Film Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) By Ana Lily Amirpour

A Persian language American Horror film tagged as the 'first Iranian vampire western'. It was chosen to show in the 'Next' program at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

The film is set in a ghost fictitious town supposedly in Iran called 'Bad City' and tells the story of several individuals who wander the streets, one in particular, is a lonesome girl who is a vampire and walks alone at night in search of prey.

Shot entirely in black and white, the film first introduces us to Arash played by Arash Marandi who dresses like James Dean and is described as the 'Iranian James Dean'. He lives with his dad (Marshall Manesh, yes, Ranjit from How I Met Your Mother!) who is a drug addict and a depressed widower who has amassed too much debt from a local pimp, Saeed (Dominic Rains) who bullies Arash and demands payment. The other characters are Atti, a miserable aging prostitute owned by Saeed who walks at night and the most enigmatic; The Girl who is a vampire and wanders wearing a long black chador.

The Girl (Sheila Vand), who remains nameless throughout the movie, spends her time walking at night and lying down in her room listening to hip music on vinyl while looking at posters of rock stars. Her first appearance is quite eerie, as she appears out of nowhere when someone looks behind. She looms over a shoulder and lingers, this is both menacing and visually iconic.
She preys on despicable men and even on the homeless. How she attacks is similar to most vampire films, she is invited into a home, looks around, waits for the man to come to her, plays hard-to-get and bites. In one scene that is quite gory and unexpected, she sucks a man's finger erotically and bites it off!

At one time she threatens a young street boy, bears her fangs and steals his skateboard, thankfully she lets him run off. The lonely vampire girl skateboards with her chador billowing behind her almost like a superhero or the classic cliche vampire cape. In another scene she stands on the skateboard, holding on to a wall for balance, her chador is so long and it hides the wheels. What's amazing here is that it gives the viewer the impression that she is floating like a ghost.

Do not expect a romance like Twilight here, for she can be dangerous and uncontrollable. A romance does happen when she meets Arash who stumbles out of a costumed party, high on ecstasy and ironically dressed as Dracula. The Girl takes pity on him and takes him home where he rests on her bed and they both listen to music. In the film's only tender and sexy moment, Arash and The Girl both dance together and cuddle. She could have bitten him but chose not to, they are both lonely and lost souls looking for solace.

Most fans would demand a sex scene but we do not see it, the clothes stay on.I didn't find this disappointing, but still sensual in its own stylistic way. I took into consideration that the film is Iranian so had to stay subtle because of the conservative culture.

 There is a great homage to cinema and classic films here, there is influence from Jim Jarsmusch's style to the Gothic atmosphere of classic vampire films and a perfect soundtrack. Ennio Moricone's score from the Dollars trilogy is heard, clearly an homage to the spaghetti westerns, no wonder this film is described as a 'modern western',

It is evident that this film is feminist and offers a fresh different twist on the vampire genre. Instead of the girl being the victim, despicable men are the victims and she is the predator.  The main theme that I've noticed here is the feeling of being trapped by circumstances- having to wander the streets at night to sell your body or feed yourself. The prostitute and The Girl are almost alike, both are lonely. The cliches and conventions of vampires; (is she scared of sunlight, garlic? ) are not mentioned and that's a good thing because they are not necessary. There is one scene though, where she refuses to eat a burger offered to her. She is attracted to Arash and tells him that she's done bad things but that does not phase Arash who is also 'bad' as he sells drugs and at one time steals jewelry.

Amirpour, the director is Iranian but was raised in America, she shot the film entirely in a small California town because due to Iran's strict government it was highly unlikely that she would be allowed to shoot this in her own country. Knowing that women in Iran must follow strict and quite oppressing rules, this film offers them a form of empowerment and revenge against the misogynistic patriarchal society. As mentioned previously the feminist theme is strongly felt.

Overall it is a masterfully directed and artistic film, the black and white style fit very well with the atmosphere and mood. It is not frightening  but still retains a sense of dread and eeriness. I enjoyed it very much.

                                              The Girl wandering at night looking for prey