Russian 'Night Watch's' imagery is striking

Friday, February 24, 2006

By SEAN AXMAKER
SPECIAL TO THE P-I

The best description I can come up with for Timur Bekmambetov's "Night Watch," a Russian blockbuster adapted from the first novel in a best-selling supernatural trilogy by Sergei Lukyanenko (an English translation is on the way), is fantasy noir.

MOVIE REVIEW

NIGHT WATCH

DIRECTOR: Timur Bekmambetov

CAST: Konstantin Khabensky, Vladimir Menshov, Mariya Poroshina

RUNNING TIME: 116 minutes

LANGUAGE: Russian with English narration and creative English subtitles

RATING: R for strong violence, disturbing images and language

WHERE: Neptune, Uptown

GRADE: B

LINKS/TRAILERS
· Official site

PHOTO GALLERY

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Played out against the urban backdrop of a depressed modern Moscow, a subculture of sorcerers, shapeshifters, seers and vampires form an underworld of "Others," divided into opposing forces of Light and Dark and held in check by a wobbly truce policed by supernatural cops from each side.

Based on Bekmambetov's gloomy vision on the screen, the Dark casts a long shadow over the Light, the better to covertly prey on the humans. Light, ostensibly responsible for protecting mankind, acts like a seedy vice squad, using humans as disposable bait in supernatural sting operations. Apparently a few centuries on the job will sour anyone's compassion.

The familiar elements of modern mythmaking are all here, from a dishonored Other (Konstantin Khabensky) with past sins on his soul to an apocalyptic prophecy unleashed by a curse. The familiar ideas are refreshed by the intriguing shift in culture and setting and the characters sketched in shades of gray. Good is a matter of perspective.

Bekmambetov's tone is so gravely serious that the drama tends to become arch and theatrical, despite sardonic punches of dark humor. But his imagery is striking (his imagination overcomes his limited budget), his style is assured and he's given the subtitle adaptation a dramatically dynamic dimension by giving the words the presence of an incantation taking physical form.

The first act of a trilogy, "Night Watch" has enough closure to satisfy the story while setting up an epic conflict to be battled out in the finale, "Dusk Watch," which Bekmambetov will shoot in English. I think I'll miss those subtitles.