Night Watch (2004) Nochnoy dozor (original title)

Director:

Timur Bekmambetov

Writers (WGA):

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

Release Date:

8 July 2004 (Belarus)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | Thriller

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 | Witch

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Konstantin Khabenskiy	...	Anton
Vladimir Menshov	...	Geser
Valeriy Zolotukhin	...	Otets Kosti
Mariya Poroshina	...	Svetlana
Galina Tyunina	...	Olga
Yuriy Kutsenko	...	Ignat (as Gosha Kutsenko)
Aleksey Chadov	...	Kostya
Zhanna Friske	...	Alisa
Ilya Lagutenko	...	Andrey
Viktor Verzhbitskiy	...	Zavulon
Rimma Markova	...	Koldunya Darya
Mariya Mironova	...	Mat Egora
Aleksey Maklakov	...	Semyon
Aleksandr Samoylenko	...	Medved
Dmitriy Martynov	...	Egor (as Dima Martynov)
Anna Slyu	...	Tigryonok
Anna Dubrovskaya	...	Vampirsha
Sergey Prikhodko	...	Pyotr
Igor Savochkin	...	Maksim Ivanovich
Georgiy Dronov	...	Tolik (as Egor Dronov)
Nikolay Olyalin	...	Inkvizitor
Dmitriy Klokov
Dmitriy Osetrov	...	Militsioner u vykhoda iz metro
Konstantin Murzenko	...	Paren v metro
Anatoliy Gorin	...	Rabotnik TETs
Lyudmila Yaronova
Aleksandr Shchurok
Nikolay Kiselev
Marina Ivanova
Viktor Ivanov		(as Vitya Ivanov)
Polina Shchurok
Tatyana Shchankina	...	Suevernaya passazhirka v samolete
Aleksandr Kozlov	...	Muzh suevernoy passazhirki
Igor Pismenniy	...	Passazhir samoleta
Viktoriya Smirnova
Sergey Kalashnikov
Ekaterina Malikova	...	Styuardessa samoleta
Vladislav Anufriev		(as Vladik Anufriev)
Yuriy Yakovlev	...	Malchik (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	...	Egor (voice: English version)
Blestyashchie	...	Gerl-gruppa Alisy (uncredited)
Igor Gasparyan	...	Voditel-kavkazets (uncredited)
Yuliya Kovalchuk	...	Solistka gerl-gruppy Alisy (uncredited)
Igor Lifanov	...	Presledovatel (uncredited)
Oleg Mokshantsev	...	Pokupatel v supermarkete (uncredited)
Aleksandra Nazarova	...	Mat Svetlany / Starushka na plyonke (uncredited)
Aleksey Neklyudov	...	Zakadrovyy tekst (voice) (uncredited)
Kseniya Novikova	...	Solistka gerl-gruppy Alisy (uncredited)
Anna Semenovich	...	Solistka gerl-gruppy Alisy (uncredited)
Galina Stakhanova	...	Starushka na plyonke (uncredited)
Stepan Starchikov	...	Zakadrovyy golos (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Timur Bekmambetov

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

Produced by
Varvara Avdyushko	....	executive producer (as Varvara Avdiushko)
Igor Bondarenko	....	co-executive producer
Konstantin Ernst	....	producer
Arthur Gorson	....	executive producer: post-production
Aleksey Kublitskiy	....	executive producer
Aleksei Kulibin	....	supervising producer
Anatoliy Maksimov	....	producer

Original Music by
Yuriy Poteenko

Cinematography by
Sergey Trofimov

Film Editing by
Dmitry Kiselyov

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
Reece Ewing	....	post-production supervisor (as Larry Ewing)

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
Donald Lyles	....	sound recordist
Jon Mete	....	supervising sound editor
Jon Title	....	sound editor
Karen Vassar Triest	....	sound editor (as Karen Vassar)

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

Visual Effects by
Denis Alymov	....	animator
Evgeny Barulin	....	visual effects supervisor
Stas Basko	....	visual effects artist
Roman Bazyuchenko	....	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
Evgeniy Gittsigrat	....	animator: Ulitka
Aleksandr Gorokhov	....	visual effects producer
Max Kirienko	....	visual effects supervisor
Vadim Kirillin	....	computer graphics artist
Oleksandr Kucherov	....	visual effects artist
Viktor Lakisov	....	animation supervisor
Vladimir Leschinski	....	visual effects supervisor
Dan Lopez	....	visual effects
Nikolay Malyshev	....	digital compositor
Andrey Mesnyankin	....	visual effects supervisor
Oleksii Moskalenko	....	visual effects supervisor
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
Ilya Vostrov	....	modeler
Johnny Wilson	....	visual effects
Sergei Zadorozhny	....	digital artist
Robert Lang	....	2K data colourist (uncredited)
Chris Wallace	....	2K data colourist (uncredited)

Stunts
Dmitri Tarasenko	....	fight choreographer
Sergei Vorobyov	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Yelena Ivanova	....	director of photography: second unit
Nikolay 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)
• Film1 (2007) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• 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)
• Terminal FX (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 (uncredited)

Also Known As:

"Nochnoy dozor" - Russia (original title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, disturbing images and language

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:18 | Norway:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Czech Republic:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:16 | Spain:18 | Germany:16 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | 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

Filming Locations:

Russia

Company:

Bazelevs Production

Trivia:

Official selection from Russia for the Academy Awards of 2005.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the soccer stadium, after the power plant explodes, the score board still works when the rest of the stadium and city is pitch black.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator:Since the time immemorial, the knights who call themselves the Warriors of Light have been chasing witches and sorcerers who torture humans.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Kak snimalsya 'Nochnoy dozor' (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

A ya vsyo letala

No masterpiece, but quite entertaining and imaginative

I enjoyed this movie quite a lot; if you are into Jeunet-type fantasy, I would recommend that you see it. Overall, I would give it a rating of 7 out of 10. The reason for the Jeunet comparison (e.g. Delicatessen, City of Lost Children) is that it has the same dark antiutopian/surrealistic ambiance to it, and is very imaginative. It is also very elaborate in its style, which lends most of the appeal to the movie. This being said, the biggest disappointment of the movie is the plot, which is overly straightforward and simple-minded, but at least it does not devolve into some technical meaningless psycho-babble as many Hollywood fantasy movies do, and maintains its fairy-tale quality.

It is unfortunate that modern Russian cinematography seems to be chasing the success of Hollywood (which is ironic, given the country's negative attitude towards US in general and Hollywood in particular), but this movie benefits from Hollywood-style special effects, and is free of annoying clichés (unlike the atrociously pretentious "Barber of Siberia" - another recent style-heavy Russian blockbuster; sorry Mikhalkov).

To sum up, this movie is quite original, imaginative, stylish and at times visually stunning, which in my book constitutes success, but don't expect any depth of ideas.