Highly stylized, depthless in its perversity, and shockingly pretentious,
The Night Porter, like
Onibaba and
Last Year at Marienbad, will stick in my memory. I'm unsure what to make of it. Am I to be offended by the disturbing premise? Aroused by the overt sexuality? Left ambivalent by two characters who clearly deserve one another and little sympathy? I'm all of those things right now, and think a second viewing of the film is in order--after I've taken a shower, of course.
