Twilight of a Woman's Soul is exactly what the title describes. The film follows Vera through the gradual decline of her soul after major life changing events. Vera starts off as a young, naive woman who wishes to help others, mainly the poor. However, this notion of hers is quickly disavowed because the man who she tries to help violates her and she then kills him. Then she has to suffer through holding onto this guilt while developing a relationship with Prince Dolskii to whom she eventually confides her experience after they are married. Prince Dolskii has a negative reaction and basically tells her off and blames her, which leads to Vera leaving and Prince Dolskii wallowing in his sadness. The film follows Vera and to some degree Prince Dolskii, but it's more of a commentary on the development of a woman's soul. These major events in Vera's life obviously changed her and Bauer's telling of that is skillful.
Bauer even uses some great editing techniques to help convey the story. The use of double exposure in the dream sequence helps convey the persistence Vera feels to help the poor while the tinting helps convey the fact that this scene is a dream. It is also interesting that the scene following with Maxim also uses tinting, and this could be used to show that Maxim is entranced with Vera's beauty. The other scenes that use tinting are the scenes when Vera is acting and when Prince Dolskii kills himself. The use of pink as a tinting color in Vera's acting scene help convey the development of her character and establish that she seems to be in a happier place in her life. Contrast this to Prince Dolskii's suicide scene, which is tinted blue and obviously more somber.
Bauer even uses some great editing techniques to help convey the story. The use of double exposure in the dream sequence helps convey the persistence Vera feels to help the poor while the tinting helps convey the fact that this scene is a dream. It is also interesting that the scene following with Maxim also uses tinting, and this could be used to show that Maxim is entranced with Vera's beauty. The other scenes that use tinting are the scenes when Vera is acting and when Prince Dolskii kills himself. The use of pink as a tinting color in Vera's acting scene help convey the development of her character and establish that she seems to be in a happier place in her life. Contrast this to Prince Dolskii's suicide scene, which is tinted blue and obviously more somber.