A grim foray into the bleakest ‘sploitation to come out of Italy
I tend to gravitate towards films that make me feel something, even if it is unease, dread or disgust. I get that exploring transgressive cinema isn’t for everyone, but I enjoy pushing my boundaries as a cinephile probably more than most. I’m constantly going out of my way to track down films that are rumored to be extreme, unwatchable or have a certain reputation, to see if they’re actually as bad as the reviews or hyperbole would paint them out to be. While this has landed some rather tame and unaffecting films in my path, it has also had me feeling trapped in my living room as I was forced to endure a waking nightmare, forever changed after the fact, whether that be for better or worse.
Speaking of which:
Most see Liliana Cavani’s The Night Porter as the originator of the bleakest of the ‘ploitations, to come out of Italy in the 70s — Nazisploitation. Porter was billed as a “erotic psychological drama” and it was the story of a teenager who while in a concentration camp for being a socialist, has a “relationship” with, or is groomed by her SS Officer captor while in his charge. Sometime after the war the two cross paths again and they rekindle their sadomasochistic relationship in a film that while controversial, still managed some air of respectability. This deep dive into the psychology of obsession and the two fractured characters at the center of the film made it an arthouse staple and even landed it in the Criterion Collection. But, like all cheap and interesting ideas in the 70s, Italian directors started knocking it off, honing in on the more lurid and exploitative elements to get butts in seats in a trend that lasted roughly one year.
Nazisploitation was essentially just a meaner flavor of the women in prison sub-genre amping up its sexploitation leanings, thanks to the captors and their documented perversities. While there were quite a few of these films that hit in this time period, one in particular that still maintains its reputation as one of the most extreme entries in the sub-genre was Cesare Canevari’s 1977 video nasty — The Gestapo’s Last Orgy (Italian: ‘L’ultima orgia del III Reich), or as it was also known Caligula Reincarnated as Hitler. Directed by Italian actor/gun for hire director/screenwriter Cesare Canevari and starring future UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Daniela Poggi, the film is very much a revenge story masquerading in the guise of a misguided love story. This plus it borrows more than a few pages from its predecessor The Night Porter and Salon Kitty in its path to its absolution.
The film primarily takes place in flashbacks as we witness the twisted courtship of Commandant Starke (Adriano Micantoni) and his Jewish captive Lise (Poggi), who catches his eye with her iron will. No officer can break her and this test of wills between captor and captive, sparks a dark courtship between the pair, which becomes the talk of the camp. When Lise becomes pregnant with their child however, Starke is then forced to choose between his half Jewish progeny and his loyalty to his country, in a third act that gets about as bleak as you can get. Unlike most of the entries in this genre, this emotional thread gives it a bit more grit than you’d expect, but also allows it to hit twice as hard, solidifying its reputation as one of the most notorious entries in this sub-genre.
I would personally rank this up there with SS Experiment Love Camp. As two of the most notorious films in this sub-genre, that while being full of their exploitative trappings, attempt to engage its audience on some sort of deeper level than simply its more lurid leanings would lead you to expect. Adriano Micantoni delivers a rather intense and fearless performance as she serves up not just her body, but her heart and soul to the audience in the film. It’s her chemistry with Adriano Micantoni that allows the audience to not forgive, but simply stomach the power dynamic involved in their relationship and accept its ultimate turn that delivers the kind of blow I honestly didn’t expect from this film. I also found how the deterioration of Starke’s previous relationship with female SS guard Alma (Maristella Greco) plays out, added an unexpected love triangle dynamic, which solely exists to lull the audience into a false sense of security.
This ALL REGION release marks the U.S. debut of 88 Films, a U.K.-based label known for their Italian, Chinese and American exploitation releases. I feel like when they attempted to get this title released in the UK, where it was once again refused a certificate in its uncut form, that might have been the impetus for them to finally break into the U.S. market rather than lose the work they already completed on the title. I’ve been a fan of 88 Films for years and have a few of their Shaw and Italian titles in my collection. While their releases tend to be region locked, they tend to go after slightly smaller, more obscure genre titles than Arrow, giving them a similar deluxe presentation at a significantly lower price than their U.S. counterparts.
The presentation here is an impressive upgrade from the previous Severin DVD and is presented here from a brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative, and it’s never looked better. One thing that is definitely apparent is how competent this film is, from the cinematography to the editing, it’s a well put together picture and that’s a bit more apparent thanks to the clarity and contrast of this copy. The extras here primarily consists of a few on camera interviews and two commentaries. One with Italian movie specialists Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thomson who attempt to contextualize the film and its sub-genre, while also dropping some fascinating factoids and another with female critic and author Samm Deighan. Her commentary not only digs into the film from a women’s perspective, but the history of the Third Reich and the truth in the on screen attrocities.
My personal thought on Nazisploitation; the best ones, if you can call them that, are the ones that manage to kill the most Nazis in their runtime. While this film doesn’t get close to the body count of SS Experiment Love Camp, those that do die here, do so with a profound release for the audience. That said, The Gestapo’s Last Orgy isn’t a pleasant film, and it isn’t something I could personally recommend to anyone, but it may be one of the most competent films in a sub-genre that succeeds at doing more than simply shock and titillation. There’s a real depth to the performances that you really don’t expect, and the material is given a legitimate weight that makes a certain dinner scene almost stomach churning.
If you’re looking to test the waters of the sub-genre, this is definitely a worthy title of your time. That extra effort in the performances and story is what elevates this film from simple camp, to a title that is still banned in Britain four decades later. 88 Films starts off impossibly strong with a release that still has the power of a cinematic molotov cocktail thrown at your eyeballs that is not for the faint for heart.
Bonus Materials
- Brand New 2K Restoration From the Original Camera Negatives
- Restored English and Italian LPCM Soundtracks
- Newly Translated English Subtitles
- Complete and Uncut
- Audio Commentary by Critic And Author Samm Deighan
- Audio Commentary by Italian Movie Specialists Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thomson
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