Liliana Cavani directs Dirk Bogarde, Charlotte Rampling and Philippe Leroy in this post-war Nazi drama where a hotel clerk revives his controlling relationship with a young woman he coerced into sex when he was her concentration camp overseer.

Controversial in its day, just a bit moribund now. It is a ripe idea but this delivery switches from obtuse to oblivion. Offers the viewer very little but some shocking SS kink imagery and weak old man conspiracy. Bogarde and Rampling are strong despite their frustratingly unexplored characters.

5

Perfect Double Bill: The Damned (1969)