Nochnoy dozor (2004)

Director:

Timur Bekmambetov

Writers (WGA):

Timur Bekmambetov (screenplay) and
Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 July 2004 (Belarus)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

All That Stands Between Light And Darkness Is The Night Watch.

Plot:

A fantasy-thriller set in present-day Moscow where the respective forces that control daytime and nighttime do battle.

Plot Keywords:

Battle | Vampire | Supernatural Power | Truce | Bridge

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Konstantin Khabenskiy	...	Anton Gorodetsky
Vladimir Menshov	...	Geser
Valeriy Zolotukhin	...	Kostya's Father
Mariya Poroshina	...	Svetlana
Galina Tyunina	...	Olga, the sorceress
Yuriy Kutsenko	...	Ignat (as Gosha Kutsenko)
Aleksey Chadov	...	Kostya (Anton's young vampire neighbor)
Zhanna Friske	...	Alice Donnikova
Ilya Lagutenko	...	Andrei
Viktor Verzhbitskiy	...	Zavulon
Rimma Markova	...	Darya Schultz, the witch
Mariya Mironova	...	Irina, Yegor's mother
Aleksey Maklakov	...	Simeon
Aleksandr Samoylenko	...	Ilya (Bear), mage-transformer
Dmitriy Martynov	...	Yegor (as Dmitri Martynov)
Anna Slyusareva	...	Lena (Tiger Cub), mage-transformer (as Anna Slyu)
Anna Dubrovskaya	...	Larisa
Sergey Prikhodko	...	Peter
Igor Savochkin	...	Maxim Ivanovich
Georgiy Dronov	...	Tolik (as Yegor Dronov)
Nikolay Olyalin	...	The Inquistor
Dmitriy Klokov
Dmitriy Osetrov
Konstantin Murzenko	...	Man in Metro
Anatoliy Gorin
Lyudmila Yaronova
Aleksandr Shchurok
Nikolay Kiselev
Marina Ivanova
Viktor Ivanov		(as Vitya Ivanov)
Polina Shchurok
Tatyana Shchankina	...	Woman on Plane
Aleksandr Kozlov
Igor Pismenniy
Viktoriya Smirnova
Sergey Kalashnikov
Ekaterina Malikova
Vladislav Anufriev		(as Vladik Anufriyev)
Yuri Yakovlev	...	Boy (as Yura Yakovlev)
Ivan Popov		(as Vanya Popov)
Aleksey Kurochkin		(as Lyosha Kurochkin)
Yaroslav Romashenko		(as Yarik Romashenko)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yuri Lowenthal	...	Kostya (voice: English version)
Darian Weiss	...	Yegor (voice: English version)
Blestyashchie	...	Alisa's Girl Group (uncredited)
Nikolay Drozdov	...	Animal World's host (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Buffy Summers (archive footage) (uncredited)
Yuliya Kovalchuk	...	Singer in Alisa's Girl Group (uncredited)
Rudolf Martin	...	Dracula (archive footage) (uncredited)
Kseniya Novikova	...	Singer in Alisa's Girl Group (uncredited)
Anna Semenovich	...	Singer in Alisa's Girl Group (uncredited)
Georgiy Vitsin	...	Kuzjka (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Timur Bekmambetov

Writing credits (WGA)
Timur Bekmambetov		(screenplay) and
Laeta Kalogridis		(screenplay)
Sergei Lukyanenko		(novel)

Produced by
Varvara Avdyushko	....	executive producer (as Varvara Avdiushko)
Igor Bondarenko	....	executive producer
Konstantin Ernst	....	producer
Arthur Gorson	....	executive producer: post-production
Aleksei Kublitsky	....	executive producer
Aleksei Kulibin	....	supervising producer
Anatoly Maximov	....	producer

Original Music by
Yuriy Poteenko

Cinematography by
Sergey Trofimov

Film Editing by
Dmitriy Kiselev

Casting by
Tamara Odintsova

Production Design by
Mukhtar Mirzakeyev
Valeri Viktorov

Art Direction by
Valeri Viktorov		(as Valera Viktorov)

Costume Design by
Varvara Avdyushko		(as Varvara Avdiushko)

Production Management
Larry Ewing	....	post-production supervisor

Sound Department
Bob Bowman	....	assistant sound editor
Andy D'Addario	....	sound re-recording mixer
Pavel Doreuli	....	sound effects
Marc Fishman	....	additional sound re-recording mixer
Tony Lamberti	....	additional sound re-recording mixer
Aaron Levy	....	sound recordist
Jon Mete	....	supervising sound editor
Jon Title	....	sound editor
Karen Vassar	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Ilya Churinov	....	pyrotechnician
Peter Gorshenin	....	special effects
Angela Petrosyan	....	special effects producer

Visual Effects by
Denis Alymov	....	animator
Evgeny Barulin	....	visual effects supervisor
Gregory Chalenko	....	digital compositor: Bazelevs
Nick Damico	....	visual effects
Sergey Denisov	....	visual effects supervisor: Dr.PICTURE Studios
Arkadiy Dubinin	....	additional visual effects
Yaroslav Dyachenko	....	digital compositor
Andrey Emelyanov	....	digital artist
Eugene Gittsigrat	....	animator
Aleksandr Gorokhov	....	visual effects producer
Max Kirienko	....	visual effects supervisor
Vadim Kirillin	....	computer graphics artist
Viktor Lakisov	....	animation supervisor
Vladimir Leschinski	....	visual effects supervisor
Dan Lopez	....	visual effects
Andrei V. Nikitin	....	visual effects art director
Ruslan Ogorodnik	....	visual effects supervisor
Pavel Perepyolkin	....	visual effects art director
Angela Petrosyan	....	visual effects producer
Dmitry Robustov	....	research & development
Dmitry Shumkin	....	digital artist
Kirill Skaletski	....	digital effects artist
Maksim Sychev	....	computer graphics artist
Greg Tsadilas	....	digital effects artist
Nikolay Malyshev Ulitka	....	digital compositor
Ilya Vostrov	....	modeler
Johnny Wilson	....	visual effects
Sergei Zadorozhny	....	digital artist
Robert Lang	....	2K data colourist (uncredited)
Chris Wallace	....	2K data colourist (uncredited)

