A
Girl Walks Home at Night
2014
Director- Ana Lily Amirpour
Cast- Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh, Dominic
Rains, Mozhan Marnò, Rome Shadanloo, Reza Sixo Safai, Masuka
The film
follows a cast of characters, mostly at night, on the streets of Bad City, a
fictional Iranian town (the movie was actually filmed in America, however).
Arash is a hard working young man trying to
get ahead though his father’s drug addiction keeps getting in the way of that.
The Girl is a vampire who prowls the streets at night interacting with, and
sometimes preying on Bad City’s denizens. Other characters are an unscrupulous
drug dealer-pimp, a lonely prostitute, and a perpetually unsupervised child.
The plot is really not that
important as the film is more of a grim character study. Bad City is a type of
vampire itself as it sucks the life and dreams out of its characters. Some of
the characters are victims, others are parasites, again furthering the vampiric
theme.
Its shot in black and white
and has a definite noir feel. The music alternates between pop and spaghetti western
which, while jarring, is effective. Often I was reminded of some of the experimental
indie movies of the late 80s and early 90s.
The movie was lauded as a feminist
horror film and it’s easy to see why, given its themes and the fact that it has
a female lead directed by a woman. I don’t know if there is any central message
other than awareness of the abusive, predatory nature of modern life. The drug
dealer preys on Arash, his father and the prostitute. Arash preys on someone
else when he steals from them and of course The Girl herself is a predator.
The Girl (again a nod to the
spaghetti western as she has no name) is an instant classic character. Aesthetically
she looks like a sort of grim reaper with her black hijab and black cape, floating
down the streets on her skateboard.
Though the film is pretty
grim, in the center of this is a very sweet love story between Arash and The
Girl. Its not a hot blooded passionate romance but the solace of two outsiders
finding unconditional acceptance.
