Nochnoy dozor (2004)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Timur Bekmambetov

Writers (WGA):

Timur Bekmambetov (screenplay) and
Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

8 July 2004 (Belarus)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

All That Stands Between Light And Darkness Is The Night Watch.

Plot:

A fantasy-thriller set in present-day Moscow where the respective forces that control daytime and nighttime do battle.

Plot Keywords:

Battle | Vampire | Supernatural Power | Truce | Bridge

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Konstantin Khabenskiy	...	Anton Gorodetsky
Vladimir Menshov	...	Geser
Valeriy Zolotukhin	...	Kostya's Father
Mariya Poroshina	...	Svetlana
Galina Tyunina	...	Olga, the sorceress
Yuriy Kutsenko	...	Ignat (as Gosha Kutsenko)
Aleksey Chadov	...	Kostya (Anton's young vampire neighbor)
Zhanna Friske	...	Alice Donnikova
Ilya Lagutenko	...	Andrei
Viktor Verzhbitskiy	...	Zavulon
Rimma Markova	...	Darya Schultz, the witch
Mariya Mironova	...	Irina, Yegor's mother
Aleksey Maklakov	...	Simeon
Aleksandr Samoylenko	...	Ilya (Bear), mage-transformer
Dmitriy Martynov	...	Yegor (as Dmitri Martynov)

Also Known As:

Night Watch: Nochnoi Dozor (International: English title) (UK)
Ночной дозор (Russia)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, disturbing images and language.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Spain:18 | Germany:16 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Australia:MA | Argentina:16 | Brazil:16 | Sweden:15 | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Malaysia:U (cut) | Portugal:M/16 | New Zealand:R16 | South Korea:18 | Peru:14 | Japan:PG-12 | Canada:14A | Ireland:18 | Norway:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Czech Republic:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Moscow, Russia

Company:

Bazelevs Production

Trivia:

Official selection from Russia for the Academy Awards of 2005.

Goofs:

Continuity: There is a shot of the damaged jetliner flying towards the vortex, viewed from behind. There are four distinct exhaust plumes from the four jet engines, despite the fact that one of the port engines was supposed to have been earlier destroyed by striking a crow.

Quotes:

[Two agents of the Night Watch, Ilya and Semyon, wrestle on the kitchen floor with the witch, Darya Schultz]
Darya, Witch: [cries out] Little Masha! My little girl! Help! Masha! Masha! Help!
[Masha, Darya's familiar spirit, animates a small doll on a shelf above them, sprouting eight spider-like legs. After spilling cooking oil on them to free Darya's hands, she jumps down onto the kitchen floor, pauses briefly, and then slowly begins to advance on Ilya]
Transformer-Mage Ilya: [yelling at Masha] Go away! Go away, you filth! I'll rip your little head off!

Movie Connections:

Version of Nochnoy bazar (2005)

Soundtrack:

Moskovskie okna

Shows promise as the beginning of a trilogy...

I have always respected fantasy-set films that try and take themselves seriously as cinematic pieces. When a director takes the actual construction of the film seriously, or tries to, I can respect the intent. As such "Night Watch" is difficult to judge. The cinematography is excellent: the camera-work is superb, the mood is perfect, the effects are beautifully rendered (and not overused), and the timing of individual scenes is consistent throughout the piece. The problem is the overall timing of the film. For over half the film, the overall plot and premise is ignored. It is very much as if we are watching two different episodes of the same TV series; the characters are the same, the premise is the same, it is clear how the plots fit together visually and thematically, but otherwise they have pretty much nothing to do with one another. They are not disjointed in their construction or presentation, it is simply that the plot threads are mostly unrelated.

It is worth pointing out that this is the first film in a planned trilogy. Every hanging plot/character moment in the film is very strongly intended to be followed through upon in the next two films, and it shows. Characters and references are not simply tossed aside, but are led into gently just enough to let the audience know that greater things are intended. While I'm not particularly a fan of this kind of thing, Night Watch does it very well, and I await the sequels with anticipation.

Many people on this board have made comparisons to Star Wars EpI-II, and for the life of me I haven't the faintest clue why. The concept of Imperfect Good vs Seductive Evil within the human soul was hardly invented by George Lucas (though vampires in Star Wars would be pretty freakin' cool), and its presentation in Night Watch is tight and interesting. There is no resemblance whatsoever, this is one of the more original films that I have ever seen, and I recommend it both for its flaws and perfections.