner hell, obsession, and shackles of the past....Those of you who think this just doesn't ring true, only need look at many marriages of today and past, where the husband beats the crap out of the wife who continually comes back for more.....not an easy film to sit through, but afterwards you will be unable to return to Hollywood. Be warned. Not for everyone, but if you like dark art or music, you're gonna slap your head on this one....I LOVE THIS MOVIE. Cinematic film as art, and as a powerful moving drama that will leave you on the floor in front of your TV gasping for air. And the bottle of whiskey.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: If you want to be shocked watch South Park
Review: The Great Taboo about the Night Porter is mostly hype,
especially when you consider the amount of sex and violence
in modern day media (and how much of it young people see)
Actual film footage of the Holocaust and its attrocities
is far more disturbing than any phoney s&m acting. It seems
the DVD is an edited release of the original movie as i recall
seeing stills of much more explicit scenes published in a
magazine a few years ago. Guess it had to be toned-down to
appeal to a broader audience. At any rate Ms. Rampling is quite
lovely, but if you want to see a REALLY NASTY MOVIE watched
the un-edited CALIGULA or even worse, Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS
(Now there's one that will make you lose your cookies)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dark and powerful film that makes you think.
Review: The Night Porter is a very dark and powerful film, the subject matter is disturbing and so are some of the images in the film. It is an interesting psychological examination on the relationship between Nazism, Sado-Masochism, sex, death, servant / master roles and the effects of ones past in relation to the present. It has two great performances by Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling. Just like Salo it does sometimes tread that thin line between art and exploitation. Still an excellent movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Night Porter may be the best movie captured on film.
Review: The Night Porter is probly the strongest movie ever made. The best part is the fact the director is a woman. You would never guess it after reviewing the material. I have never seen anything like it and probly never will. It would be quite impossible to remake the movie now, and such an attempt would do no justice. My own movie collection starts and ends with this movie. It is not suitable for children or those with week hearts. If it wasn't for a film class that I took I would have never seen it. Every time I meet someone who has seen it I feel a bond that make Rocky Horror Picture Show fans seem like base balls card collectors. Prepare yourself for a film that blows the envolope away.


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