‘Twilight’ (1990) Blu-Ray Review – A Masterful Murder Mystery That Gets Under Your Skin

After discovering the murdered body of a young girl deep in a mountainous forest, a hardened homicide detective pushes himself to increasingly obsessive ends in his quest to catch the serial killer – known only as “the Giant”—responsible for the crime. A much admired but long unavailable masterpiece by influential Hungarian auteur and regular Béla Tarr collaborator György Fehér, Twilight (Szürkület) is at once an existential murder mystery and an expansive meditation on time and space. Stunningly lensed in rich blacks and cascading grays by DP Miklós Gurbán (Werckmeister Harmonies), Arbelos is proud to present Twilight for its first-ever U.S. release in a brand new 4K restoration by the National Film Institute – Hungarian Film Archive and FilmLab, supervised by Gurbán.

For thoughts on Twilight (1990), please see my colleague Mike Vaughn’s review from the theatrical re-release here.

Video Quality

Twilight makes its US Blu-Ray debut in its original 1.66:1 thanks to Arbelos with a brand new 1080p release sourced from a 4K digital restoration produced by the Hungarian National Film Institute of the Original Camera Negative. For a film that uses imagery so deliberately and effectively, it is amazing to see it look so sumptuous. The sparkling black-and-white photography shot by Miklós Gurbán stuns in high definition with natural grain respectfully intact. 

There is a tremendous amount of detail present with robust textures on the clothing and within the production design. The new transfer shows off a great amount of depth and enhanced detail within the spaces the detective is exploring. Black levels are quite deep with no trace of black crush, compression artifacts, or other digital anomalies. The nuance in the grays is impressive throughout. The contrast is impeccably rendered, and there is virtually no print damage to be found. Arbelos has treated this one with the respect it deserves. 

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray disc comes with a fantastic LPCM 1.0 mono track in the original Hungarian with optional English subtitles. The foreboding score anchors the film and sounds crisp and clear throughout as it sets the tone of the narrative. Fehér makes incredibly sparse films, and this track does everything it needs to ensure that the quaint amount of dialogue comes through perfectly. Environmental sounds such as weather effects are rendered well alongside everything else. There do not seem to be any egregious instances of age-related wear and tear. Arbelos has given this film the lovingly preserved, faithful audio presentation it deserves.

Special Features

The Blu-Ray of Twilight includes a booklet featuring the essay “Breathing In For the Last Time: Aesthetics and Authorship in György Fehér’s Twilight” by writer Dr. Andrea Virginás which provides a great analysis of the film through various perspectives. The case also includes reproduction photographs taken during the production of the film. The on-disc special features are as follows: 

• Interviews with Cinematographer Miklós Gurbán: A nearly 34-minute interview with the cinematographer that is incredibly insightful to the creative process. In this piece, Gurbán discusses how he came on board the project, working with György Fehér, the issues they had with the film stock, the realities behind the location shooting, memories of the performances, and more fascinating tidbits that are well worth a watch. 

• Interview with Editor Mária Czeilik: A nearly 24-minute interview with the editor in which she discusses how she started working with György Fehér, the nocturnal working hours of the director, the difficulties of editing certain projects, the sense of discovery she felt during the editing process, changing the ending of Twilight, the toll that editing such long sequences took on her, and more. 

• Short Films

• • Oregek (1969): The first of two short films included from director György Fehér. This 16-minute documentary captures what appears to be a town meeting in which several elderly people discuss their hardships along with other transitions into town ceremonies. 

• • Tomikám (1970): A 23-minute short in which an old man is upset about not being able to get stamps and generally being treated poorly. 

• U.S. Theatrical Trailer: The two-minute trailer is provided for the film. 

Final Thoughts

Twilight is a stunning piece of Hungarian cinema that plays against all of the facets of the crime genre that audiences have been conditioned to take in over the past several decades. The investigation is very slow and lingers for an uncomfortably long time as you head toward an uncertain conclusion that is as chilling as any grisly imagery that other works feature to make an impact. The careful attention to pacing and composition makes any small developments infinitely more impactful, and you truly feel like you are in the mind of the character. This will not work for an impatient audience, but those who settle on its wavelength will be amply rewarded. Arbelos has rescued this film with an unbelievable Blu-Ray boasting a 5-star A/V presentation and a lovely array of special features. If you are into slow and deliberate crime narratives that leave a mark, do yourself a favor and check this one out. Recommended 

Twilight is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Arbelos has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.