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Nochnoj Dozor (Ночной дозор, Night watch) is a science-fiction book by a popular Russian writer Sergey Lukianenko and a film by Timur Bekmambetov (2004).

The film was the first major 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 goverment channel, with a budget of 5 million USD. It was released in theatres and later on TV. The film followed on the popularity of the book to become extremely successful, becoming the highest-grossing Russian release of all time, exceeding 15 million USD. A TV series and two movie sequals are currently in production.

The film proved successful enough to attract attention of 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 it's sequals.

The story revolves around a confrontation between between two opposing supernatural groups: Night Watch, an organisation that seeks to improve the world and Day Watch, which seeks to exploit humanity for it's own, selfish gains.

Nochnoj Dozor is part of a trilogy that also includes Dnevnoj Dozor (Дневной дозор, Day watch) and Sumerechny Dozor (Сумеречный дозор, Twilight watch).

Background

For as long as the Universe existed, there was the Twilight, a magical realm that existed beneath the surface of all things. And for as long as humanity existed, there were the Others - human beings who tapped into the Twilight and gained incredible abilities. But the Twilight doesn't offer its gifts freely. Those who use the Twilight for too long cease to age, but with every year they gain, they lose more of their humanity. Also, the Twilight feeds off the strength of those Others who enter it, and if they are sufficiently weakened, they are consumed, never to return to the ordinary world.

Over the centuries, the Others formed two distinct groups. Those of the Light believed it was their duty to help the weak and the helpless. Those of the Dark shunned all obligations. They did what they wanted, regardless of morals, and consequences. For many millenia, the two sides fought a vicious battle. Both were willing to use any means that would lead them to victory. But eventually they realized that if they continued their battle, neither side would survive. So the leaders of both sides forged the Grand Treaty - a set of laws to govern the way the Others used their powers. The Light Others created the Night Watch, to ensure that the Dark Others would not violate the Treaty. The Dark Others created the Day Watch, to ensure that the Dark Others would not violate the Treaty. And the Inquisition, a group composed of both Dark and Light Others, was created to ensure that neither side became too powerful.

Since then, the Night Watch and the Day Watch kept their eyes on each other, diligently policing every violation of the treaty. But just because the battle was over didn't mean the war ended. The old leaders continued to plot, using humanity and the Others as their pawns. Only time will tell which side would prevail.

Characters:

Light Others

• Anton Gorodetsky (Light Mage) - a reluctant member of Night Watch, in the beginning of the first book, preferred mundane, technical jobs to actual field work. The events of the series forced him to step up and become a full-fledged operative. They also made him considerably more cynical about the cause of Light Others. His favorite past-time is listening to randomly arranged CDs.

• Boris Ignatyevich/Geser (Grand Light Mage) - an ancient mage of Tibertian descent who taught a number heroes and philosophers during his lifetime. He moved to Europe during the early 15th century. Although he had many opportunities to advance to high-level posts within Night Watch, he chose to remain a regional director of Moscow division. Geser is a battle-hardened tactician who's been known to turn devastating defeats into small victories. He cares a great deal about his subordinates, though he doesn't hesitate to put them in harm's way for the sake of greater good.

• Svetlana (Grand Light Sorceress)
• Olga (Grand Light Sorceress)
• Semyon (Light Mage)

• Lena/Tigger (Shifter-Mage) - a young, playful mage with a perchant for jewels and amulets. She is highly regarded both by Dark and Light Others. It has been said that she could charm anyone. As the name implies, tiger is her preferred animal form. She has a large house riddled with secret passages. She can be rather impulsive, which got her in trouble on several occasions.

• Bear (Shifter-Mage) - a reclusive, quiet mage known for his calculated, brutal tactics. It has been continiously speculated that he was originally a Dark Other, despite the well-known fact that once the choice is made, the Others can't change sides. His preferred animal form is a large polar bear. He is frequintly partnered with Tigger.

• Ignat (Light Succubis) - a self-absorbed mage with "a face of a Hollywood actor and a body of a Greek god". He prides himself on being able to bed any woman in a matter of hours. He takes failure very hard.

• Garik (Light Mage) - a shy mage infamous for his bad luck with women.

• Igor (Light Mage, Category 3)

Dark Others

• Zavulon (Grand Dark Mage)
• Alyssa Donnikova (Dark Witch)
• Kostya (High Vampire)
• Edgar (Dark Mage, Category 2)
• Unnamed High Vampiress

Unaffiliated

• Maxim (Inquisitor)
• Vitaliy (The Mirror)
• Yegor (potential Mage. Leans towards the Dark, but hasn't chosen sides yet)

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.

Book vs. Film

Although the movie had the biggest budget in the history of Russian fimmaking, there were still certain limits on what it could do. There was also the not-so-delicate matter of compressing a two-hundred page, three-part book into a two-hour movie. So, naturally, changes had to be made. Some were small and insignificant. Others significanly altered the nature of the plot.

