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Throughout the history of humanity there has been a love of tales about magic. All too often the wonder and surprise that magic can create is lost when it becomes mechanical, or a plot device. When a Russian film called Night Watch (Ночной дозор, Nochnoi dozor) appeared it became a huge hit in it’s native country. I’d heard of it some years ago, but regretfully did not see it until recently. Night Watch and it’s sequel Day Watch paint a wondrous, sometimes violent and even disturbing picture of a world where magic is all too real – where the little things we do in life can be powerful and awe inspiring, or have dire consequences.
It is an amazing blend of the light and dark side of the human fantasy of magic.
It All Begins With Choice
At the beginning of the first film we see a simple man who has lost his wife to another man, and he has to make a choice. That choice leads him into the world of the “Others” – beings that can see into another dimension called “The Gloom”, create curses or perform amazing acts of strength or take animal forms. There are as many different kinds of “Others” as their are people. The man, Anton Gorodetsky, goes forward with his life after discovering this new world and tries to make the best of it by joining The Night Watch – an organization that tries to stop all out war between good and evil, and maintain certain rules that make free will possible.
Set in Russia, the film follows the main character, Anton, and shows us the world through his flawed and very human eyes. He is our entry point into a complex world of laws – both magical and magically made.
To Watch The Night
The films, based on the series of novels by Sergei Lukyanenko, are illustrations of one of my favorite literary ideas of magic (as also seen in the excellent anime series: xxxholic) – that as an extension of human will, magic will often amplify our choices like a fun-house mirror. It can make them grand, or tragic and we don’t get to choose which.
In the world of Night Watch, good and evil have been avoiding a great and costly battle in favor of a truce. Each person will be given a free choice to choose good or evil. The “Light” ones (the good) will watch over the “Night” ones (the evil) to see that the truce in maintained, and in return the dark “others” will do the same for the light ones. As it stands the world is more or less in balance and all out war is avoided.
But now a very powerful “other” is coming, and that one will tip the balance to one side – perhaps forever.
Not Your Usual Hollywood Film
Night Watch is not full of recognizable stars or have a huge effects budget. Like The Matrix it is forced to stand more on it’s ideas and the imagination of their presentation. To talk to much of the story would ruin the surprise, but I will say that the initial film threw me off at first. Being use to more polished effects, I was thrown by the less expensive look of the film, but I am pleased to say that people willing to look past the rough edges of the film will be greatly rewarded with a surprising and often jarring film that makes magic frightening, wonderful and mysterious all at once. There are rules to this world. The problem is that they are so different from the world we know, that we we see the rules demonstrated we are often shocked.
Director Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov manages to throw amazing images and ideas at the audience at a surprising rate. Though at times I would have liked to know the characters better and feel a stronger connection with them, by the end of the first film I felt that strong connection. The story drew me in and surprised me, making me want to see more.
The sequel Day Watch is even more surprising. It is sexier and seems to have a higher budget. The actors seem more comfortable in their roles, and the stakes in the story are raised to new heights. It is all that a sequel should be.
The Words Move
For those put off by subtitles I should mention that the English subtitles in most versions (some are different) are a character in themselves. Subtitle can appear in odd places, or in strange colors or shapes to reflect their meaning. This is not distracting. It seems to fit with the story – as though the film makers are taking extra care to make those who don’t know Russian and have to read more of a part of the action.
In one scene early on we see a boy swimming who gets a bloody nose. The blood dissolves into the water as shot from below the water line. Shortly after this image, we hear the voice of a vampire calling out to his prey, and the subtitles are red and dissolve away just like the blood we saw in the water. Since the boy is the victim being called by his would-be murderer, the words become more chilling than if they simply appeared on screen. Words in sentences can disappear just as the audience read them, or appear to be blocked by a shower curtain about to be pulled aside. The subtitles can seem to disappear behind objects in the background only to be replaced by the next sentence that stays where it is suppose to. The whole things lends more of an air of mystery and magic to the film.
Surprise!
In the end, both films twist and turn like the edge of a slasher’s knife. Just when you think you know what is next, you see the unexpected. In a world of complex magical creatures and laws it is wise to assume that nothing is quite what it appears to be on the surface – not even people’s motivations. What surprised me most was not the magic, so much as the message. Both films have a very human side to them that could easily be lost in the rush of thrills and violent imagery. The biggest surprise may have been how much these films have become a part of my story-telling vocabulary and made me rethink how important mystery and surprise are to an audience.
In a world full of doctored scripts, screening audience reaction cards and altered endings, Night Watch seems to take a less conciliatory approach to it’s audience. It may disturb you, but if you give it a chance it will grab you by the throat and not let go until you feel you’ve seen it all. And you have… until the next one.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I just saw this. I’ll check it out. Nice Article.
I truly loved this movie, I thought it was fantastic!
If you liked that, I highly recommend reading the books the film was based on, Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch and Final Watch.
The films divert from the original novels a bit, but they are so wonderfully written and the author incorporates the films into the latter novels almost seamlessly making that awkward “I loved this but hated that” feeling.
They are a nice and easy read, there is excellent character depth, and they really draw you not just into the story, but their little place in the world as well.
Thank you for the tip. I do have the books, but haven’t read them yet as I’ve been writing quite a bit.