Finding herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, Marina is sucked
into a whirlpool of dramatic events. The humiliation and pain she suffered
have changed the course of her stable and safe life. Marina is looking for
opportunities to avenge. Day after day she returns to the suburb where
a fateful meeting has taken place. When she manages to track down the
instigator of the crime, she decides not to use the banal weapon of revenge.
Marina resorts to the professional skills of a psychologist, who dexterously
manipulates the cruel character of the offender.
Director's Statement :
When I read the first draft of the script written by Olga Dihovichnaya, the main heroine was much older, in her forties. Andrey’s part was written for a young bully in his early twenties. Overall the story was much harsher and darker. It was a true punch in the audience’s groin. I like well-written and performed dramas, but even I felt that the story had to be lightened up a bit. It needed some air, some ambiguity. I participated in writing of the script mainly as a friend, since Olga was going to direct the film. When Olga changed her mind and offered me to direct it, I immediately realized that she was the perfect lead. And this is how Twilight Portrait started to get a new layer of passion between very different but equally strong, Man and a Woman.
I decided I wanted to shoot the film in Rostov-on-Don. Most of the Southerners speak with a very specific accent and I realized I needed it. The Woman and the Man should sound different as well. I almost casted the young lead for Andrey’s part when I came across a real militiaman, Sergey Borisov… That’s when all the puzzle parts fit fell into place. I finally had the “perfect couple”.
Olga managed to nail in her story the true nature of the most disturbing phenomenon in contemporary society – indifference. I was amazed at the honesty of the story’s atmosphere. That is why I chose certain technique in making of the film. It was important for me to accentuate the authenticity of it all. I involved mostly non-actors. We used photo cameras Cannon Mark II to shoot the story. I chose to use two cameras that always worked simultaneously from different spots. Therefore most of the dialogues bear natural reactions of the actors. I challenged the DOP and the cameraman not to use lights at all – only natural lighting. It was hardest to work that way during the night scenes that take place inside the car, but we managed. I challenged Olga not to use any make up on the set. And she was brave enough to reject hair and make-up artists’ help. We sometimes re-wrote dialogues on set if I felt the words were alien to an actor – we found another way of saying the line – it was important for me that the lines fit perfectly into their mouths