The Night Porter (Liliana Cavani)

[pro-bassoonist]

The old thread apparently disappeared in the crash

The Night Porter Blu-ray REVIEW



Pro-B

[dallywhitty]

Thanks for the review! I've been intrigued about this film for a while and your highly positive opinion has upped my interest further. I'm glad that all is well in the video and audio department.

[pro-bassoonist]

You are welcome. I think that if you have the Criterion DVD release, you will be enormously pleased with the new presentation.

Pro-B

[Arkadin]

great review pro-b, and what an amazing price from amazon--only 8 pounds.
wow!

[Banned User]

There are two soundtracks both in English.

So wasn't this film released in both English and Italian? Meaning the actors mouths aren't sync'd properly with English because they aren't speaking English?

I've never seen the film, but always prefer the native language of the film over english voice over dubbing.

[Le Samourai]

Thanks for the review, can replace my DVD at last

[APx3OG]

I love this film.

The picture from the Criterion DVD could be easily confused for vomit that had been spewed all over your TV.

I remember wondering if the disc I got was a bootleg of a bootleg that got aborted by it's bootlegger.








As always, thanks Pro-B.

[Lutz]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

great review pro-b, and what an amazing price from amazon--only 8 pounds.
wow!

Yeah I put my pre order in when it went down to this price last week. Great price! Great movie!

[ravenus]

Saw this last night on DVD. It's absurd, even trashy, but strangely compelling. The soundtrack and Charlotte Rampling's performance are incredible. I do wish there had been some supplements on this BD, even just a short interview with Ms. Rampling would have been nice.

[dallywhitty]

Has anybody received their copy yet? HMV dispatched mine on Wednesday and I'm used to their pre-orders arriving two or three days before the release date, yet this one hasn't. (I don't mean to sound like some spoilt bastard who believes any film I pre-order should arrive early - it just struck me as odd. )

[themadpanner]

My copy arrived from Amazon UK this morning, a quick look tells me the review is right. This movie looks great, but extras would have been very welcome.

[dallywhitty]

My copy arrived this morning. I decided I may as well post pictures of the artwork. I also took pictures of me pulling stupid faces with it (one of which has me unintentionally imitating Charlotte Rampling's facial expression), but they're too horrifying for online viewing.

[pro-bassoonist]

On a slightly different note, this is also a fantastic film and release (see below), very much worth owning. The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

Charlotte Rampling: The Look Blu-ray REVIEW



Pro-B

[pro-bassoonist]

Hello Fortil,

First, thank you for the note and the wishes. And Happy New Year to you and your family

As requested, I will post a few suggestions here because there is a text limit on the profile pages on the site. Also, in the future someone else like you might be looking for a few recommendations and this way they could use this post.

1. Liliana Cavani -- No, there are no other similar films from the Italian director. However, a film that has been very difficult to see (by English speakers) is coming out on Blu-ray. A very good counter culture work that is worth owning: I Cannibali. Click on the link below for more info:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ht=i+cannibali



2. The Night Porter -- I am afraid there are no other similarly-themed films where the subject is approached with the same serious attitude. There are many Naziploitation films, but this is an entirely different field/genre and the films there had different goals. There was a period when some Italian filmmakers were quite fascinated by the subject. In Italy some referred to it as the 'dark neo-realism' (a lot of sarcasm). If one was the top, the other was the bottom. This movement/genre expanded even in France, where the likes of Alain Payet did some pretty wild/tasteless films (Train spécial pour SS, etc.).

If you are looking for films that deal with 'difficult' relationships, such as the one between Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling, there is a lot of serious work.

Here are some examples:

See the newly announced films by Robbe-Grillet. This film, in particular, was once quite controversial (and cut in the UK):

Trans-Europ Express Blu-ray



But I would recommend exploring the cinema of Robbe-Grillet as it is indeed very different from most everything else that was done at the time. By the way, have you seen Last Year at Marienbad? The script for the film is by Robbe-Grillet.

Another serious (though with some dark humor) film to see is Barbet Schroeder's Maitresse. This is a very good release courtesy of the BFI.



Another similar though far more atmospheric film is Andrzej Zulawski's Szamanka. (You should also look online and read about the difficult relationship between the Polish director and the main actress).



This recent film with the beautiful Laetitia Casta is also incredibly well done. One of the best on a similar subject that I have seen in a very long time:
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...light=laetitia

Tied - Trailer - YouTube

If you are looking for an even more atmospheric film about an unusual/difficult relationship, Trouble Every Day is probably the one you wish to see:



Going further away:



...but we are heading into a different territory.

In My Skin - Trailer - YouTube

Now, if you are more interested in the darker/serious side of erotica, then there is plenty to explore, and very well done. A very serious director working in France is Jean-Claude Brisseau. I would recommend seeing The Exterminating Angels and À l'aventure.



And at the end, if you prefer a period/older film, like The Night Porter, simply to surprise you with something different, then perhaps Marco Fererri's La Grande Bouffe would fit the bill. It has nothing in common with Cavani's film other than being...very, very different.



I hope this would help for now, Fortil. If it does not and you wish to narrow the genres more, maybe we could come up with something else.

Have a great week

Pro-B

[fortil]

They all look fantastic suggestions, thanks a lot! It will be difficult, but I hope I can get some of these in time for the weekend. By the way, I have seen Last Year at Marienbad but it was a long time ago and I really need to rewatch it.

Have a great week!