Day Watch!!!!!!!!!!! Sergey Lukianenko!!!!!!!!!!

[alexandral]

"Day Watch" is the part of the film adaptation of Russian fantasy book series "Words of Watches" ("Night Watch", "Day Watch", "Twilight Watch" and "The Last Watch") . I am full of happiness because I discovered only today that "World Of Watches" is written by one of my favourite Russian fantasy writers, Sergey Lukianenko (with Vladimir Vasiliev). I think Lukianenko's previous book series Labyrinth (Labyrinth of Reflections, False Mirrors and Transparent stained-glass windows) is exceptional among Russian cyberpunk wave.

Oh, I am going to dive into the book-world of Watches starting from today and may be you will never see me again!



Storyline
There was a battle long time ago between the forces of Light and Darkness. This battle lasted thousands of years and at the end the whole world was in danger of collapsing because the powers of Light and Darkness were equal. At the end they signed a contract of co-existence. In the present day, two guard-forces consisting of people with supernatural abilities (or "Others") exist: Night Watch and Day Watch (Light forces and Dark forces accordingly). These forces try to maintain a balance between Light and Darkness. Others have an ability to access a special time-space continuum, "Twilight".

Films:
The first film "Night Watch" left me with the mixed feelings. There were some good ideas as special effects concerned, but these ideas seemed to be repeated so many times.. All originality was lost in repetition and the story was lost in the special effects. Though I loved the Russianness of "Night Watch", it was full of Russian cultural and fairy-tale references that made me feel back home. I also liked the main characters, especially Anton played by Konstatntyn Khabensky for they were complex and non-black-and-white.

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Day Watch" was so much better for me. It was a very very good film. I only have one doubt in recommending it: it was again full of Russian cultural references that could become lost in translation and subtitles.

So many things were good in Day Watch

Special Effects and cinematography: Were AWESOME. I am may be a little biased here, but I haven't seen anything like it yet. I even **gasp** liked special effects and cinematography in "Day Watch" more then in LOTR. Effects were very original, and made me feel that fabric of the story is real.. And there was just the right amount of the effects so that they were not distracting from the story..

Story: It all started on a not-so-original note of Tamerlane and "the chalk of destiny" but during the progress of the film I felt that this storyline was a part of an intricate parody. I had a feeling that the creators were including parodies on Russian and Western films and books into the flow of the story and into the black humour that was going on throughout the whole film, but was very cleverly done. And the ending was great..

Characters: were complex, interesting and deep. I cared for all of the them: Anton, Svetlana, Olga, Alisa, young vampire Kostya, Kostya's father, even for the devious leader of Moscow forces of Darkness Zavulon. Who is always a tiny bit lagging behind the leader of Moscow forces of Light Geser in deviousness and this is such a reassuring thing.

Forbidden love story between Anton (who is an average level mage) and Svetlana (who is the Greatest mage of them all) . Oh, this was so well-done. Their scenes were my favourite in the film.



Anton:



Svetlana:



Geser, the leader of the Moscow forces of Light:



Zavulon, the leader of the Moscow forces of Darkness:



Olga:



Alisa:





Screencaps, non-spoilery































A VERY fabulous trailer in the trailer_spot's LJ

PS: I have heard that the next film, "Twilight Watch" is going to be filmed in America. Oh, I hope not!!!!!!!!!! (Though it might be selfish of me)

Comments

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

YAY! I am so thrilled that you have seen and liked "Night Watch"!

And I get, a little bit, what you say about its feel of Russianness. Now granted my stay in Russia amounts to two months in St. Petersburg and one week in Moscow, so I'm no expert. ;P But the films convey something that I find very Russian. Maybe it's the light?

I think you are right – it is the colours and the light and like winterspel said, landscapes. There is so much more space there!! "Day Watch" also had lot and lots of snow which is so Russian for me.. :D

Intrigued now! Could you name a few examples? I love fairytales and references like that.

EEEEE! Start me on my favourite subject! I see Anton as one of the most typical Russian fairytale characters, Ivan-the-fool. Ivan is not really a fool, but he is considered to be more simple then he really is. He is a character who always manages to win the day and outwit everyone (by seemingly pure luck sometimes) and who also has a big heart and cares for everyone.. In my mind Columbo and Pullo are something of Ivan-the-fool category a little, though they are different.. :D I think Ivan-the-fool is really a VERY Russian character.

Also in the Ivan-the-fool book I had (there are different varieties) he rescues three animals, one of them is an Owl. They all help him later. Owls are often used in Russian fairytales. So Olga-the-owl felt so like a creature from the old fairytale.

Olga is one of the oldest and genuinely Russian names, often found in old Russian folklore and stories, and so is Svetlana (which literally means "Light" in Russian). In "Day Watch" there is a very interesting explanation of why Olga was made to be an owl. Very Shippy. The whole film is very shippy!!!

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

Re: the light and the landscape.

Yes, in my experience these are vital to give a film or series that correct feel. Take for instance all those Robin Hood series/films that have been shot in Eastern Europe. They just look wrong and lack that feeling of Britishness. (at least to me)

I see Anton as one of the most typical Russian fairytale characters, Ivan-the-fool.

Eee! This is so great! All these little pieces of cultural background that I didn't know about. Thank you for telling me. And I love the part about Olga, with it being such an old name and all. It really gives the character an extra dimension.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Oh, You are the one who is indulging me with Russian fairytale talk!!

The film also had references on Russian songs and comedy skits ..This is the way the Russian films are often made and it is a part of great appeal. I know in UK they like to make films like that too, they also often cross-reference. I was reminded of it when we watched "Hot Fuzz" recently. Oh, I meant to write about "Hot Fuzz" and forgotten..

Oh, and also I thought the depiction of Vampires was more aligned with Slavic fairytales then with the Hollywood vampire films. (Much less of black leather.. :D). Have you ever read "Vampire family" by Russian 19th century writer Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy?

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

I love cultural cross-references! But they are so hard to catch aren't they? Over the years I've managed to learn a few of the British and American ones, and since I've studied a lot of German history I'm starting to manage a few of the German ones. But it's hard. ;D

Have you ever read "Vampire family" by Russian 19th century writer Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy?

No, the only Tolstoy I've read is Leo. Tell me more? But vampires with less black leather sounds good. That and lace have been slightly over used in the vampire clothing department. Hee.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I love cultural cross-references! But they are so hard to catch aren't they?

They are.. This was the hardest part about moving into a different country for me, that it involves not just a new language but also a whole new cultural set-up.. It gets better with time, but slowly because the volume of information is so big.

No, the only Tolstoy I've read is Leo. Tell me more? But vampires with less black leather sounds good. That and lace have been slightly over used in the vampire clothing department. Hee.

Aleksey (Aleksei) Konstantinovich Tolstoy is most famous for his satirical poetry under a nick-name "Kozma Prutkov". But somewhere in the middle he wrote these scary almost fairy-tale like stories as adaptation of some of Slavic folklore. Sadly I could not find any of his little stories anywhere for sale in English translations, but I will keep my eyes opened. The stories are great and very scary. There were films made, IMDB link here (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0866239/) . To confuse the matters there was also a famous 20-th century writer, Aleksei Nikolaevich Tolstoy. :D

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

Ooo thank you! This sounds great and I'll be sure to check it out. I love scary stories inspired by folklore. :)

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Oh, it is SO scary!! May be because it feels more real without black leather and coffins.