October 17, 2018
Written by: Ana Lily Amirpour
Starring: Sheila Vand, Arash Mirandi, Marshall Manesh
Quote: "If there was a storm coming right now, a big storm, from behind those mountains, would it matter? Would it change anything?"
Trivia: 'Ninja (V)' from Die Antwoord is the physical manifestation of what Amirpour wanted Saeed "The Pimp" to look like.
It is difficult to write this discussion for this film because there is simultaneously so much going on in the film and also so little. From a narrative perspective, the story is very simple. But as far as film's atmosphere, its influences, and cinematography, there so much more going on in this film. Billed as "The first Iranian vampire western," A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a beautiful mix of so many disparate influences. What writer/director Ana Lily Amirpour has created is a completely unique take on the tired vampire genre. Along with films like Let The Right One In, this movie has helped to breathe new life into the genre. More than a only vampire movie or western, this movie is also a really cute romance about two loners who find love despite who they are. Sheila Vand, who plays the vampire, gives a captivating performance that exudes sensuality, danger, and mystery while the world Amirpour creates successfully juxtaposes the beautiful with the macabre.
This movie is the story of two people. The first is Arash (Arash Mirandi), a hard working Iranian man who lives with his heroin addicted father and the other is a vampire known only as The Girl (Sheila Vand) who stalks the Iranian town of Bad City for deserving victims at night. At the start of the film, Arash loses his car to a drug dealer/pimp named Saeed because of his dad's drug debts. Later, Saeed is seduced by The Girl who takes her to his apartment and after watching him do drugs, she kills him. Arashlater goes to Saeed's house to bargain with him to get his car back passing The Girl on the way. Finding Saeed dead, Arash takes his drugs, money, and car back. He later goes to a party where he does ecstasy, but unable to hang, he has to leaves where he bumps into The Girl. She takes him to her apartment where they listen to music in an oddly touching scene. The next night, he meets her again giving her earrings that he stole and she convinces him to pierce her ears with a safety pin. The Girl gives money that Saeed owed to a prostitute and later that night, Arash's dad is a mess, thinking that his cat is his dead wife, he bails, gets high, and forces the same prostitute to get high. The Girl finds them and kills Arash's father (not knowing who he is) and takes the cat. The next day, Arash finds out his father has been killed, plans to leave the city with The Girl, notices the cat with her and puts two and two together. Unsure whether to be upset or grateful, Arash decides to let it go and the two drive off.
The filmmakers create a fascinating world in their Bad City. Filmed in black-and-white, there is a dark film noir feel to the city. A feeling that danger lurks around every corner and no one is who they seem to be. During one of the opening scenes as Arash rides a bicycle through the city we see a person dumping a body into a canal that is already filled with dozens of other bodies. This canal is later shown in the movie, but never acknowledged by any characters. We come to realize that this is just a daily part of Bad City. A city of prostitutes, pimps, drug addicts, with every vice one could imagine. It is a city of grand wealth and a city of desperate squalor.
What really jumps out at the viewer in this movie is Sheila Vand's performance as The Girl. Her chador, which in any other context would represent Muslim modesty, takes on a sinister feel in this movie. As the character skateboards through the streets of Bad City, it takes on the look of a cape and that it covers her completely except for her face, it gives her a mysterious quality. The Girl barely speaks in the film and instead mostly stares when directly addressed. It is also in this stare that much of her mystery is developed. What exactly is going on behind those large staring eyes? There are also moments where she can be truly terrifying. Finding a homeless boy, she chastises him about whether or not he is a "good boy," creating a tension in the viewer fearful that she is about to murder a child. But more than just a terrifying figure, she also has that dark sexuality that defined vampires from the start. In one scene she slowly dances by herself to hipster music transfixing the viewer. Her beauty is only matched by her danger.
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is also influenced by the Spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone and feminism adding these elements into the traditional vampire genre. Throughout the film we watch as men use their power to exploit the women of Bad City. Whether it is the pimp who forces sexual favors from his workers and cheats them out of money, or the father who forces takes advantage of anyone he can to fulfill his vice. More than just feeding on random bystanders, The Girl divvies out retribution to these men. Later, The Girl has a romantic encounter with the prostitute without ever getting sexual.
The film is stylish and entertaining. Distributed by VICE films, the modern voice in cool, the movie is a beautiful, cute, and dark look at love and death. Although filmed in California, one cannot help but be mesmerized by the atmosphere the film creates and most importantly, by Vand's performance as The Girl.
...what's your thoughts?
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