Germany, Pale Mother

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supernatural forces and magic to engage the audience.

It seems that Night watch pushes the idea that irrational decisions, made with bad intention will come and haunt you back in the future. This is best seen when Svetlana was wishing that her mother would die. Svetlana blamed her mother for taking away her time and opportunity to shape her own life, she believes that her mother is the reason why she is on her own without children. However, when Svetlana realized that her mother is on her deathbed and wouldn’t accept her kidney she cursed herself. It became clear that Svetlana regretted that she told her mother that it was her kidney, knowing that her mother could never accept it. Similarly, when Anton was trying to get back his ex-girlfriend he was having a bad motif. He believed the witch and agreed to kill the unborn child. This came haunting him back when he saw that the child was his son and chose the darkness over the light.

In Fenist, the Bright falcon it becomes clear that it is commitment and loyalty which will bring happiness in the future. Maryushka was different from her sisters, she longed for love and intimacy and therefore picked the feather so she could be with Fenist. Her sisters however were jealous and killed Fenist. This led Maryushka on a quest to go and find Fenist to bring him back and have a happy life with him. On this journey Maryushka had to wear out three pairs of iron shoes, and break three iron staffs, and tear three iron caps. Maryushka persisted through this quest until she was finally reunited with her lover. The fairytale also shows how love cannot be bought, but rather is something you would want to sacrifice for. At the end Fenist choose to stay with Maryushka because of the will and determination she has shown in trying to get him back.

The stories of Night watch and Fenist, the bright falcon are centered on witches. To move the plot of the stories forward Witches play a key role. The witch in Russian stories usually reacts either good or bad dependent on the intentions of the person approaching them. In Fenist, The Bright Falcon Maryushka received help from the witch, whereas in Night watch the witch was able to convince Anton to kill the unborn child of his ex-girlfriend. This shows that the ethics of characters are really important as the Witch will read the person and either help or misguide the person.

Fenist, The Bright Falcon is the better story as it is fairly straightforward and has a major teaching that in the end perseverance and hard work pays off. Night watch has too many plot faults and incongruities to make a convincing and logical story. It starts with the battle between the light and the dark, where it is unclear why they are fighting and which side is good or bad. Than it is unclear why Anton’s ex-girlfriend left him and what he was doing during his time at the Night watch. These plot holes made the movie unenjoyable and difficult to understand for me, and is why I chose Fenist, The Bright Falcon as the better story.

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