Stunts
Sergei Vorobyov	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Yelena Ivanova	....	director of photography: second unit
Nikolai Litvinov	....	Steadicam operator

Editorial Department
Dan Aguilar	....	digital intermediate editor
Tuija Kotamäki	....	negative cutter
Jonathan Slater	....	on-line editor

Music Department
Norik Basegian	....	musician: duduk
Nadezhda Chibisova	....	musician: piano solo
Alexei Rudnevsky	....	chorus director
Jim Schultz	....	music editor
Aleksandr Vedernikov	....	conductor

Other crew
Severi Glanville	....	2K data recordist (uncredited)
Mika Kongas	....	2k data recordist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Bazelevs Production
• Channel One Russia
• TABBAK

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox Australia (2005) (Australia) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Netherlands (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2005) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox of Germany (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Bontonfilm (2005) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• FS Film Oy (2005) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Fox Searchlight Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Fox-Warner (2005) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Gemini Film (2004) (Russia) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment España S.A. (2006) (Spain) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Italia (2005) (Italy) (all media)
• Channel One Russia (TV)
• FS Film Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Dr. PICTURE Studios (visual effects)
• "LESTA" Studio (visual effects)
• "Ulitka" Studio (visual effects)
• Bazelevs Production
• Encore Hollywood
• KeyArt (visual effects)
• Mosfilm-Art (visual effects)
• ORT-Design
• Perfect Pixels (visual effects)
• Postproduction.ru (visual effects)
• Reaction (visual effects)
• WE Project (additional visual effects)

Other Companies

• "Mi" Production Studio  visual effects
• Babich Design  visual effects
• FotoKem Laboratory  digital film services (as Fotokem)
• MentalDrive Studio  visual effects
• Russian National Symphony Orchestra  orchestra
• United Digital Artists  visual effects

Also Known As:

Night Watch: Nochnoi Dozor (International: English title) (UK)
Ночной дозор (Russia)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, disturbing images and language.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Spain:18 | Germany:16 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Australia:MA | Argentina:16 | Brazil:16 | Sweden:15 | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Malaysia:U (cut) | Portugal:M/16 | New Zealand:R16 | South Korea:18 | Peru:14 | Japan:PG-12 | Canada:14A | Ireland:18 | Norway:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Czech Republic:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Moscow, Russia

Company:

Bazelevs Production

Trivia:

In Anton's apartment, a reproduction of Rembrandt's painting "Nightwatch" can be briefly seen reflected in a window.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the international cut, when Anton reads his profile, he learns that Yegor is his son. But, just before, the profile reads in Russian (although Anton doesn't spell it): "Children: a son", and Anton doesn't seem to notice (this is due to the fact that in the original cut he already knew it).

Quotes:

Vampiress Larisa, initiate: I want to live.
Anton Gorodetsky: So live. Live. Who's stopping you?
Vampiress Larisa, initiate: I want to be human again.
Anton Gorodetsky: You want to be human? Then act like a human.

Movie Connections:

Version of Nochnoy bazar (2005)

Soundtrack:

Zlost

Disarming and Marginally Effective Russian Vampire Romp

"Night Watch" is far more entertaining than many of its American counterparts in the "secret underground world of vampires and good vs. evil" genre. Unlike "Underworld" and "Constantine" it kept my attention throughout, but still this Russian smash is severely flawed.

First, let's applaud the good parts. "Night Watch" is distinctly Russian. Moscow is presented as a vibrant mix of modern metropolis and Gothic-style throwback to the middle ages. The plot, heavily steeped in its own fabricated mythology from a series of popular books, also serves on some level as an allegory for the fall of Communism and the rise of Capitalism. In my mind, the forces of "dark" forced underground are the Communists, while the forces of "light" (whose HQ is fronted by the City Electric Company) are the Capitalists, who often get caught up in their own bureaucracy in their vain attempts to keep the peace and not violate the truce. Some of the special effects and modern riffs on vampirism are highly imaginative and disarming (I loved "The Gloom" aspect). The American distributors also deserve some credit for their creative use of subtitles which often become part of the scene without ever distracting from the visuals.

Unfortunately, the director is clearly a veteran of music videos, and he makes the action sequences hyper kinetic and often incoherent. When he does manage to create an alluring visual, he quick-cuts, and you wish he would've had the patience to hold some of the shots longer. This hectic visual style is evident in the plotting as well, which clearly is setting up for sequels with the introduction of many characters, though some of the subplots (especially involving the cursed virgin woman and her evil vortex) seemed unnecessary. Likewise, the rushed finale seemed oddly anti-climatic and didn't pack the wallop I feel the filmmakers intended.

Despite the flaws, I will eagerly await the American distribution of the sequels, and I suppose that is the greatest compliment a film like this can receive.