Although its story unspools on the precipice of the U.S.-Iran war, Ali Asgari’s gentle family drama “A Bit of Light” was filmed in the conflict’s wake, under shellfire in Tehran. The production was eventually forced to relocate to Turkey, where Asgari and his team staged the numerous interior spaces that would serve as points of inflection for the tale of a doctor who has decided, in no uncertain terms, to take his own life. However, as the title suggests, the process of wrapping up his affairs illuminates political, professional and personal contours previously unseen, in remarkably surprising ways.
Co-written by “It Was Just An Accident” scribe Shadmehr Rastin, the film begins with the balding, middle-aged Arash (Missagh Zareh), shot at a languid distance, staring vacantly at his espresso machine, as its rising steam lets off a hiss of all-consuming white noise. It’s a fleeting moment, but presented with the kind of stark isolation and apathy that defines much of Arash’s tale, in which his lonely frames are intermittently invaded by loved ones. It’s also the first of many scenes where sound design plays a subtle but indispensable part in the drama — in this case, to accentuate Arash’s numbness.
