A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night

Director: Ana Lily Amirpour

Year: 2014

Genre: Drama, Horror

Summary: In the Iranian ghost-town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the townspeople are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire.

5/5 Pineapples

Review:

 TL;DR - A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is a cinematic masterpiece written and directed by a woman about women. Also there's a vampire. Trailer provided below.

There has been a fight for recognition of female directors in the film industry. It's inarguable.

I remember seeing a video once on the topic where women within the industry were standing up for female directors and gave examples of "successes", like Twilight (which was directed by Catherine Hardwick).

Now... I don't know if anyone has revisited the first Twilight film recently as I have. But, it's not good - to say the absolute least. And, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is not to be compared with the more popular, teen, vampire romance, sell-out catastrophe. (Nothing against Stephenie Meyer, though, because her books still slap.)

And I want to make it clear that I am not putting one female down to make another look better. I simply don't think we are going to gain recognition for female directors by pointing out mediocre films simply because they were made by women. Because a film is directed by a woman - that doesn't make it inherently good, unfortunately. And, I think to argue that fact is just blind and sexist in its own way.

The only way anyone will take this movement seriously is by pointing out groundbreaking films by women - and these films are most likely not as heard of or popular as, say, Twilight.

Why have I decided to start my first blog post in almost a year with a feminist tangent about Twilight, you ask?

Because A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is a groundbreaking masterpiece that happens to also be about a vampire and happens to also be directed by a woman and also happens to be very much about women. And, despite the fact that the screenplay is deeply moving, the cinematography is beautifully shot (and in black and white, no less), and the score is the most profoundly heart wrenching thing I have maybe ever heard - and is paired so seamlessly with each scene - this film is almost cult-status. Unheard of. Not popular. No one is really talking about it unless you're submerged in the horror community and/or film industry like I tend to feel I am.

When bringing recognition to female directors, we need to point out movies like this that aren't getting the attention they deserve. Let's stop pointing out the ones that got popular and sold out because the book was really good. Let's stop being too afraid to admit that the movie itself was less than mediocre because it was directed by a woman and because some people believe that makes it inherently a good movie. Let's stop wasting our time on bad movies and instead watch A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night.

I was too lost and engrossed in this film to have any concept of time. But I do know that it's within the first few moments of the story that we learn Arash (played by Arash Marandi) lives in a poverty-stricken area that we come to know as Bad City. We watch as Arash makes his way across town with a stray cat he found, walking across a bridge that cascades over a ditch used for the sole purpose of disposing remains of the neighborhood's dead.

When he arrives home, his father, Hossein, is buying heroine from a dealer, but it's evident he doesn't have the means to pay. We quickly establish Arash is the provider of his widower, troubled father. And though he works, the only real evidence Arash has of his hard work is his 1957 Ford Thunderbird. The dealer, clearly an antagonist of this story, claims the Thunderbird as collateral.

We follow the dealer later that week, and discover that he is also a pimp. It's clear his respect for women is nonexistent in his interaction with "his" prostitute. He claims she is withholding money from him for herself, forces her to perform fellatio, and then throws her back out into the streets without her share before returning home.

Lurking in the shadows, a cloaked figure witnessed the whole scene.

Once home, the dealer parks the stolen car and heads toward his apartment. He notices a cloaked woman following him and arrogantly assumes she must want to hook up... So, he invites The Girl in.

The Girl (played by Sheila Vand) doesn't speak - but he's not much of a listener anyway - and watches as he does coke in his living room and blasts artless, club music. I think the choice to have this character play this specific kind of music displays his chaotic energy and lack of depth.

He starts attempting to seduce her by touching her face and rubbing his finger along her mouth. She plays along sucking on his appendage for a bit before displaying her fangs and chomping down. She takes advantage of his shocked response to bleed his jugular dry. Once he's dead, she takes his jewelry and exits the crime scene.

Meanwhile, Arash has been working for a rich family, tending to their pool and other maintenance issues. We learn that Arash is a gentleman when the wealthy of-age daughter asks Arash to help her with the television in her bedroom. He asks her to leave because it may take awhile for him to fix, and she's in awe as he explains he doesn't want to offend her parents with the two of them being in her bedroom together for an extended period of time.

Before she leaves, she mentions a costume party and invites him to come along.

Now, some may think that what happens next cancels out his being gentlemanly. He uses the time he has alone in her room to pocket a pair of her diamond earrings. But I promise, he continues to redeem himself.

He's on his way to give said earrings to his father's drug dealer in exchange for his car as The Girl is making her way out of the dealer's apartment. They make eye contact for a moment, and the blood on her shirt and face doesn't go unnoticed. They let each other pass, Arash makes his way to the apartment, and he lets himself in when he doesn't receive an answer at the door.

He is, of course, met with a brutal crime scene.

