What was left unsaid:

What a terrible mystake I've made. Well, maybe not so terrible after all, I guess I'm just not used to this blog thing and I end up trying too hard, instead of really opening up to my own feelings and knownlegde of what I've studied, read, and learned, and to trust my own judgment in analysing films and arts in general.

So, let me make it up for the "cold" privious review by saying that Il Portiere di Notte came to me as a shock, though it shouldn't have, since I've known about its plot and controversity prior to watching it. I have heard and read about this movie for a while know, but it wasn't untill I watched Indie Sex - Extremes that I finally went in search of the movie.

My first impressions on the movie were: "How could someone make a movie mixing sadomasochism and Holocaust?", "Is is tasteful?", and after 15 minutes "Wow! I can't believe Charlotte Rampling was(is) that gorgeous!". But the thing is, the movie IS very tasteful, full of poetry and angst, and the sexual relationship is portrayed with such comprehension, and respect that is diffucult not to relate to these characters, or at least understand where they're coming from. After all, it's obvious that after WWII both of them are changed forever, and the path they chose to follow, in order to stay or feel alive, was the path of transgressive sex. The interesting thing is it's not always clear who is in charge of the situation, who's taking the lead as the dominant/top. At first we see Maximiliam as the SS oficer, watching her dance half-naked, but 15 years passed we see them exchanging places and enjoying that.

What a sensitive movie, portraying two of the richest, and most complexes characters you could have ever imagined. Yesterday while I was reading a book on sexuality on cinema* I found another interesting fact about this movie; Liliana Cavani and both actors were tried for obscenity, but were absolved when directors such as Luchino Visconti and Bernardo Bertulucci came to their defense.

Even if you don't undestand the purpose of such film or dislike its result you have to admit, what a courageous act, to produce such piece of art! I was flabbergasted by the whole idea, and consider this to be a breakthrough movie in terms of boundaries, sexuality, human interaction, repression, love, among many other subjects. Definetly a mark in film history, and as I said on my previous post, a must-see film by a talented italian director.

And... that's a wrap! I'll be back on Thursday for my next movie. Stay tuned!


* DUNCAN, Paul and KEESEY, Douglas. Erotic Cinema. Taschen.

Il portiere di notte (1974)

I finally got the courage and the incentive I needed to get back here and to start writing about some of the movies that somehow left their mark on me. Since January 2008 I've watched over sixty five (65) movies, so it's a bit challenging to chose *the* one that will iniciate what I hope will became a tradition in this blog. So, enough with the drama, and let's go straight to my review on one of the most controversial films ever made:

IL PORTIERE DI NOTTE (1974) - ****

This amazing movie by italian director Liliana Cavani, brings the story of Maximiliam Theo Aldorfer (Dick Bogarde), a former Nazi SS officer, now working as a night porter at a Vienna hotel, who encounters Lucia Atherton, a concentration camp survivor (Charlotte Rampling).

(minor spoiler warning)

It's been thirteen years since WWII when the two meet again at the Hotel, and right at the beggining of the movie we get a glimpse of how good this is going to be based on the looks exchanged between the two leads. There's so much depth and confusion in their eyes that we know that whatever journey they're gonna follow it's not going to be an easy one. From their meeting on, the audience, is presented with flashbacks of a time when they were both trapped in a situation which would originate their sadomasoquistic relashionship. No need to say that this envolvement between tormentor/tormented in the Holocaust is still the main reason for its controversity. Nonetheless this movie was way ahead of its time, breaking new boundaries for acknowledging sexual transgression in cinema, and that in itself is reason enough for applause.

The film depicts their psychological torments, along with their transformed lives. I believe the movie makes it quite clear that after everything they went through they were changed forever. And I'm not talking only of the main two characters, but also of the ones involved in any way, from Maximiliam's former SS comrades to Lucia's husband, they are all changed and reshaped by a post-war Europe.

Both Bogarde and Rampling give away amazing touching perfomances, with a highlight for the scene where a half-naked Lucia, wearing an SScap, perfoms a Marlene Dietrich song in front of the whole troop. According to Rampling this was the first scene they filmed for the movie. Maybe Cavani was trying to set the tone for the movie, and I guess she was right, for it is one powerful scene. One that would later be emulated by Madonna on her Justify My Love video, as well as for many s&m performers.

After all being said I give this movie my highest praises for its visionary character, its courage, and its extreme sensibility to deal with such controversial matters. The movie esthetics is also tuned to its theme, painting a subtle shady Europe trying to restore its dignity. I hope you enjoyed this post and feel curious enough to track this movie down and watch it with an open mind, for I am sure you've never seen anything quite like it, and we're talking 1974 here!

And... that's a wrap!

Starting the blog

I finally decided to sit down and create my own film blog. A place where I can write down my thoughts on some of my favorite, and of course least favorite, movies of all time. What I'm gonna do here is give movies a rating from 1 (*) to 5 stars (*****), followed by the reasons that led me to such decision.

Comments will be open for everybody, and I sincerely encourage people that disagree from my opinion and post their own, specially when it's followed by a solid argument. I love a good *healthy* movie discussion.

By the way, all posts will be written in english. I know it seems presumptious since my mother language is portuguese, and at first this blog will probably be visited by my closet friends. Still, I like to think big and I do have some friends that can only join in if I make this as "universal" as possible. I might change my mind someday, but I'm sticking to english for now.

And that's all (for today) folks!

to be continued...