Somos la noche

Wir sind die Nacht - We are the Night – CATCH IT (B+) A German movie deals with deals with a young woman who gets bitten by a female vampire and drawn into her world. She falls in love with a young police officer who investigates a murder case involving the vampires. Wir sind die Nacht took its inspiration from Carmilla rather than Dacula which was a wise decision and it made the movie really interesting and enjoyable. Wir sind die Nacht has a top notch production value and performance by all the leading actresses. Initially it looked like Karoline Herfurth playing Lena took her inspiration from Lisbeth Slander but once she is bitten and becomes Vampire she transforms into this gorgeous young girl. The transition is so drastic that a person like me who have not seen her previously in any movie was completely stunned. Nino Hoss is powerful as the vampire leader and I saw her recently in "The Woman in Berlin" so it was shocking to see her in such urban movie. Jennifer Ulrich is gorgeous; she literally looked like someone stole her from 1920s. Anna Fischer as vamp party girl brought her spunk to her spunky character. Max Riemelt is the hottest German actor alive, darn he sizzles on screen. His chemistry with Karoline Herfurth made the small love story really interesting. We are the Night is one of the best Vampire movie I have seen in recent years, its urban, chic and filled with strong performances. I would love to see a sequel for sure as the ending was ambiguous.

Vampire films are ten a penny these days. But it's not all the same old crap over and over again. With vampire films, I think you just need to find the right balance between emotional moments that humanise these monsters, and those awesome cool moments. We Are The Night does pretty well in both departments, even if it is in favour of action. The first scene had me absolutely hooked. The camera pans around an airplane where all the passengers and crew have been killed. Still alive are three attractive women that soon reveal themselves to be vampires. After a bit of fun, they open the airplane door and dive out mid-air. From there we are introduced to Lena, a young criminal that soon finds herself involved with the vampires. Unfortunately for them, just before Lena is turned, she catches the eye of a young policeman that's interested in her. Like all vampire films, it starts by showing the luxurious excess. Clubbing, drinking, sex etc. But at the same time the film uses the character of Charlotte as an antidote to all this. She obviously suffers from depression. As the gang go out shopping, she stares longingly at some baby shoes. She also stands in the sunlight causing herself great pain. This character encompasses the strongest emotions, and counteracts the action nicely. We also have Louise. A lesbian vampire that is in love with Lena and feels jealous about Lena's crush on the young cop Tom. It shows that no longer how long you live for, certain human emotions are unavoidable. Towards the end it goes for all out action. With SWAT teams, prison breaks, and a beautifully shot fight that has the vampires moving all over the walls. The music was also enjoyable, but the amount of nightclub scenes did get tiring. Just one less could have made an improvement. We Are The Night is a string Vampire film, with stunning locals and excellent pacing. It was great seeing these girls have fun in a woman only vampire world. Another great example of Gansel's talent.

The vampires Louise (Nina Hoss), Charlotte (Jennifer Ulrich) and Nora (Anna Fischer) arrive in Berlin after attacking the passengers and crew of an airplane in a flight to Paris. The leader Louise has been looking for centuries for her missed love and Charlotte misses her daughter that she saw in 1923 for the last time. Meanwhile, the smalltime pickpocket Lena (Karoline Herfurth) steals a Russian mobster and is chased by Detective Tom (Max Riemelt).

When Lena goes to a nightclub, the lesbian Louise believes that Lena is the love of her life and transforms her into a vampire. Lena initially feels lost with the transformation, but sooner she joins the trio of vampires in their nightlife. When the pack of vampires attacks a group of criminals, the police department investigates the case and hunts the women without knowing the risks that they are taking. Meanwhile the lonely Tom and the Lena fall in love with each other; but the unrequited love of Lena for Louise jeopardizes the couple.

"Wir Sind die Nacht" is a pleasant vampire movie, with action, humor, drama and romance. The beginning is a sort of tribute to Nosferatu and Dracula of Bram Stoker, with the female vampires killing the passengers and crew of an airplane the same way Nosferatu and Dracula do with the crew of the ship that arrives at Wismar without any living soul.

