Hey folks, Harry here - I'm dying to see this version of the film.. and to just FINALLY see it on a theatrical screen this weekend. I love the film. Seen it, an awful lot. But this is a very cinematic experience. Besides - what's the last Russian film you saw in a theater... never mind a huge sweeping Horror Fantasy? Here ya go...
Hola all. Massawyrm here. You know, Nochnoi Dozor (Night Watch) is one of those films of legend around the AICN camp. It was one of those things that simply came out of nowhere, the type of film that most of us associate with one another for in hopes of having it passed along with the phrase “Dude, check this shit out.” What the hell was it? A blockbuster Russian film about vampires? How could that possibly be good? I mean, here in the states Russians aren’t exactly known for their films. And when was the last time anyone made ANYTHING good involving vampires?
You see, Vampires in film are something of a sore spot with me. As a mythology and folklore buff, I’ve always been fascinated with the vampire myth – from the European rising dead, to the stories of Vlad the Impaler, all the way to the hopping vampires of Asia. And I’m not alone. If one were to simply judge by film alone, Vampires would certainly rank as the single most covered mythological creature in history. From the very beginning of the medium we’ve been telling vampire stories. And well, we haven’t stopped. The medium has seen vampire horror galore – but that’s certainly not the end of it. We’ve had vampire spoofs (Dracula: Dead and Loving It), blacksploitation (Blackula and Scream Blackula Scream), teen sex comedies (Once Bitten and My Best friend is a Vampire), indie existential cinema (The Addiction), Comic book movies (The Blade trilogy based upon the character that first appeared in Marvel’s 1970’s series Tomb of Dracula), soap operas (Dark Shadows), Gay love stories (Interview with a Vampire), even edgy satire (Nicolas Cage’s Vampire’s Kiss.) If there’s a genre out there, it’s been done with vampires at some point. And as long as people’s fascination with the subject persists, there will be those who will keep shoveling it out. And I haven’t even mentioned Buffy the Vampire Slayer yet.
And with this vast amount of material on the subject out there, you guessed it, there’s tons and tons and tons of utter dogshit. Lots of it. From low rent crap like Razor Blade Smile to moderate budget blockbusters like the terribly derivative mess that is Underworld, the genre has repeatedly taken body blows - but much like the monsters of myth, refuses to stay dead. For me, the genre is tired. It’s over. It’s played out for at least a generation. It has all been done – every last bit of it. Sure there’s the occasional bright spot (I mean, everyone likes at least ONE of the Blade movies, just no one can agree on which one is the good one) but the bulk of vampire films have become something most of us wouldn’t piss on if the master print were on fire. So why bother, right?
The inherent problem with the vampire film is that there are only two ways to do it right. 1) Stick almost entirely to chapter and verse of vampire lore and hope to find one aspect of vampire life that hasn’t been covered a dozen times over or 2) Completely reinvent the mythos, and explain the origins and powers of the vampire in completely different ways that can still conform to the essential elements of the vampire while managing to explain why the myths about them vary so wildly. There’s no half assing it. Underworld tried and is simply on of the many that prove just why you can’t. I mean, what’s the point of having vampires if they’re not going to deal with their thirst for blood, worry about sunlight, stakes through the heart, crossing running water or any of that jibber jabber – but aren’t doing anything new either?
Which brings us to Night Watch. The Russian vampire blockbuster. The film that nullifies everything I said two paragraphs back. Night Watch is a complete reinvention of the vampire film, one that borrows just enough from the established lore, but steps out and creates its own rules, its own new mythology. Night Watch is NOT a horror film, but rather it falls into the oft neglected sub genre of Dark Fantasy, to which there are simply too few great entries. And this alone makes it something that simply is not for everyone.
But for those who are fans of the Dark Fantasy genre, or of vampire films themselves, Night Watch is a must see. It is a strange, devious little film adapted from an extremely popular Russian book series (the first translation into English is to be released shortly) that spends the bulk of the film setting up the world and introducing us to the history and concepts behind it. But in doing so, it’s probably going to lose people who aren’t willing to settle in for a “set up” film, or those who prefer their vampire films straight up and mindless like Underworld or Queen of the Damned. Because this is a “set up” film, and a complicated, convoluted one at that. We’re introduced to a plethora of secondary and tertiary characters, many of which aren’t even remotely fleshed out – but by watching the trailers for the forthcoming second installment, Day Watch, one can easily see that they continue to play roles in the ongoing storyline.
Unlike sci-fi/fantasy classics like Star Wars and The Matrix, Night Watch doesn’t wrap itself up as neatly as first films usually should. It doesn’t exist on it’s own. It is very clear that this is more akin to Fellowship of the Ring, a film meant to play into the whole of the story – not one meant to stand alone. For Russians, I can totally get why this was such a big deal. They’ve read the books, or like some with LotR, decided to read them AFTER the series is complete. It hints at so much to come, sets up epic, iconic arcs of unlikely heroes, inevitable betrayal, dark secrets and a potential love triangle – and for those willing to go along for the ride, this potential is quite fantastic. However, we only see the beginnings of this. None of it is there yet. And for the casual viewer, this could easily be viewed as a complete mess that doesn’t bother to wrap much of anything up. But frankly, this isn’t a movie for the casual viewer. It’s a film that is very much asking you to bear with it, because it fully intends to go somewhere.
