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Day Break
R1 - America - Film Movement Review written by and copyright: James Teitelbaum (20th November 2007). |
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The Film
 The very cool Film Movement series is a subscription service that sends out a DVD every month, each containing an indie feature film and a short film. "Day Break" is Year 4, Film 4. This is the story of Mansour (Hosein Yari), the son of a sheep farmer in rural Iran (a surprisingly green place). He convinces his father, mother, and fiancé to move to the city, a depressing mass of concrete and rebar for as far as the eye can see. He loses his job, one thing leads to another, and next thing you know, Mansour finds that he has murdered someone. Under Iranian law, the victims of the family must be present at the criminal's execution. The family of the victim also has the right to forgive the perpetrator, which will save his life (although he still has to do prison time). The family of Mansour's victim do not seem to be compassionate people, just the opposite. On the day of his execution, Mansour sees a doctor, writes his will, has his last meal, says his prayers, and is taken to the place where he is to be hanged. He is ready to die, but the victim's family don't show up, and so Mansour is not hung. He is taken back to his cell, where he waits for weeks until the execution is rescheduled. This happens three more times. Mansour undergoes the worst sort of torture, as he prepares for death time and time again, and always ends up back in his cell. His own family (including his very pregnant wife) travel to the prison to say their goodbyes each time and always return home uncertain about the future. They too are being tortured. Living in a perpetual state of virtual death, Mansour slowly goes mad, just wanting to get his inevitable execution over with. "Day Break" was shot on location in a century-old Iranian prison in 2005. Director Hamid Rahmanian flip-flops back and forth between a documentary style, in which characters speak directly to a shaky, hand-held camera, and a more traditional style of storytelling, in which there is an impenetrable wall between the actors and a more stable camera. At first it seems that the prison scenes are shot in the former style, while a series of flashbacks into Mansour's life are shot in the latter. This pattern breaks down halfway through the movie, giving the film an inconsistent feel. That said, Hosein Yari gives a nice performance as our doomed Iranian accidental killer. He looks perpetually shell-shocked and says almost nothing, but this is exactly what is needed to convey the tortured and doomed Mansour. I found the actor who played Hazmeh to be notable too (don't know his name, it is not listed on IMDB, and his credit is in Farsi!). As another death row inmate, he gives the best "sobbing and begging for his life" performance since John Turturro in "Miller's Crossing" (1990). The prison setting is suitably grim, and is photographed largely in depressing shades of blue and green. This contrasts with the stark white urban Tehran, which in turn contrasts the surprisingly lush Iranian countryside. More impressive than the photography is the editing. During a few scenes in which Mansour begins to lose it, there are some nice quick-cut montages that effectively illustrate Mansour's madness and confusion.
Video
The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen print is clean enough, but there are occasional speckles and dust. I did see a bit of grain here and there, as well as the odd compression artifact. This is all very minor, and doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the film. This is strictly a Region 1 release.
Audio
Farsi Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is the only option here. The Iranian dialogue is fine (no other options), and the music and sound effects tracks are both used solidly. Subtitles are English-only and are locked on whether you want them or not.
Extras
The short film this time is a Canadian film, Deco Dawson's "Dumb Angel" (2005) and runs for 7 minutes 2 seconds. This bit of film, unlike most of the other shorts in the Film Movement collection, is pretty weak. It is nothing but seven minutes of a kid playing a drum solo in his garage. The camera slowly dollies backwards into the driveway, as two guys light fireworks. That is all. Skip it. Also included are text bios for the director and star of "Day Break" plus bonus trailers for other Film Movement titles "Morlang" (1:56) and "Hop" (2:04).
Overall
This series is a great idea, but I'll bet they could add trailers for the title films on the discs (and maybe commentaries as well) at little extra cost. I'm not looking for comprehensive five-disc releases for each film, but I like having original trailers archived with the feature films on DVD's, and it would also be interesting to hear these indie directors discussing their work.
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