I am not by no means an expert in Russian cinema. I have hardly watched any Russian movies. But Nightwatch changed all that.
A year ago, Manos, my younger brother and a fanatic cinema goer - a cinefil kind of person - suggested we went to watch NightWatch. (Original title: Nochnoy dozor). It was the first of a trilogy of the Russian version of Blade. Not exactly a thriller. The movie is about the eternal battle of good and evil. The two troupes of good and evil met - in a medieval setting - and fought. Just before everyone was perished, the two leaders decided to hold a truce. Good and Evil would live side by side as people would be free to choose anyside they wanted. No force would be allowed to ask people to choose sides. To make sure that the truce was kept, the Light Others and the Dark Others would police the truce. Light Others would perform the NightWatch making sure that Dark Others would not kill people or turn them to the dark side. Dark Others would constitute the Day Watch making sure that the same is true for the Light Others.
The forces of Dark and Light are now in equilibrium due to the work done by the Night and Day watch officers. One day, legend has it, a great other will come and the balance will turn for ever toward one side. Wise man believe that it will be easier for the Great Other to turn to the dark side as it is harder to see in the darkness than kill the light inside that we all have.
A science fiction movie at its best. The cinematography is great, as almost every scene of the movie is like an art photography. Nightwatch is much faster, groovier, and shocking than its sequel DayWatch. Looking forward to the third sequel, the Twilight watch. (Manos, did not like the movie ,needless to say)
Best watched one after the other. I had seen both movies once released in Greek theaters, but when I watched both of them one after another in my home cinema the script made more sense. The first time around I was captivated by the action scenes, photography, music and Russian bohemian chic.
It is definitely one of my favorite titles, and keep in mind that I don't like vampire or horror movies (except Blade). The scenes are too fast to be scary.
Also, I had not realized what a fantastic sound the Russian language makes
A few wikipedia facts:
Night Watch (Russian: Ночной дозор, Nochnoy Dozor) is a 2004 Russian fantasy action thriller film by the Kazakhstan-born film director Timur Bekmambetov. It is loosely based on The Night Watch, and is the first part of a trilogy, followed by Day Watch and ending with the 2009 release of Twilight Watch as confirmed by IMDB[1].
The film was the first big-budget Russian fantasy film and one of the first blockbusters made after the collapse of the Soviet film industry. The film was produced by Channel One, the government-owned TV channel, with a budget of US$4.2 million.[2] It was shot in an 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
Part of the challenge for such a big-budget fantasy film was creating hundreds of visual effects (VFX) shots to which a modern audience is accustomed. 16 Russian VFX studios and several freelancers were used, each chosen for their individual strengths. Many shots were created by different artists across different time zones, using the Internet to share data and images, mostly using Windows NT workstations.[3]
Part of the challenge for such a big-budget fantasy film was creating hundreds of visual effects (VFX) shots to which a modern audience is accustomed. 16 Russian VFX studios and several freelancers were used, each chosen for their individual strengths. Many shots were created by different artists across different time zones, using the Internet to share data and images, mostly using Windows NT workstations.[3]
After a first appearance at the Moscow Film Festival on June 27, 2004, it went on general cinema release across the CIS on July 8, 2004. The film was extremely successful, becoming the highest-grossing Russian release ever, grossing US$16.7 million in Russia alone, thus making more money in Russia than The Lord of the Rings. The sequel, Day Watch, was released across the CIS on January 1, 2006, with a third film in the works. There is also a TV series in production.
The film attracted the attention of Fox Searchlight Pictures, which paid $4 million to acquire the worldwide distribution rights (excluding Russia and the Baltic states) of Night Watch and its sequel Day Watch.
The film attracted the attention of Fox Searchlight Pictures, which paid $4 million to acquire the worldwide distribution rights (excluding Russia and the Baltic states) of Night Watch and its sequel Day Watch.