Another thing working against Night Watch is the editing. Already some reviews have referred to this as an over edited mess of style versus substance. And while I totally disagree with that sentiment, I certainly understand it. You see, the editing of this film is certainly bizarre – because it’s supposed to be. Let me drop a title for you to give you a solid idea what you’re in for when you strap yourself in for this. Domino. Yes, THAT Domino. The Domino I’m still, even to this day, catching shit for positively reviewing five months ago. If you had issues with the frenetic editing style of Domino, consider yourself warned. What director Timur Bekmambetov is attempting to do with the editing and effects work here in Night Watch is EXACTLY what Tony Scott was doing in Domino. He’s showing altered states of consciousness through editing. With frenetic cuts, sound editing, special effects and temporal distortions, Bekmambetov is trying to explain something that ordinarily has to be explained, rather than shown. In Domino, Scott was telling us a story through the eyes and thoughts of someone still tripping balls on Mescaline (not exactly the most sedate and relaxing of drugs) – the character openly lies, remembers things wrong and just plain goes apeshit wild with the details at times. With Night Watch, rather than the altered states of consciousness of a drug trip, Bekmambetov is putting us in the world of the others – the world of these vampiric beings who can exist both within our reality as well as just outside it in a dangerous other world known as the Gloom. Rather than drugs, it’s metaphysics – it’s supernatural. He’s attempting to convey something that just can’t simply be shown. It has to be read into. And Bekmambetov does a great job of putting you into an altered state through his style choices. But if Domino is any indication, there are some who just do not accept that as viable entertainment. There are those who will look at this as a two hour music video. Just as Domino was. Just as House of a Thousand Corpses was.
But for those of you out there who have, like many of us here, already picked up a copy of Night Watch and are dying to know what’s different – why you should see this American version rather than your all region DVD – let me give you just two words. Sub. Titles. Seriously. The subtitles.
Now this isn’t just some fanboy inspired rant on the glory of a great translation. No. What Fox Searchlight did with the subtitles with this was nothing short of a stroke of pure genius. Whoever conceived doing the subtitles this way, come here. Right now. I owe you a big, wet, sloppy kiss. This was brilliant. As many foreign film fans are aware, all region DVD’s are notorious for terrible subtitles. Night Watch was no different. Terrible misspellings, bad sentence structure, unclear translations of things that simply don’t translate well to begin with. Not to mention the fact that they move way too fast in a few places and the placement makes it occasionally unreadable or distracting. Yes, that’s all fixed here. But that’s not why I’m so excited about them. Despite the fact that several things get cleared up (like a few explanations that despite having seen the all region version at least half a dozen times) what is more important is the artistic manner in which Fox chose to do them.
You see, for 80-85% of the film it is subtitled in the standard, by the book way. They’re clear, never distracting and perfectly paced. But the other 15-20% - well, those subtitles are done like a comic book. Seriously. Exactly like a comic book. Subtitles appear from behind characters moving across the screen. Subtitled whispers fade in and out. Vampiric calls to their victims appear blood red before dissipating and blowing away with the wind. This artistic flair is never overdone – but rather done just enough to make you feel like you’re watching a live action comic book – something pulled right out of the Vertigo universe. And when a subtitle might conflict with something on screen, they carefully place it somewhere else – either simply offsetting it a bit or placing it in a perfect void in the action onscreen. It is hands down the single most inventive, creative and perfectly executed attempt to translate a foreign film to American audiences I have ever seen. If you have watched and enjoyed Night Watch already, I implore you to catch this again, not just to see it on the big screen, but to see the seemingly ‘comic book’ adaptation style Fox captured with this clever stylistic choice.
Seriously. A wet, sloppy kiss.
Aside from the new subtitling, little has changed. For those already in love with it, this new version will be a breath of fresh air, a new way to look at a beloved little film. For those that hated it, I really don't think a new translation is going to help you much.
So, is the ‘Watch’ Trilogy going somewhere great? God I hope so. Everything I see developing looks amazing. It’s the first Vampire film since Near Dark to really do something inventive with the mythos. And we don’t as yet have a great dark fantasy Trilogy. The Russians have read the books, and they seem to love the hell out of them. We have to wait still just for the translation of the very first book – the storyline of which I’ve had committed to memory for two years now. But I can’t wait. This one has me primed and ready to see where novelist Sergei Lukyanenko and director Bekmambetov want to take us. Day Watch cannot simply come fast enough for this fan.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em. I know I will.
Massawyrm
My Other Power is the ability to attract semen to form a crusty exterior armor, during my battles with darkness!