Nightwatch (1997 film): Difference between revisions

Principal photography for the remake took place in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], in the localities of [[Culver City, California|Culver City]] and [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]]. It was the first American film made by Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, who used a fake American accent for the role of Martin Bells. One of the reason McGregor aceepted the role was since he wanted to appear in off-beat, modestly budgeted American films, rather than typical Hollywood blockbusters, with McGregor even openly criticizing American films such as ''[[Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day]]'' in a June 1997 ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' interview.<ref name="ew">{{Cite web|url=https://ew.com/movies/1997/06/13/ew-chats-new-obi-wan-kenobi/|title=EW Chats with Ewan McGregor Ahead of 'The Phantom Menace'|website=EW.com}}</ref> He told the publication, "when I met with agents in L.A., they would tell me you had to do two movies for yourself and then two for the business. And I thought, ‘F— off. No, you don’t. You do every film because you want to do good work. Because you’re interested in making good movies and working with good people.’ To do a crappy event movie for a lot of money, like ''Independence Day'' — I would never taint my soul with that crap."<ref name="ew"/> In another interview from this period, McGregor claimed, "I went to L.A. to make ''Nightwatch'' because I wanted to have the kind of exposure that would allow me to pick and choose my films. You can't do that if you just make little independent British features."<ref>Jones, Veda Boyd. ''Ewan McGregor''. United States, Chelsea House Publishers, 2000.</ref>

McGregor's initial impression of Los Angeles upon flying to the city was that It "looked like the world's biggest caravan park."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/1997/jun/15/williamleith|title=Addicted to fame|first=William|last=Leith|date=June 15, 1997|via=The Guardian}}</ref> McGregor said he started to miss the "plants and birds and rocks" of the Scottish countryside while making ''Nightwatch'', which led to him frequently watching golf on television.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rulefortytwo.com/articles-essays/movies/ewan-mcgregor/|title=Gavin Edwards - » Ewan McGregor|first=Code by Nathan Swartz (ClickNathan com), Content by Gavin|last=Edwards}}</ref> In a September 1997 interview with the ''[[Reading Eagle]]'', Josh Brolin reflected on his role as Martin's best friend James, saying "my character has interior problems. He's dealing with lost identity, almost like an adolescent would in later life. He's constantly going outside himself, trying to fix that with alcohol, drugs, prostitutions, whatever."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Freeman |first1=Josh Brolin keeps career in perspective |url=https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ihgiAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA45&dq=%22nightwatch%22&article_id=6242,354795&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiihuTT7ZWEAxXeVmwGHU2KAGkQ6AF6BAgCEAI#v=onepage&q=%22nightwatch%22&f=false |access-date=6 February 2024 |agency=Reading Eagle |date=1 September 1997}}</ref> Lauren Graham's character Marie, the girlfriend of James, works as a minister at a church, although all of these scenes depicting in her in this job would end up being removed in the final cut. In an interview on the set of the film, Graham said, "it was interesting because when I interviewed a woman whose a minister at in the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|episcopal church]], I said 'you know I don't want to be representing the church here because its a character who uses foul language, it's a person whose in a relationship with a guy whose doing terrible things', and she sort of said to me 'well especially as a young person involved in the church, the idealism is that you want to save everybody, the hope is that you can bring a community together', so it actually helps make sense the difficulties of their relationship and why she stays with him."<ref>''Nightwatch'' on set interviews [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14428032/]</ref> Around the time ''Nightwatch'' was being made, Alix KoromzayBrolin and Joshfellow Brolincast member Alix Koromzay both got roles in the Dimension/Miramax [[science fiction|sci-fi]] horror film ''[[Mimic (film)|Mimic]]''. Bornedal and cinematographer [[Dan Laustsen]] (from the original ''Nattevagten'' crew) also worked on ''Mimic''.<ref name="marco"/>

''Nightwatch'' took amuch yearlonger to complete than originally expected, due to a series of test screenings and reshoots Miramax ordered.<ref name="hollywood">{{cite book |last1=Mottram |first1=James |title=Sundance Kids: How the Mavericks Took Back Hollywood |date=2011 |publisher=Faber & Faber }}</ref><ref name="motion picture guide">{{cite book |last1=Grant |first1=Edmond |title=The Motion Picture Guide: 1999 Annual |date=1999 |publisher=CineBooks |page=291}}</ref><ref name="danish"/> According to McGregor, one of these reshoots forced him to fly back to Los Angeles and cancel a two day holiday he had set aside for his wife and baby daughter.<ref name="un"/> Changes made by Miramax to the finished cut included reducing the role of James's girlfriend Marie,<ref name="motion picture guide"/> and adding a "more satisfying final scene".<ref name="motion picture guide"/> Bornedal went on to state that "the actual shooting of ''Nightwatch'' was terrific, everything was totally wonderful, and I was free to do as I pleased, but everything suddenly became extremely complicated during the post-production phase".<ref name="nordic">{{cite book |last1=Gustafsson |first1=Tommy |title=Nordic Genre Film |date= 2015 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press}}</ref>