Comprehensive information and links about Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor)

Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor) ]Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor) is a 2004 film. It was based on the novel of the same name and is the first part of a trilogy. The second part, , marketed as "the first film of the year", opened in theatres across Russia on January 1, 2006.

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Among normal humans live the "Others" possessing various supernatural powers. They are divided up into the forces of light and the forces of the dark, who signed a truce several centuries ago to end a devastating battle. Ever since, the forces of light govern the day while the night belongs to their dark opponents. In modern day Moscow the dark Others actually roam the night as vampires while a "Night Watch" of light forces, among them Anton, the movie's protagonist, try to control them and limit their outrage.

"Konstantin Khabensky, one of the most popular Russian actors, was cast as the chief protagonist, Anton Gorodetsky" Konstantin Khabensky, one of the most popular Russian actors, was cast as the chief protagonist, Anton Gorodetsky

The film was the first high-budget Russian sci-fi film and one of the few blockbusters made after the collapse of the Soviet Union film industry. The film was produced by ORT, the largest Russian government channel, with a budget of 5 million USD. 8 July 2004 it was released in theatres, and later on DVD. The film followed on the popularity of the book to become extremely successful, becoming the highest-grossing Russian release of all time, amounting $16,7 million only in Russia. A TV series and the third movie sequel are currently in production.

The film proved successful enough to attract attention of 20th Century Fox, which offered to finance the third installment of the movie trilogy. In addition, it bought US distribution rights for the movie and all its sequels.

The success of the 2004 film very loosely based on this novel has caused much comment in the west. 20th Century Fox have acquired foreign distribution rights for the film and are discussing the funding of sequels. In Spain (the first distribution outside CIS) it gained $2,6 million. It has been already released in Germany, Great Britain and Israel. The film grossed more than $10 million in Western Europe already, where it was shown to generally positive reviews. Its subtitles were touted as revolutionary, "appearing in odd places around the screen, and often animated to emphasise or complement the action." [1]

Although the movie had one of the biggest budgets in the history of Russian filmmaking, there were still restraints on its content, especially given the length of the original three-hundred page, three-part book. Some of the changes made were small and insignificant; others significantly altered the nature of the plot.

In the movie, the use of spells, power amulets and shape-shifting was significantly diminished compared to the book. The Gloom, which was an important background element in the book, was barely used (and badly explained) in the movie. The book deals with the technique of entering the Gloom by raising your shadow, the different levels within it, etc. The movie's director explained that he never liked magic, so all magical aspects were severely downplayed (which raises the question why that director was hired to do a fantasy movie in the first place.)Unsurprisingly, while the movie is an action-packed thriller-fest, the book is much more thoughtful. It's much more focused on the moral ambiguities the Night Watch is forced to face in a situation where it cannot openly oppose the Dark and are forced to run intrigues which could hurt its own members.In the movie, each Other joins either the Light or the Dark through a free choice. In the book, it's more a matter of how you're feeling when you first enter the Gloom. If you are happy and well disposed to the rest of the world, you are a Light one. If not, you're of the Dark. The way you go into the Gloom is who you are.In the movie, Anton Gorodetskiy visited a witch in hopes that she would use magic to get his wife back. In the book, this incident took place in the beginning of Day Watch, the second installment of the trilogy, and also the witch's customer was not Anton, but a woman called Natasha who wanted to get her husband back.In the movie, a passenger plane threatened to crash into a residential neighborhood due to the large Dark Vortex formed around Svetlana. In the book, the incident took place two years earlier. The plane actually wound up crashing into the neighborhood thanks to (as Anton put it) a "bureaucratic loophole". In the book, the Dark Vortex formed around Svetlana threatened to cause a disaster of nuclear proportions unless it could be "defused" in forty-eight hours.In the movie, Yegor is Anton's son. In the book, they aren't related. (Sergei Lukyanenko explained that this change was a result of a "glitch" in the In the movie, Yegor is the Great One whose coming was foretold, who will shift the balance of the final battle between Light and Dark. In the book, there is no such prophecy and the boy has mediocre potential. He's just a pawn the Dark put into the game to distract Anton from Svetlana, the true focus of the struggle, who really does have incredible powers.In the movie, Alyssa showed Yegor and Anton that back in 1991, Anton was willing to kill Yegor (who was an unborn child at the time). This effectively led Yegor to choose the Dark. In the book, Alyssa forced Anton to tell Yegor the whole truth. This forced Anton to reveal that Yegor was manipulated by the Light Others for the sake of the greater good. Yegor leaves the roof, disgusted with both the Light and the Dark. For the moment, his future is uncertain (though events in the other two parts of the book show that he will eventually turn to the Dark).