The Night Porter (1974)
Manfred Freyberger: Dobson
Photos
Quotes
-
Dobson : We have to defend ourselves - the war is not over. If you want to live hidden away like a church mouse, then go ahead! But we want back the ranks we held. For we have never given up. Never given up!
Max : [slamming his fists on the table] BUT I HAVEN'T GIVEN UP!
[calms]
Max : I'm still here with you.
-
Bert : Max, we all want the same thing - to live as peaceful citizens. Each of us has a respectable profession. Even I have some honorable duties. If you had wished, you could have had another career.
Max : Look, Bert. If I choose to live like a...
[directed to Dobson]
Max : Like a church mouse - I have a reason. I have a reason for working at night. It's the light.
[to the others]
Max : I have a sense of shame in the light.
Klaus : We are proud - of having been officers of the finest corps of the Third Reich. And if I were born again, I would do exactly what I did.
Max : [does a Nazi salute] Sieg Heil!
Bert , Klaus , Kurt , Dobson : [instinctively do the same] SIEG HEIL!
[Max breaks out of the salute, and ruefully notes that the others still have their arms outstretched. He walks away, shaking his head]
-
Kurt : Why this unexpected meeting?
Klaus : Max is hiding a dangerous witness in his apartment, and he won't conclude his trial.
Kurt : It will be concluded. Max, answer me honestly - it'll simplify everything. Have you become a Communist?
Max : Oh, God - the usual accusation, even for the newly born!
Dobson : I know you're not a Communist; you're not a defeatist. You're one of us!
Max : Which means I'm rotten and I stay rotten.
Dobson : YOU BASTARD!