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Nightwatch (1994 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Nightwatch' is a 1994 Danish thriller film directed and written by Danish director Ole Bornedal. The film involves Martin (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) who gets a student job as night watchman at the Forensic Medicine Institute. When making his rounds he finds he must go to where the deceased people are kept. At the same time, a series of murders occur among women in Copenhagen as well as mysterious and unexplained things happening in the medical department.
'Nightwatch' was a success in Denmark and was shown at the Fantafestival in 1995. An English-language remake of the film, also directed by Bornedal, was released in 1997. The original 'Nightwatch' was included on a list of the top 100 Danish films as chosen by 'Kosmorama'.
Plot
Law student Martin Bork (Nikolaj Coster Waldau) gets a student job as night watchman at the Forensic Medicine Institute, believing it will allow more time to study, with his biggest problem being his paranoia in this scary setting. When making his rounds, he finds he must go to where the deceased people are kept. At the same time, a series of murders occur among women in Copenhagen, and mysterious and unexplained things start to happen in the medical department. During all of this, Martin ends up being confused with one of the murders, becoming a prime suspect.
Production
Director Ole Bornedal began writing the script for 'Nightwatch' after the release of his television film 'Masturbator' (1993).Hjort, 2003. p. 229Hjort, 2003. p. 231 He was inspired to make the movie after a trip he made to a morgue in Copenhagen. He stated in an interview, "I went to this morgue in a city of one million people, and it was both scary and beautiful. It made me think about how, outside, there is this daily life going on, and suddenly you're standing in a cellar realizing this is where it all ends. It makes you think about life and how you're living it."
Bornedal also wrote much of the script at night, he states: "I was writing the story at night, in an office all by myself, sometimes until four in the morning. I didn't dare go out to my car because I would have to walk through all of these dark hallways." Principal photography would occur in Denmark during 1993.
Cast
* Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Martin Bork
* Sofie Grbl as Kalinka Martens
* Kim Bodnia as Jens Arnkiel
* as Lotte
* Ulf Pilgaard as Peter Wrmer
* as Joyce
* as Rolf
* Gyrd Lfquist as The Old Nightwatch
* as The Doctor
Release
The film was released on 25 February 1994. 'Nightwatch' was a success in Denmark where it sold 465,529 tickets.Hjort, 2003. p. 235 The film was shown at the 1995 Fantafestival in Rome, Italy. The film was selected to be part of the 1994 Critic's Week at the Cannes Film Festival.
A DVD of 'Nightwatch' was released by Anchor Bay on 29 May 2001. The disc contains an audio commentary by Ole Bornedal and a theatrical trailer for the film.
Reception
Ole Bornedal felt that 'Nightwatch' was not "a great work of art, but it did help legitimate the idea that even European film art can make good use of generic stories."Hjort, 2003. p. 234 'Nightwatch' was included on a list of the top 100 Danish film as chosen by 'Kosmorama'. won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Joyce in the film at the 1995 Bodil Awards. 'Variety' gave the film a fairly favorable review, referring to it as a "slickly made but fairly conventional tale".
Remake
An English-language remake of the film, also titled 'Nightwatch', was released in 1997 and directed by Ole Bornedal, but with a new script by Steven Soderbergh based on Bornedal's original film.
Notes
References
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