And it's in this moment that I think it's so important that this movie was filmed in black and white. I think black and white horror has a way of taking us away from the blood and gore so that we don't get lost in it or distracted by it. Horror that is filmed in black and white allows us to keep our focus on the emotion driving the story, not all the guts. (See also: The Eyes of My Mother and, of course, the classic Psycho.)

Arash finds his car keys in the dealer's pockets and takes the briefcase of drugs that was left on the living room coffee table.

I gather from the state of the environment our characters live in that there isn't much hope provided by government or law enforcement. It's every man for himself. Arash was dealt a rough hand, and he's just trying to make do.

Moving forward to Halloween night. Arash attends the costume party... ironically for us... as Dracula. We see that he's been selling the drugs acquired from the deceased's briefcase to make extra cash. The rich girl he works for is there - of course, since she invited him - and she's flirting with him while buying drugs off of him. When she inquires about buying more than one Ecstasy tablet, he insists one is enough.

I think this only displays further that he is a good person trapped in a bad situation. Yeah, selling and doing illegal drugs is bad, but we can see how he takes accountability for others when he insists no one person needs more than one tablet of Ecstasy for the night.

However, she insists that she'd like to buy the second tablet for him and he accepts this gesture of club camaraderie.

Arash gets caught up in the lights and sounds while dancing with his employer's daughter, and leans in to kiss her. Her reaction says she never meant anything between them to be anything more than friends, and rejection immediately washes over his features. He respects her wishes, doesn't make a scene or react harshly to being denied, but decides to leave the party soon after.

Arash's drug-hazed and drunk mind attempts to lead him stumbling home, but ultimately he becomes lost. He finds a cloaked woman skateboarding in the street and asks if she knows where they are.

If I am not mistaken, based purely off memory, this is the first time we hear The Girl speak.

She tells him they're in Bad City, but he laughs, "I live in Bad City." It's unclear whether or not he's drunkenly confused and they really are in Bad City or not. But they strike up conversation. It's clear he's intoxicated, and we think for a moment he might steal a kiss from a stranger, when he proves himself a gentleman again by saying how cold she must be, and pulling his cloak over her shoulder.

The simple gesture is received as if it's the first kindness The Girl has experienced in a long time. And based off of the few things we've seen leading up to this point, it's believable. Plus, we know she's a vampire, and who knows how long she's had to put up with men being pricks.

He exclaims how much he needs to sit down, and she insists he can't sit there on the side of the road - as he does so anyway. She sits him on top of her skateboard and wheels him to her apartment.

Perhaps the most iconic scene from A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night follows.

The Girl's apartment is down several stairs and a long alleyway, making it feel a lot like a cold, dark, cemented basement. She has musical artists' posters displayed all along her walls. It's obvious music is important to her.

The Girl plays 'Death' by White Lies on her record player as they begin to settle in. It feels like a deliberate choice, like she's trying to share a part of herself with Arash without having to explicitly say anything.

I'd like to note that the entirety of this movie played out to me in that way. This story isn't driven by dialogue, but rather by the way the scenes are shot and the music paired with that scene - or even the body language of the characters involved. I personally think this contributes a lot to this film feeling less like another movie and more like a piece of cinematic art.

It seems as if Arash is sobering up, and the two of them are digesting each other with a close, non-aggressive or vulgar, intimacy. The score, as well as the cinematography, perfectly illustrate what it's like to be afraid of the world and of love but also the wonder behind finding someone special who may be able to change all of that.

I think the polarity of this shot is important to note too, because we have a man dressed as a vampire, facing vulnerably toward a woman who we know actually is a vampire. I think this could say something about the roles men and women play in our heteronormative society and how it's okay for those roles to be reversed. I also think the movie is a deliberate display of how harshly women are treated in our society and I think Arash is intended to be an example for how men should act.

When Arash is home, he discusses with his father about how he was out last night with a girl. We gather from Arash's time at home that he is no longer allowing/paying for his fathers heroine addiction, which is leaving Hossein in a bad way.

Meanwhile, The Girl has been deliberately watching the prostitute that we saw earlier being manhandled by the now deceased drug dealer. She seems to follow her and protect her throughout the night. And in one night in particular, The Girl is invited in by the sex worker named Atti.

When Atti asks why The Girl has such an interest in her, The Girl answers,

"You're sad. You don't remember what you want. You don't remember wanting. It passed long ago. And nothing ever changes."

And, it's apparent in that moment that she's talking not only about Atti, but also about herself. It's because of this likeness that The Girl is drawn to Atti and maybe even feels compelled to protect her. She gives Atti the jewelry she had stolen off the drug dealer. Atti understands this means the drug dealer will no longer be a problem for her.

When The Girl arrives home, she finds a note on her apartment door that states,

"MEET ME AT THE POWER PLANT TOMORROW AT 10PM - DRACULA"

The Girl finds Arash at the power plant the following evening, leaning against his car, waiting for her with hamburgers.

