within the context of a Nazi Holocaust narrative. Critic Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times thought the main roles were well-performed, but nonetheless gave the film 1 star out of a possible 4, and called The Night Porter "as nasty as it is lubricious, a despicable attempt to titillate us by exploiting memories of persecution and suffering", while adding he did not "object per se to the movie's subject matter." Leonard Maltin's 2015 Movie Guide called it a "Sleazy, bizarre drama", awarding it two out of four stars. In The New York Times, Nora Sayre praised the performances of Bogarde and Rampling, and the "dark, rich tones" of the cinematography, but began her review by writing "If you don't love pain, you won't find "The Night Porter" erotic—and by now, even painbuffs may be satiated with Nazi decadence." Vincent Canby, another prominent critic for The New York Times, called it "romantic pornography" and "a piece of junk". In her essay for the Criterion Collection release, Annette Insdorf called The Night Porter "a provocative and problematic film. ... [I]t can be seen as an exercise in perversion and exploitation of the Holocaust for the sake of sensationalism. On the other hand, a closer reading of this English-language psychological thriller suggests a dark vision of compelling characters doomed by their World War II past." Some critics have characterized The Night Porter'' as an exploitation or Nazisploitation film. Awards and nominations The film was nominated in two categories at the 1975 Nastro d'Argento Awards, Best Director (Liliana Cavani) and Best Screenplay (Cavani and Italo Moscati), but did not win in either category. See also Nazi exploitation Sadism and masochism in fiction References External links The Night Porter – an essay by Annette Insdorf at The Criterion Collection The Night Porter: Power, Spectacle, and Desire an essay by Gaetana Marrone at the Criterion Collection 1974 films 1974 drama films 1974 LGBT-related films 1970s English-language films 1970s erotic drama films 1970s Italian films 1970s psychological drama films BDSM in films English-language Italian films Films about Nazi fugitives Films about sexual repression Films directed by Liliana Cavani Films set in 1957 Films set in hotels Films set in Vienna Films shot in Rome Films shot in Vienna Italian erotic drama films Italian LGBT-related films Italian nonlinear narrative films Italian psychological drama films LGBT-related drama films