This is a very modest film from Rasoulof, clearly made with very limited means, but even with what little he has at his disposal, Rasoulof is able to create a human tale about both compassion and the hardships prisoners endure once they have served their time, which often force them into drastic measures that sees them imprisoned once again. The biggest element that needs to be mentioned in regards to “The Twilight” is that it is a true story. Rasoulof was touched by the real life story of Ali-Reza and his wife, that he wanted to turn it into a film, but the amazing thing here is that he got the real people to play themselves for the film. With where the story ends up going, I must say that I am surprised that both Ali-Reza and his wife, Fatemeh Bijan, were okay recreating events from their past for a movie which, while it does have a lot of moments of happiness within it, ultimately ends in a tragic circumstance of recidivism. While it is interesting that Rasoulof has cast the real couple to play themselves in “The Twilight”, this is strangely not a unique case in Iranian cinema, as a number of films have been made about true stories with the real protagonists of these stories playing themselves in the films. Abbas Kiarostami's “Close Up” is probably the most famous of these films, and much more successful than Rasoulof's “The Twilight” which suffers from his two “actors” being rather wooden onscreen, particularly the wife.
The highlight of “The Twilight” is actually the story itself, and the hero within the story is the kind-hearted prison warden who is able to see the good in Ali-Reza, despite him being regularly troublesome in the prison. The warden is able to recognise that this is a man who has spent his whole adult life in prison, with seemingly nothing to live for, so if he did have something in his life, it would probably change him for the better, which is exactly what happens. It is touching to see an authority figure in an Iranian film being portrayed in a positive light, because they are rarely seen that way, often seen as pawns of the regime. Here we have a genuine human connection between a prison warden and one of his prisoners, one who is willing to cut through the red tape in an attempt to give this man a better life in prison, and hopefully a future out of it.
Personally, I felt that the scenes within the prison during the first half of the film were the strongest, particularly the dramatisation of Ali-Reza's change towards a positive outlook on life when he has someone to finally care about. To see this downtrodden man suddenly smiling and looking forward to his weekly visit from his wife, it is really heart warming. Smack bang in the middle of the film, we get real-life video footage from Ali-Reza and Fatemeh's wedding in prison, and it is really nice to see just how joyous an occasion it was for both of them, and their guests, even though it was taking place behind the walls of a prison.
Eventually both Ali-Reza and Fatemeh are released from prison (with Fatemeh released much earlier due to a quirk in the Iranian justice system which the prison warden exploits) and attempt to live their lives on the outside. They have a tiny, one room house out in the country, but they are happy. However, this happiness soon turns to desperation as Ali-Reza finds out that no one will give him a chance on the outside world, due to the fact of him being an ex-con. No matter how hard he is willing to work, he is always rejected, which then leads to dejection as the stress of having to provide for both a wife, and new baby, start to have an affect on his decision making. So while “The Twilight” initially is a very uplifting film, it is equally as heartbreaking to see this man once again so downbeat when no one will give him a chance and he cannot provide for his family. Personally I felt this second half of the film lacked the compelling narrative drive of the first half and became very repetitive. I understand that this is probably how it happened in reality, but there really isn't much to chew on once the couple is released from prison, as we continually see him getting knocked back and rejected.
As I mentioned at the beginning, “The Twilight” was made with very modest means. I believe that it was shot on digital video (if it wasn't, it certainly looked like it), and in real locations like the prison itself. There is nothing very cinematic about the whole venture, the film plays more like a documentary than a feature film, which is interesting in seeing where Mohammad Rasoulof started to where his films are today, which are now so powerfully cinematic. Maybe the decision to shoot in a low-fi manner was so that the real-life wedding footage would edit in seamlessly? I am not sure, but if so, this does work well.
Overall, Mohammad Rasoulof's debut feature “The Twilight” is a tiny film, that tells a human story in a truthful if non-flashy manner. It certainly does not suggest the types of film's we would be getting from this very talented director in the future, but as small as “The Twilight” is, I would still say it is a success at telling the story it wanted to tell. It is an initially positive story about an empathetic prison warden attempting to give a troubled prisoner a future. However dreams of a normal life are quickly shattered when no-one will give the ex-con a chance which leads to a return to prison, in what appears to be a never ending vicious circle in the lives of prisoners in Iran. If anything, Rasoulof appears to be pleading to his audience to always look at the good in everyone and to give people a second chance, and not let their mistakes define them.
3 Stars.
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