BERLIN -- With a take of more than $16 million at the boxoffice last year, Night Watch became the highest-grossing film in Russian history. 20th Century Fox -- which has worldwide rights to the science fiction film and its currently shooting sequel, Day Watch, as well as an English-language third installment it plans to co-develop and co-finance -- means to turn the trilogy into a global blockbuster.
From the evidence of Night Watch, Fox has a clear shot. The movie possesses everything today's young audiences are conditioned to want: incessant noise, jumpy editing, torrential music, shallow, overblown characters and sheer emptiness at its core. Imagine yourself trapped inside a two-hour video game, and you've got the Night Watch experience.
The first film gets released in the domestic market, possibly in June, under the studio's Fox Searchlight label, an apparent sop to the need for subtitles. (Then again, why not dub the film into English? It's not as if you are ruining a foreign-language masterpiece.) Undoubtedly, Night Watch will draw young audiences and sci-fi/fantasy fans in sufficient profusion to justify the three-picture commitment.
The film by award-winning commercials director Timur Bekmambetov -- but you knew the film had to be made by a director of commercials -- stems from a series of sci-fi novels by Sergey Lukyanenko. These tell of a 1,000-year-old truce between the forces of Light and Darkness. The good guys patrol the night, protecting mankind from the dark ones -- vampires, witches, shape-shifters and sorcerers. Conversely, the Day Watch keeps tabs on the forces of Light. Then, as an ancient prophesy foretold, a powerful Other comes into the world that will be tempted by the Dark side and tip the balance of power, plunging the world into apocalypse.
The story permits crowd-pleasing chases, stunts, visual effects and otherworldly creatures. Bekmambetov's big trick is a sudden face or object flashed without warning onscreen in full close-up. Even the subtitles pick up this gimmick as they slam onto the lower half of the screen here and there like comic book dialogue balloons exploding out of nowhere.
Most scenes are bathed in blue -- our heroes are the Night Watch, after all. Music and sound hammer away as if a moment of silence would destroy the existence of these creatures of gloom. Basically, the film has only one note, and the director bangs on that note with ruthless aggression.
Technical credits are astonishing in light of the film's reported $4 million budget.
NIGHT WATCH
Fox Searchlight Pictures
A Channel One Russia and Tabbak/Bazelevs production
Credits: Director: Timur Bekmambetov; Screenwriter: Sergey Lukyanenko, Timur Bekmambetov; Based on the novels by: Sergey Lukyanenko; Producers: Anatoly Maximov, Konstantin Ernst; Director of photography: Sergey Trofimov; Production designers: Mukhtar Mirzakeyev, Valeri Viktorov; Music: Yury Poteyenko; Costume designer: Varvara Avdyuswhko; Editor: Dmitri Kiselyov. Cast: Anton: Konstantin Khabensky; Geser: Vladimir Menshov; Olga: Galina Tunina; Zavulon: Victor Verzbitsky; Svetlana: Maria Poroshina; Kostya: Alexey Chadov; Kostya's father: Valery Zolotunkhin; Alisa: Zhanna Friske.
No MPAA rating, running time 113 minutes.
From the evidence of Night Watch, Fox has a clear shot. The movie possesses everything today's young audiences are conditioned to want: incessant noise, jumpy editing, torrential music, shallow, overblown characters and sheer emptiness at its core. Imagine yourself trapped inside a two-hour video game, and you've got the Night Watch experience.
The first film gets released in the domestic market, possibly in June, under the studio's Fox Searchlight label, an apparent sop to the need for subtitles. (Then again, why not dub the film into English? It's not as if you are ruining a foreign-language masterpiece.) Undoubtedly, Night Watch will draw young audiences and sci-fi/fantasy fans in sufficient profusion to justify the three-picture commitment.
The film by award-winning commercials director Timur Bekmambetov -- but you knew the film had to be made by a director of commercials -- stems from a series of sci-fi novels by Sergey Lukyanenko. These tell of a 1,000-year-old truce between the forces of Light and Darkness. The good guys patrol the night, protecting mankind from the dark ones -- vampires, witches, shape-shifters and sorcerers. Conversely, the Day Watch keeps tabs on the forces of Light. Then, as an ancient prophesy foretold, a powerful Other comes into the world that will be tempted by the Dark side and tip the balance of power, plunging the world into apocalypse.
The story permits crowd-pleasing chases, stunts, visual effects and otherworldly creatures. Bekmambetov's big trick is a sudden face or object flashed without warning onscreen in full close-up. Even the subtitles pick up this gimmick as they slam onto the lower half of the screen here and there like comic book dialogue balloons exploding out of nowhere.
Most scenes are bathed in blue -- our heroes are the Night Watch, after all. Music and sound hammer away as if a moment of silence would destroy the existence of these creatures of gloom. Basically, the film has only one note, and the director bangs on that note with ruthless aggression.
Technical credits are astonishing in light of the film's reported $4 million budget.
NIGHT WATCH
Fox Searchlight Pictures
A Channel One Russia and Tabbak/Bazelevs production
Credits: Director: Timur Bekmambetov; Screenwriter: Sergey Lukyanenko, Timur Bekmambetov; Based on the novels by: Sergey Lukyanenko; Producers: Anatoly Maximov, Konstantin Ernst; Director of photography: Sergey Trofimov; Production designers: Mukhtar Mirzakeyev, Valeri Viktorov; Music: Yury Poteyenko; Costume designer: Varvara Avdyuswhko; Editor: Dmitri Kiselyov. Cast: Anton: Konstantin Khabensky; Geser: Vladimir Menshov; Olga: Galina Tunina; Zavulon: Victor Verzbitsky; Svetlana: Maria Poroshina; Kostya: Alexey Chadov; Kostya's father: Valery Zolotunkhin; Alisa: Zhanna Friske.
No MPAA rating, running time 113 minutes.
- 2/18/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.