CNS Movie Review: Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor)

Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor)

By David DiCerto
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Take "The Matrix," "Constantine," "Highlander" and "Underworld," mix in some Dostoevski-style heaviness, Manichaean theology, heavy-metal music and an anti-abortion theme, add vodka and shake well. What you get is "Night Watch" ("Nochnoi Dozor") (Fox Searchlight), a convoluted and violent, if visually splashy, adaptation of book one of Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko's best-selling fantasy trilogy.

Directed with admitted flair by Timur Bekmambetov, the supernatural smorgasbord -- the first of three projected movies -- was the highest-grossing film ever in its native Russia, where it was released in 2004. That record was broken when "Day Watch," the second installment, opened this past January.

Set in modern-day Moscow, the plot defies easy explanation. A prologue explains how centuries ago, the forces of light and darkness -- their respective ranks made up of a race of supernatural humans called "Others" -- agreed to an uneasy 1,000-year truce, occasionally interrupted by skirmishes spilling into the subways and dreary apartment complexes of the former Soviet capital.

From the outset of the armistice, the good guys (led by Vladimir Menshov) formed the "Night Watch" to police their dark counterparts and make sure they live up to the terms of the agreement. The minions of evil, likewise, formed "Day Watch" to do the same.

Konstantin Khabensky plays Anton, a young Muscovite who unexpectedly discovers he is an "Other" while enlisting the services of a local witch to cast a love spell over his ex-girlfriend. (The voodoo ritual includes killing her unborn child, an act which is called a "great sin" and has repercussions later.)

There's also a young boy (Dima Martynov) who may be the prophesied "Great Other" who will have to choose allegiance between the Day Watch or the Night Watch -- tipping the delicate balance -- as well as a cursed woman (Maria Poroshina) fated to usher in the apocalypse.

Bekmambetov brings his experience as a music video director in giving the film visual energy and an edgy aesthetic, resulting in an effect-laden, Hollywood-style action movie with a distinctly Russian vibe and a much bigger look than its miniscule $3.5 million budget would suggest. (The flashy subtitles are ingenious, dissolving and dripping as they do to fit the eerie mood.)

Though decidedly gloomy, "Night Watch" is escapist entertainment which allegorically explores questions of good and evil and the nature of free will. ("Others" must freely choose which side to join.) From a Catholic perspective, however, the film's dualistic worldview of good and evil -- competing but coequal -- is incompatible with the foundational Christian truth of God's supreme goodness and sovereignty.

And while its gore is troubling, and its jumbled plot may confuse some, the seemingly downbeat ending -- the hordes of hell have the upper hand -- propels viewers toward part two with the hope that light will ultimately triumph over darkness. During the climax, Anton must face his past sins in a confrontation suffused with pro-life undertones. A surprisingly moral message amid such mayhem.

The film contains much strong but stylized bloody violence, a bathing scene involving brief top female nudity, sorcery and assorted supernatural elements, as well as scattered rough and crude language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

END

Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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