The Brighter Side Of Night

Feature, By Nathan Heron, 4th February, 2008

The mystery of the night has captured imaginations throughout time and has inspired some of the greatest pieces of creative work to date. Darkness falls, shadows linger… the unknown is inescapable. Night time is often traditionally associated with fear and danger, but Lawrence Johnston, who brought you the internationally award-winning documentary Eternity, now presents his epic new feature film, Night – which sheds new light on this façade of Mother Nature and shows that night is wondrous and deserving of celebration.

This documentary style film exhibits breathtaking imagery and boasts an emotive musical score by renowned composer, Cezary Skubiszewski – certainly contributing to an unforgettable cinematic experience. Originally, Lawrence considered shooting Night as a series – more a “history of the illumination of the world on an international scale”. Ultimately, it adopted a considerably different guise, prominently inspired by a previous body of work.

“I made a film which was my graduating work, called Night Out, which was an exploration of a gay marriage and it was set at night,” Lawrence, a gay man himself, reflects back approximately eighteen years. “It was about the way the night influences people’s behaviour. There was a combination of elements – the photographic, something celebratory, really romantic, really beautiful… It also explored how there are differences in how we live our life at night.”

Along with the film’s cinematographer, Laurie McInnes, Lawrence travelled across Australia, taking rough shots to prepare a list of locations and subjects that they would later revisit. This month of preparation laid the foundation for a refined list of filming that would occur over six months.

Night has universal appeal. Obviously, no matter who you are or where you’re from, we all experience the falling of the sun. But it’s how we experience nightlife that Lawrence explores within the film. The observation of people in various natural states particularly makes the film relatable – but through the eye of the camera lens the audience bares witness to familiar imagery of both places and events with a fresh perspective.

“It seemed like such a wide breadth of subject matter to make a film about… What we wanted to do was make a film that, while it’s shot here in Australia, is told in a way that you could be anywhere in the world and it would make you hopefully appreciate just the fundamental thing of the closing of the day and the night falling.”

While night time is all encompassing, the interviewees or ‘talking heads’ throughout the film – from everyday Aussies to well-known personalities such as singer/actor Paul Capsis – offer unique perspectives of all that the night entails. Whether its recollections of childhood experiences to present day accounts, everyone has their own story to tell.

“What I wanted the film to have was a really strong emotional edge. The voices that weave through the film hopefully give the viewer a connection that’s just the ordinary person on the street. I never wanted anyone to be an authority on the night,” he insists.

In a somewhat voyeuristic insight of people in their uninhibited night time personas, Night bisects humanity right down the middle, contrasting people of the day with with people of the night.

“In life there has to be light and dark, yin and yang for the world to spin on its axis. I think that’s the beauty that the night brings – difference. It does evoke different emotions in us, whether they’re happy or dramatic ones.”

Most people have been well-acquainted with various films, television shows and pieces of literature that establish the night as an unsafe context – where danger is imminent. Such depictions undoubtedly instill fear and perpetuate the cycle of the unknown. While he does draw on some typically negative aspects of the human relationship with the night, Lawrence deliberately attempts to focus on the positive.

“I guess because of world events in the last ten years, people are more fearful, even in the daytime, of difference or otherness. I think at night particularly, you’re a little more on edge; a little bit unsure.

“You can turn on the TV every night of the week and there’s some exposé of a police drama, of people picking up hookers in Los Angeles or guys who are going to break in somewhere or hurt somebody. You put a lot of time into making a film, so why put time into making yet another negative version of life?”

Night in a sense, offers a degree of comfort in times of uncertainty; ensuring that darkness doesn’t always equate to doom and gloom. Some scenes depict city nightlife in various states of man-made illumination – neon signs, office-lit buildings. Other shots present arresting footage of natural wonders, such as the full moon rising above Uluru or dramatic storms filling the night sky. Importantly, it reminds us that even the simplest things in life are worthy of recognition and admiration.

So, if Lawrence sees the night with such clarity and is able to impart its beauty to audiences in such a memorable manner, how does he envision the day?

“Day’s boring! I like the theatricality of the night,” he laughs.

Win a double pass to see Night. Click here to enter.

Night screens nationally from Feb 7 through Dendy Films.

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