The Night Porter

Max (Dirk Bogarde) is a night porter in a Vienna hotel in the 1950's. When beautiful Lucia (Charlotte Rampling) checks in, they recognise each other from a terrible past; Max was an SS officer in a Nazi concentration camp who had abused and tortured the then teenage Lucia, a prisoner. Lucia is traveling with her husband, an orchestra conductor and when he leaves to continue his tour, Lucia stays behind as she and Max find themselves compelled to renew their former, intense, sadomasochistic relationship. Max is a reluctant member of a group of former SS who are ruthlessly covering up their pasts. They soon consider Lucia a threat and urge Max to hand her over. He refuses and hides out with Lucia, while his former comrades enact their threats. This is the story of an obsessive passion, an 'amour-fou' which compels two lovers to be together - despite their lucid awareness of contravening all morality, even their own, and the certainty of their oncoming tragic destiny. (Cult Films)