We Are
the Night (Wir Sind Die Nacht)
There are so many vampire movies out there that it seems nearly impossible
to come up with a new angle on them.
The
German film We Are the Night (Wir Sind Die Nacht) does its best to
take it into a different direction – hot Eurotrash lesbian vampires who
throw raves and drive $300,000 sports cars.
It
may sound like a bit of a cheesy direction change, but We Are the Night
actually succeeds extremely well – both as a vampire movie and as a
moody exploration of the underbelly of European nightlife.
Are
the vampires simply allegories for a cold and dangerous world? Undoubtedly,
but honestly which vampires aren’t?
And
if the movie in the end seems to be a bit of style over substance? Again,
which vampire movies aren’t?
However, despite its pulpy roots and periodic silly patches, We Are the
Night is mostly enjoyable cheese.
We Are the Night
follows a vampire gang,
run by femme fatale Louise – played by the always intriguing Nina Hoss (Yella,
Jerichow) – almost a den-mother of debauchery for her small group of
night dwellers.
These vampires are thrill seekers. They kill with regularity, despite the
fact that they seem to have chilled reserves of blood. They all drive the
aforementioned high-end sports cars. They break into guarded quarries just
so they lounge in bikinis. They even play chicken with the sun – staying
out as the sun rises for as long as they physically can before they are
engulfed in flames.
As
Louise describes the lifestyle, “We eat, drink, sniff coke, and fuck as much
as we like. But we never get fat, pregnant, or hooked.”
Louise’s constant companions over the years have been Nora (Anna Fischer),
the wild and impetuous sprite of the group. The other member is Charlotte
(Jennifer Ulrich), a former silent-film starlet who was bitten by Louise
just as she was becoming a star – forcing her to leave her career, and most
importantly, her family behind. Eighty-some years later, immortality has
grown somewhat tiresome and Charlotte looks more and more at what she left
behind.
This
leads to the most quietly devastating moments on the film, a surprisingly
poignant scene in which Charlotte goes to visit her daughter, who she had
last seen as a child before she was turned, but is now dying in a nursing
home. It’s a sweet, tender moment in a film which does not seem to have too
much value for subtle emotion.
As
Charlotte becomes more and more morose, Louise decides their little group
needs a new infusion of blood – so to speak.
She
finds that new passion in Lena (Karoline Herfurth), a young punkette
small-time criminal who tries to evade the police in their rave club. At
first Lena is seduced by the glamour and excitement of the lifestyle, but
eventually her affection for a local policeman puts her at odds with
Louise.
It’s
all fast and flashy and doesn’t always make sense, but We Are the Night
is certainly entertaining.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2011 PopEntertainment.com.
All rights reserved. Posted: June 21, 2011.
