Jennifer Ulrich as Charlotte in Dennis Gansel’s German-made WE ARE THE NIGHT.
vampire Louise (Nina Hoss) with her two compan- ions—the morose Charlotte (Jennifer Ulrich), and the child-like Nora (Anna Fischer). Sensing in Lena the companion she has longed for, Louise pounces upon her in the club’s restroom, transforming her into a vampire and thus compelling her to join her small entourage. Lena’s grief and anger are ini- tially quelled by her introduction to the lavish life- style that Louise’s seemingly inexhaustible wealth provides, but her new mistress’ unwanted sexual overtures, coupled with her own repugnance to- ward killing innocents to slake her thirst, leads Lena once again into the arms of Tom—much to Louise’s displeasure. When the deaths of two vi- cious pimps lead the police to Louise and her com- panions, both Lena and Tom are forced to determine where their loyalties lie.
Although it bears little overt similarity to Le Fanu’s novella, director Dennis Gansel has stated in his interview with the website Dread Central that WE ARE THE NIGHT was indeed heavily in- fluenced by CARMILLA, which he describes as a story about “a female vampire that set her sights on seducing and bringing over another young woman into her dark world.” While clearly an
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overly simplistic reading of the source material— reducing Le Fanu’s elaborate confidence schemes to mere “seduction”—this interpreta- tion does make clear Gansel’s intention to frame the film’s narrative as a sort of moral dilemma, with Lena (whose life is characterized by dys- function and depravation) enticed into a preda- tory subculture by the lonely Louise’s promises of both material and sensual excess, as well as a sense of belonging. Unfortunately, the film’s narrative quickly takes a ruinous misstep that thwarts Gansel’s modest ambition. When Louise forcibly “turns” Lena shortly after their meeting— without her victim’s knowledge, let alone her con- sent—any pretext of seduction is negated, as is the element of choice that is the essential com- ponent of any moral dilemma. Thus, the mate- rial wealth that the film depicts as bait designed to lure a potentially complicit victim can only really be understood as meager compensation for a life of slavery, as it is offered only after Lena is forcibly enslaved. In this way, the film— perhaps unconsciously—likens Louise to the pimps the vampires dispatch early in the film, as both forcibly induce addiction to compel
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