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General Differences:

• In the movie, the use of spells, power amulets and shape-shifting was significanly diminished compared to the book. The Twilight, which was an important background element in the book, was barely used in the movie. The movie's director explained that he never liked magic, so all magical aspects were severely downplayed (which begs the question why that director was hired to do a fantasy movie in the first place.)

• On a simular note, the Twilight Moss, which is a significant plot device in the book, is absent from the movie.

Character Differences:

• In the book, Tigger was a lively, energetic young woman. In the movie, she was dry and no-nonsense.

• In the movie, Ignat was a balding, somewhat average-looking man. He was reluctant to seduce Svetlana because he was engaged. In the book, Ignat was a Light Succubis, who, according to Anton, had "the body of a Greek god and the face of a movie star". He was reluctant to seduce Svetlana because she wasn't his type.

• Boris Ignatyevich's dry, sarcastic wit, which characterized him throughout the book trilogy, is all but absent in the movie.

Plot Differences:

• The opening scene of the movie wasn't in the book, nor was it ever mentioned or alluded to.

• 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, the vampiress ensnared Yegor while he was at an Aqua Park. In the book, she ensnared him when he was returning home from swimming lessons.

• In movie, Anton tried to destroy an invisible vortex using a flashlight-like gadget. In the book, he tried to destroy a visible (at least to him) vortex using an amulet.

• In the movie, Anton fought the vampires in an abandoned warehouse. After a hard, gruesome fight, Anton managed to kill the vampire by smashing his head against the sink. Anton barely survived. In the book, Anton fights the vampires in a deserted alley. He killed the vampire by triggering the Stamp, an invisible magical artifact that all "registered" vampires must wear. He temporarely incapacitates the vampiress by throwing leftover vodka in her face. Anton was unharmed during the confrontation.

• In the movie, a passager 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 "beaurocratic loophole". In the book, the Dark Vortex formed around Svetlana threatened to cause a disaster of nuclear proportions unless it could be "defused" in fourty-eight hours.

• In the movie, Olga can change from an owl to a human at will. In the book, she can only become human for thirty minutes per day.

• In the movie, Yegor's mother was single. In the book, Yegor's parents were separated, but still married.

• In the book, Anton gives Yegor a detailed explanation of what the Others were and how the Night Watch and Day Watch fit into the plot. In the movie, the explanation is significantly shortened, leaving out a number of important plot points.

• In the movie, Bear and Tigger have a romantic relationship. In the book, they are just friends.

• In the movie, Ignat fails to seduce Svetlana because his heart wasn't in it. In the book, he actually succeeds, but he's recalled when Night Watch realizes that his actions cause the Dark Vortex to grow.

• In the movie, Dark Vortex is represented by a cloud of ravens. In the book, Dark Vortex is presented as, well, a vortex.

• Most of the conversation between Anton and Svetlana is cut out. This significantly damages the plot-line, since without the missing portions of the conversation, the viewer has no idea why she had a sudden change of heart.

• The movie and the book have very diffrent versions of the final battle on the roof. In the movie, Zavulon arrives on the roof via an elevator. He produces a sword from his spine and fights Anton in hand-to-hand combat. For a while, their skills seem matched. The fight is abrubtly interrupted when Yegor is put in harm's way. Anton was seconds away from killing him. In the book, Zavulon teleports into the scene, with Alyssa and an unnamed male Dark Mage in tow. Tigger (who was in her tiger form at the time) attacks Zavulon's underlings. Bear attacks the vampiress. Ilya (who wasn't on the roof in the movie version) uses an amulet to launch a snake-like magical construct at Zavulon. Meanwhile, Anton notices Yegor vanish into the Twilight's second layer, where he is not yet capable of surviving on his own, and has to follow him, and bring him back. By the time he returns, Zavulon has managed to defeat the construct. After morphing into a more powerful demon form, Zavulon tries to enthrall Anton. Thanks to Yegor, he doesn't get very far. Zavulon morphs into yet another demonic form, threatening to kill all of the Light Others on the roof. But before he can do anything, Ilya activates a magical barrier powerful enough to stop Zavulon in his tracks.

• 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 script)

• In the movie, the Dark Vortex was destroyed by stage-light-like gizmos mounted on Semyon's van. In the book, it's destroyed after Svetlana's change of heart caused it to "deflate" enough for Olga to be able to use her powers to wipe out out for good.

• 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.

Related topics

• Day Watch - 2nd part of the Watch trilogy.
• Twilight Watch - 3rd Part of the Watch trilogy.
• Face of the Dark Palmira - A story based on the first two installments of the Watch trilogy written by Sergey Lukyaninko's "Day Watch" co-author. It was referenced in Twilight Watch.
• The Other among Others

External links

• author's official site
• official site of the film
• IMDB entry for the film
• Unofficial "Night Watch" FAQ, Annotations and Fanfiction (Russian Only)

• Russian films
• Science fiction novels