The plot is very well constructed and actually dramatic and mature, on the contrary of most of the American films of the genre. The actresses are very beautiful and talented; the cinematography and the camera work are magnificent and in the end, I loved this film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "As Donas da Noite" ("The Owners of the Night")

Note: On 26 January 2015, I saw this movie again on Blu-Ray.

As a film, it's a nice one. As a genre - a modern vampire - flick, it might easily deserve a full tenner. It's one of the most intelligent, mature (no pun intended on the ladies, who have had about 300 years to ripe), technically apt movies about the life of a vampire in the modern world. The story might be only so-so, but the solid actors, the production values, the direction and the overall classy look of the outcome more than compensates for the (very slight) shortcomings of the structure. Basically a lesbian love (or lust) story, it never gets sappy or lame, whether dealing with girl-on-girl or straight passion. It's quite different from American vamp flicks (True Blood bares similarities in the overall mood), especially those vamp flicks, which pretend to be European. Wie sind die Nacht is a solid piece of good entertainment without most of the clichés of a traditional 'I suck your blood' romp. It's a vampire film, which never once mentions the word 'vampire'. My only negative complaint would be the appearance of Charlotte (the utterly gorgeous Jennifer Ulrich): why do we always assume, that a vampire sort of gets stuck to the fashion of the era he/she was actually young in? Look at Tom Cruise in The Vampire Chronicles: the guy has been around for - what? 250 years? And he NEVER gets tired of ruffs, laces and buckled shoes? Never once ventures to try out jeans, fishnet shirts, disco boots, zoot suits --- no?! I mean come on! - a vampire, if anyone, should be willing to always change its appearance, for the sake of sheer boredom! Yet, Charlotte, who was made a vampire in 1923, never outgrows the Charleston dress, even though she is a remarkably pretty dish. Hard to believe. But hey, the ladies have killed off all the male vampires in the world, so they may very well wear what ever they desire. Enjoyable!

In We Are The Night, a girl, Lena, living on the street and stealing catches the eye of a vampire queen, Louise. Louise is always looking for her soulmate and thinks she can identify her by looking at her eyes. Her previous conquests were Nora a fun young girl and Charlotte a classy girl.

Also catching the eye of Lena is a cop looking to arrest her. But Lena outsmarted him and he fell for her. One night Lena is turned into a vampire by Louise and joins the group. The girls, immortal and rich, just live a life of fun, pleasure, and games. They race exotic cars in the city at night, go shopping in a mall all for themselves, dance in their club. Despite this life of opulence, Lena isn't all that thrilled about consuming blood and killing people. She does enjoy the powers of a vampire- super strength and the ability to defy gravity. But the cop doesn't give up and tries somewhat successfully to seduce her.

This will lead to the cops getting on the trail of the vampire clan, which was responsible for massacring some mobsters.

We Are The Night is a great title for a vampire movie, and the movie is also great. Unlike 95% of vampire movies in the last 15 years, it's not offensive to fans of the genre. It's a real cool, very stylish, and erotic vampire movie full of fantastic actions scenes. This day and age it's harder and harder to impress with action scenes but this movie does it. And the vampires, crawling, walking, and fighting on walls and ceilings looks excellent. The cast is outstanding. Nina Hoss' Louise in particular is very interesting, she's mature but attractive and has something animalistic about her. Anna Fischer's Nora is innocent, fun, playful, yet vicious. Jennifer Ulrich's Charlotte is distinguished and classy, she likes to smoke using cigarette holders and read books but is very deadly when necessary. This movie features the nastiest paper cut ever. Direction is first rate and the locations in and around new and old Berlin are quite unique.

But unfortunately, We Are The Night has to take the moralistic turn 3/4 of the way into it. That's when the "good" guys catch up with the "bad" guys and you know the outcome. The editing cold have been better. The ending still is surprising and interesting but vampires have always been the more interesting and sympathetic characters than the regular and boring humans. This movie should turn into a franchise, not sure how, but fans of vampire movies deserve a We Are The Night II.