Night Watch

Okay then. After a brief separation due to irreconcilable differences, my partner and I have, well, reconciled our differences and have thus returned the only way we know how: by talking about a movie.

In an attempted return to form, we chose a underrated foreign movie from Netflix. The film is called Night Watch. Apparently it was pretty popular in its home country, Russia, but is relatively unknown in these parts. That's where we come in. Naturally it caught our collective attention.

Dylan: Wow. It has been a while since I’ve had to preface my thoughts with my own name. At long last, we managed to synchronize a movie viewing. It’s only been, what, four months or so? Anyways, we’re getting back in the game with certainly an interesting choice. Someone back in college told me to see this movie and, out of greater than normal dislike for that person, I promptly disregarded the idea. But a late, lonely night and a Netflix account can really work wonders on changing a guy's mind. So I gave it a shot and here we are.

Where do I begin? First off, it is a foreign film. And, like our other foreign-language selections -- The Host, The Raid, Troll Hunter among them -- it’s got fantasy, action, and just an excellent level of weirdness that I really enjoyed, and that I can’t really compare to anything else I’ve seen. The only comparison it brings to mind is the novel American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Or maybe...Constantine? I don’t know. The idea is that, since the dawn of time or whatever, good and evil (angels and demons, essentially) have been at war. Special beings, known as Others, are basically humans with supernatural abilities; with the discovery of their powers they have to choose whether they will fight for the Light or the Darkness. Throw in a curse that could bring around the end of the world, and all of this is the background for a pretty fast-paced and bizarre story about shape-shifters, vampires, and some other crazy shit that, if I describe anymore, will come off as lame and overdone, when it is actually quite original.

Mark: You make a good comparison with Constantine, cause it is basically about The Others trying to maintain the balance between them and keeping the Truce from being broken. But instead of having a third party Keanu Reeves-type to mediate, both good and evil work to keep each other in line. I like how there's no generalized duality to represent the sides; no Harry Potter/Voldemort or Frodo Baggins/Sauron representing the ideal good and evil. In fact, the protagonist in this case is pretty jaded; he tried to use dark magic to abort his unborn son in the first scene after all. 

I also like that, when it comes down to if a new Other is going to be good or evil, it’s their decision. It’s something that, really, you don’t see in movies.  And so, all this sets the scene for a moment during a routine job to stop a vampire in which our lead Anton sees a future that could unravel the world.  And I love that while it’s a dark story with blood and violence, somehow it keeps it all from getting bogged down and depressing.  Crazy camera angles, cool action, and interesting fantasy elements keep it moving at a quick pace, for the most part.

Dylan: I think one of its greatest attributes is that it keeps you on your toes, tonally. You’re right about the gore/violence; there were some unexpectedly bloody scenes, but they weren’t used for shock and awe. And the camera angles -- the cinematography in general -- was very cool. It was a bit jumpy at times, but was never distracting. And the almost palpable darkness reminded me of the sets of The Crow, but much less cartoonish and more realistic (most of it was, in fact, Moscow, I assume). Even the subtitles were designed to add some effect, as if the movie was filmed in Russian, but with the foresight that it would be dubbed/subtitled in English. The way certain words faded into blood drops and what not. The greatest part is that I didn’t even notice it at first because it flowed so well with the film.

Mark: Yea, I first noticed a character moved in front of the subtitles and when she moved back, they had changed.  It’s an interesting and creative use of what's on the screen; they’re used to emphasize different emotions and it works well.  And I would say The Crow is a good comparison as well, since things are so stylized, from the buildings to the fighting to even how they transition from scene to scene.  Nothing becomes stagnant.  Though, sometimes I was caught up in the action or the way something was shot on screen, and completely missed the subtitles, which is funny since I just said they’re integrated with the action of the scene.  But hey, I get distracted by stuff easily.

Dylan: I also want to speak to the interesting mythology of the movie. It’s hard to explain the uniqueness of it, in my opinion, especially because it’s very traditional. Yes, it’s Light versus Darkness. But the human element was so neatly intertwined, and, like you said, there is no exotic predestined conclusion, no good for goodness' sake hero whose fate it is to defeat the evil for evil's sake villain. You pick your own destiny and then you fight on that side. But the lines are blurred. Anton, who fights for the Light, is neighbors with Kostya, a vampire. They get along, knowing full well that someday they may be called to fight each other. I don’t know how to put it into words, but the history of it was impressively believable. 

Mark:  The more I think about it, the more I see this connecting to Underworld.  Two factions, forever in a state of tension, but while they are in the open, they don’t make their presence known. Instead of warring, they’re just trying to keep the peace.  And then, without wishing to spoil anything, the ending pulls a fast one after setting you up for something completely different.  Yeah, it’s to set up the sequel, but knowing that, it works well to bring the two main plots together in the end  And in the end, I was really pleased with how it turned out.

Dylan: And you know, I actually wanted to talk about the ending. I enjoyed this moving very much but the ending was sort of anticlimactic and raised a number of questions. As it turns out, this movie -- in the very Western style of moviemaking -- was made with the intention of being the first of a trilogy (I probably should have picked that up; it's written right on the cover). So not only is the end somewhat open-ended, there isn’t much resolution for any character. And we’re definitely left wondering what to expect. On the one hand, the apocalypse is avoided, but at what cost? As far as I know, the sequel exists and is also available on Netflix. But the third hasn't been filmed yet. So we could watch the second, but chances are we’d still end up without a solid conclusion.

Mark: Yeah that’s always the problem when creating movies intended to be trilogies or sequels, you never know if you’re gonna be able to make the rest.  Unless you’re Disney of course.  But with this film, being that it’s less known, the regular moviegoer probably wouldn’t go in knowing there’s a sequel, so the openness of the ending makes it feel like we’ve lost out on closure.  And they leave it hanging really at a pivotal moment for Anton, though that’s what cliffhangers tend to do.  But I liked how it came together in the ending, and I won’t lie, it makes me interested to see where it goes in the second.  And it makes me want to look up if there even is a third coming, cause that would really suck if we watch the next and never get the conclusion.

Dylan:  I just looked up the director (and writer and producer) Timur Bekmambetov, and I think I see what the problem is. His more recent credits include Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, so I suspect he, like other great directors, has been sucked into the vortex of American filmmaking. And so I fear a threequel, as it were, may be doomed to the back of his mind for awhile. Especially since he’s currently working on Wanted 2.

Mark: Yeah, I thought his name looked familiar.  So if anything, it will be a long while until the third film comes out, if it does at all.  Which is a shame, because I also read that these films did very well in Russia, so he’s leaving what seems to be a hit at home for mediocre films in the states. Such is Hollywood.

Dylan: I’m sure the paycheck is bigger, and that speaks for itself. Anyways, that’s enough cynicism for me. Anything else to say?

Mark: Well I found out that Konstantin Khabenskiy, who plays Anton, was actually in Wanted.  He played the Exterminator, who was the guy with the exploding rats.  Fact.

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Needless so say, we recommend Night Watch. I actually regret waiting so long to give it a shot. Maybe I'll reconsider my friendship with the person who originally recommended it. Maybe everything I thought about that kid was just a misunderstanding. Maybe...nah, fuck it. He's an asshole.

I can't say if we'll be able to get back on track with these dual reviews, given our difficult schedules. Hopefully this entry is so profoundly enlightening that it holds everyone over until the next time.