Nightwatch (1997)

Nightwatch (1997)

I haven’t seen the original, but I have seen the sequel to the original! I watch this film regularly, even though it’s not a masterpiece in itself. But it’s more than decent. It’s a decent film to watch, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed, expecting more suspense and perhaps a bit more action.

In the end, the cast doesn’t rely much on Ewan McGregor, who remains a little shy here, without acting badly, but without being at his best either. The supporting cast, including of course Josh Brolin, who continues to prove that he’s a quality actor, but one that’s a little underrated in my opinion. He’s perfectly disturbing, and so is Nick Nolte, who is frighteningly effective in his role as a cop. In addition to these two, there’s also Brad Dourif, who makes a few appearances that are as good as ever. As for the female cast, it’s not bad either, with the ever-solid presence of Patricia Arquette, who also remains a little under-exploited, to the benefit of a very decent Alix Koromzay.

In fact, it’s pretty clear: Ewan McGregor and Patricia Arquette are underused!

The script, of course, takes advantage of the appeal of its subject for fans of the genre. The morgue is a space that is rarely used in cinema. And, inevitably, by introducing some twisted tricks, you can quickly get a film with an attractive look. It’s true that this night watchman film does a pretty good job of distilling this twisted and unhealthy aspect, which for my money is the film’s main attraction, but at the same time it has its flaws.
On the one hand, the suspense really struggles to hold, that’s for sure, especially if you have any experience of the film genre. Secondly, the narrative is rather chaotic. It’s all too familiar and the film struggles to really focus on its subject, feeding in a lot of background, even though the film’s 1 hour 30 minutes didn’t necessarily allow it to do so. As a result, the murders are few and far between, scattered here and there as if sprinkled on top of each other, just like the investigation and the revelation. In short, they all appear to be sprinkled on top of each other in a film that doesn’t focus enough on its main plot.

It’s a creepy atmosphere, even if the use of sets could have been better, and even if the film avoids overdoing it in the end. It’s sticky, but not excessively so. Bornedal’s direction is appreciable. The film relies heavily on ideas of smell, sound and silence in particular, and this doesn’t run through the film very well, but it’s still enjoyable and features a surprisingly eclectic soundtrack.

A creepy little film that’s sympathetic in its genre, but not as incisive as expected. I had an entertaining time and was delighted to see the morgue space used in the cinema, but the pleasure was held back by a script that wasn’t very well handled, a rather timid McGregor and a few clumsinesses. Now, talking about it like that, you’d think I didn’t like it, but it’s quite the opposite!

I read this review: ‘Not a fundamentally bad remake, with a good Nolte/McGregor duo, but it doesn’t come close to the Danish “Nightwatch” and its Nordic atmosphere at the height of creepiness…’.

I can’t say, I haven’t seen the first one.

To conclude and recap:

A rather disturbing film at times. Ewan remains an excellent actor and a film will never be completely rubbish if he’s in it. Or hardly at all!

The other actors are pretty good too.
The soundtrack is excellent.
The ending is a bit easy and could have been a lot worse… but I’m not going to hold that against it.