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Salient. Victoria University Newspaper. Volume 38, Number 14. June 20, 1975

films — The Night Porter (Regent Theatre), directed by Joseph Levine

films

The Night Porter (Regent Theatre), directed by Joseph Levine

Man in a top hat looking a film reel

Last Friday night me 'n a couple o' mates were a bit lost for something to do. You know howitis—you get a bit tired of the pub having been there all week, and there's not much action on other fronts, so you feel a bit down. And then me mate Dick suggested we go and see a film. 'What about this one, he says, 'the paper reckons its a shocking sensation about a sadomasochistic love affair.'

'Sounds good', says I so we sorta ended up at the Regent Theatre.

Yeah ... well first off, it's not so good if you only want to see them having it off and things cause there ain't really too much o' that. There's a couple of scenes about Nazi concentration camps what might send a chill up ya and that Charlotte Rampling chick is ok by me.

So I didn't think too much o' the film and the guy next to us (I thinks they was a bit cultchaed) didn't seem to like it either—said something about 'aesthetics'.

This night porter called Max (knew a guy called Max once) seems to be the centre of the action. He used to be in charge of a concentration camp. The war's supposed to have ended about thirteen years ago but Max and his mates can't seem to forget it and they's bothered by it all.

Max has these files what can be raided and destroyed and there's a couple of people what know who he really is still around. So he hatchets one of these witnesses but the other one he's got a bit of a crush for (Charlotte Rampling). One day she comes along to his hotel and...the...they gives y' a few scenes from their past and the concentration camp...he slaps her around a bit and they end up holed up in Max's apartment for a week or two. Outside Max's mates sort of beseige them, trying to get at the girl and 'save' Max. When they've gone without food for a week, they have this grouse idea of climbing out of the window and escaping, he's in his Nazi officers uniform 'n she's in a dress like that from the camp. If they reckoned they's'd escape like that they must have been a bit warped—perhaps it wasn't eating. Anyway, one of Max's mates followed them and shot them up.

Seriously, folks, I thought Charlotte Rampling was pretty good, Dirk Bogarde patchy and the rest rank. One major fault was that apart from one scene at the opera, and the camp flash-backs, you hardly saw anyone not connected with the plot. Tho' I suppose if the extra actors had been as bad as some of the minor ones it would only have made things worse.

The scenes where Bogarde and Rampling are together are the highlights of the film, but many of the others have this sort of unconnected unreal atmosphere. I found it annoying. One thing you can say for it tho'—it doesn't drag. At half past ten you wander out thinking where the time and your money's gone. That may be controversial, but the film sure isn't.

(A good film for surrealists).