Leofwine_draca
A NOCTURNE: NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRE is a wannabe intellectual Australian vampire indie production about a vampire couple who spend their nights cruising the city for their latest victims. It's a mood piece throughout with nothing in the way of incident, all scene-setting and no pay-off. The director has a good eye for shooting in real-world locations but with no story, it's a real bore.
Andrew Mengede
I pride myself with being able to watch any film, even the ones that people deride as "amateurish", however this is the first film I have genuinely hated.The dialogue is virtually non existent and without a shred of impact. Minor characters wax philosophical (and insensibly), and major characters say nothing and pose moodily with a vengeance around Melbourne.The nu-metal soundtrack is so dated, even Disturbed would roll their eyes in disapproval.The production is awful. This may be a nihilistic film, but there is a difference between a bleak production and a sparse one. This is nothing but jump cuts and landscape shots.There is precisely one evocative segment in this film, I won't describe it because it's the only good bit of the film and discussing it would feel like a spoiler.Overall, don't be fooled by the quote from Nietzsche or the woman playing Chopin on piano. Good philosophical films provoke thought and questions from the viewer, teasing them with messages. This film has precisely nothing to say.
adrossan
This intellectual "wannabe" was the worst waste of film ever. I could not believe the garbage proffered to the viewer, especially in comparison with the interesting critique on the cover.A pretentious,amateurish,boring, cliché-filled waste of time - unfortunately this crud should be removed from shelves as unfit for viewing.The film was completely unable to put any point of view across, the selected premise of being "intellectual" by relying on quotes from Nietzsche was just plain laughable. Long "enigmatic" silences conveyed nothing and the viewer will struggle to find any relevance to anything remotely philosophical.Even the "vampire" scenes were inept and cringeworthy.
b-littlemore
I caught A Nocturne at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF) at the end of 2007. While it didn't have the most profound effect on me at first( I am a fan of more light hearted and visceral horror films),I found I kept thinking about the film long after the screening(and thinking about the hot body of lead actress Vanessa de Largie).It is certainly not a "sit back and cop the action" style film, and thats why I think it works.There are plenty of vampire films going around these days, most relying on special effects and suspense. What sets A Nocturne apart I feel is the barren nature of all aspects of the film. The sets, the dialogue, the very "feel" of the picture is sparse and nihilistic. The two lead actors, Vanessa de Largie and Alex Spears, have the least amount of lines in the film. This meant they had to emote and project their characters essences through look, posture and demeanour almost exclusively.Luckily they both gave fantastic performances.I really liked the pervading sense of futility throughout the film.I assume that was the main point, outsiders trapped in a world they didn't see much sense in.Its great to see a movie that seems to be more an expression of a point on the state of society rather than a titillating thrill played out through action and romance.