Night Watch (2006, DVD)

Last night I had an opportunity to attend a screening for a movie that broke box office records in Russia in 2004, a supernatural thriller called Night Watch (Nochnoy Dozor). For the American version, the prologue and epilogue voiceovers are in English, and everything else is English subtitled. The subtitles aren t non-intrusive, as in most other subtitled flicks I ve seen. In this movie, they re an integral part of the action, changing color, moving, flowing over the screen.

For as long as humanity has existed, there have been "Others" among us; Witches, Vampires and Shape-Shifters who are soldiers in the eternal war between Light and Dark.

There is a legend that the two great armies, Light and Dark, met one day on a bridge and a great battle ensued. After days of fighting, Gesser, Lord of the Light, wept as he realized that the armies were evenly matched and the fighting would continue until every being was killed. He stopped the fight and forged a Truce with Zavulon, General of Darkness. They agreed that no person could ever be forced to one side or the other. That each Other must make the choice themselves. Each side established a force to ensure the Truce was upheld. The Light soldiers were called Night Watch, the Dark soldiers Day Watch.

Moscow, 1992: a young, goofy looking man approaches an old lady, asking for help getting his wife back, after his wife has left him. The witch tells Anton that his wife is pregnant, and the child is not his. She can bring his wife back, but she ll also need to force the woman to miscarry, and she makes Anton bear the burden of that sin, which he does halfheartedly, not truly believing anyways. Seconds before the witch can clap her hands to finish the unborn child s life, Night Watch soldiers come in to arrest her for breaking the Truce. They are shocked when Anton can see them, revealing himself to be an Other.

Fast forward twelve years. Anton is a member of Night Watch, and has just seen the Virgin of the ancient prophecy. The prophecy that foretells of a Great Other who will topple the precariously balanced equilibrium between the forces of Light and Dark, depending on which side (s)he ultimately chooses.

For such a tight story, with all of the characters connected in one way or another, there were oh-so-many unexplained plot points, which I can only assume (hope) are answered in either the book, by Sergei Lukyanekno, or the remaining two films/books of the trilogy (Day Watch and Dusk Watch). The movie was made on a mere four million dollar budget, and at times it shows in the editing. The acting, special effects and Moscow setting, however, far exceeded the expectations of a low-budget movie.

I liked this movie quite a bit, and once I saw the clip from the Buffy Dracula episode playing on a TV in the movie, I was able to overlook the major plot flaws and go with a 4 star rating. The boy, however, wasn t as impressed. He liked the basic concept. We both agreed that it was original and inventive in a genre where we d both thought we d read or seen every possible angle. He couldn t get past the unexplained pieces of the overall puzzle though. I m still holding out that these things will be answered in the sequels, both of which I m already looking forward to.

If you have a chance to see this in your area, and are a fan of the genre, I highly recommend checking it out.

Movie Details:

Rated: R
Runtime: 114 minutes
Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov
Written by: Timur Bekmambetov and Laeta Kalogridis, based on the novel by Sergei Lukyanekno
Starring: Konstantin Khabensky (Anton); Vladimir Menshov (Gesser); Mariya Poroshina (Svetlana the Virgin); Viktor Verzhbitsky (Zavulon)