He asks if she's hungry, explaining he brought food, and is surprised to find she doesn't seem to like hamburgers.

"You don't like hamburgers? I never met someone who didn't like hamburgers... I don't know your name."

"You don't know me." She explains, almost like a warning.

Lightheartedly, he answers, "Obviously. We just met." Patiently and calmly, he asks, "What was the last song you listened to?"

"Hello... 'Hello'. Lionel Richie." I think this mention was another deliberate choice to provide the audience with an idea of The Girl's feelings of loneliness and how she feels for Arash since meeting him.

"Sad. Sad songs hit the spot, don't they?" I think having Arash's character immediately ask about her musical tastes and also immediately know and understand the song she's referring to illustrates a deep bond between the two characters more than any romantic montage I've ever seen in any blockbuster romance.

"I know something else about you. Your ears aren't pierced." Arash proceeds to show her the diamond earrings he had stolen.

"They're pretty."

"They're for you. Too bad you can't wear them."

She gestures for him to pierce her ears.

"Seriously? Are you sure?" Arash's empathy knows no bounds. He pierces the first ear. "Did it hurt? You don't have to [pierce your other ear]."

She requests that he do the other. He puts up some resistance, but she insists. Arash proceeds with piercing her opposite ear, afterwards stating, "What lucky earrings."

I think the piercing of the ears is a symbol of another form of bonding that goes beyond our surface-level, conventional means. Not to mention, the trust and vulnerability that The Girl is capable of for and around Arash.

"I've done bad things." She tries to warn him. "I'm bad."

"Obviously." He jokes.

"You don't know the things I've done," she insists.

"And you don't know the things I've done," he counters. And, I think the entirety of this conversation is important. Right now, he's saying that he accepts her for who she is or may be, as long as she can accept him, and vice versa.

She attempts to depart, but before she gets too far, he shouts,

"If there was a storm coming right now, a big storm, from behind those mountains, would it matter? Would it change anything?"

I think this favored quote from the film is touching, again, on the fear and distrust The Girl has for people, and for life and the world in general. Arash is in turn asking, even if she is scared of this bond between them, does she trust him enough to give him a shot anyway? And even if it was going to get really bad in some way, would it change how they felt about one another? And I think it goes without saying at this point in the film that, despite the fears they may have, they are a new life for one another.

Upon Arash's return home, he is sick of fighting with Hossein and Arash gives his father an ultimatum. He lays out a bag of dope from the stolen briefcase and tells Hossein to take it, but that he has to leave the house if he does. His father takes the drugs, and on his way out, in a fury Arash tells Hossein to take their cat with him as well, claiming Arash doesn't want it anymore.

Hossein, being watched closely by The Girl, finds Atti and essentially forces her into spending the evening with him. They get to Atti's house where he undresses and pressures Atti into shooting up with him.

The Girl jumps in through the window of Atti's house, pushes Hossein off of her, and feasts off of him as Atti and Hossein's cat watch. Atti and The Girl work together to dispose of the body in an alleyway. Atti claims that people will assume Hossein was a homeless man who overdosed.

Atti tells The Girl to take the cat with her before she leaves.

A neighborhood boy shows Arash his fathers body the next morning. He's devastated, but he no longer has anything tying him to Bad City...

So, Arash shows up at The Girl's door. Once she has let him in, he asks that she leave Bad City with him. She slowly begins packing her things. When she states that she is ready, holding a packed bag, Arash sees his cat walking out from behind her. He tries to make sense of it, seems a bit troubled by his assumptions, but continues on with his plan to leave Bad City with The Girl.

Driving off in his Ford Thunderbird with The Girl and the cat in the front seats, it's apparent that the the newfound knowledge that The Girl is Hossein's murderer is troubling Arash. He pulls off to the side of the road, leaving the car running and the headlights on, to pace in front of the car, clearly scrambling to get his thoughts and feelings in order.

Reaching a decision, he seats himself back behind the wheel. Both Arash and The Girl are looking opposite of each other, but Arash slowly turns his head to take in The Girl, accepting her and the deeds she's committed. As she feels him turning toward her, she turns toward him, opening herself up to him, and also accepting him for who he is, until they are both fully facing one another.

His decision to accept her and her decision to accept him is emphasized even more when Arash turns on the radio to Federdale's "Tribe". Ending with this positive tempo, western song demonstrates their decision to accept one another in their individual lives and their decision to continue on this journey together toward a better future. Arash pushes on the gas until the shot is drowned in bright white headlights.

Credits roll.

In short, this film is about life, love, fantasy, and the macabre. Be good men. Be good women. Be good people. Find the deeper connections you need to keep yourself alive - whether that be a partner or music. Don't let fear hold you back.

Watch good movies. Promote good movies. Recognize female directors.