Another gem that's been AWOL for 30+ years has just been restored and released on home media for the first time. Szürkület ["Twilight"] is a crime thriller, but it's a crime thriller in the same way that 2001: A Space Odyssey is a scifi. In other words, if you're expecting a typical genre piece you'll find yourself alternately yawning or throwing your popcorn at the screen because this film is nothing like what came before. It rewires the entire genre.

The story is about a detective on his last days before retiring who's called in to investigate the brutal murder of an 8-year-old girl whose body was found in the woods near a giant stone cross. All the detective has to go on is a cartoon drawing the girl did before she died showing "The Giant", a car, and a bunch of "little hedgehogs". All this is revealed in the 1st few scenes, and it's basically the entire plot.

Just like in real life investigations, there aren't any mind-warping plot twists, shootouts or cat-and-mouse games. It really comes down to a waiting game, waiting for new information to trickle in, if it ever does. So in the same way Space Odyssey rejected things like warp drive, instead showing us the painfully slow reality of space travel, this movie rejects action and instead shows us the painfully frustrating reality of investigating a murder with nothing but a child's drawing as your clue.

Further complicating the mystery, the camera loves to follow behind the characters, meaning you can't always see who's talking and you certainly don't see a lot of facial expressions. You have to piece these things together yourself. For example in the case of not knowing who's talking, you have to wait until someone takes a drink while dialogue is happening--exposing who's talking by a process of elimination.

It's filmed in gorgeous film-noir black & white, but contrary to typical noir, it deliberately avoids hard contrast and sharp lines. Like the title, everything seems to be drenched in a hazy grey twilight. Not only does this send the message what the film is about (in life there are no clearcut facts), but it's spookily effective at conveying a sense of ghosts, fear and a foreboding awareness of the omnipresent evil of humankind.

FILM NERD NOTE: If you check out the trailer be sure to pay attention at around 1:30, the scene where we see from behind as a large man in a hat beckons to a young girl who's playing at a distance. The camera captures 3 planes of existence: 1 - the foreground of the man's silhouette, 2 - the midground of his hand beckoning to her, and 3 - the background which she emerges from. And not just that, but the focus slowly pulls in tighter as the girl approaches the man, and us, while the camera itself is slowly creeping closer to the man's shoulder! So if you catch what's going on, there are 3 planes of existence being compressed, and the effect is incredibly claustrophobic (especially in the full clip where the girl comes right up to his face in a hyper closeup).

What a great film. The only downside is, just like 2001: A Space Odyssey ruined all other scifis for me, Twilight ruined all crime thrillers🤦

TWILIGHT - Official Trailer (4K Restoration)