2014, d. Ana Lily Amirpour - CriterionChannel
I recall A Girl... being released with some buzz back in 2014, but I was in year 5 of dad-brain and not registering a lot of what was happening in the world outside of what was cool for a 5-year-old to watch, and the things that would most obviously appeal to me (looking back at 2014 in this blog, and yeah, not a single surprising review from me... I was surprised to see Toasty watched "Un Prophete" though).
What made A Girl Walks... stand out for me was noticing in my strolls through "Previews" magazine (the monthly ordering catalogue for comic book stores) that there were comics of A Girl Walks Home... out there. So obviously that, big comic nerd that I am, piqued my interest.
A Girl Walks Home Alone... is a bizarre confection. It's a Persian-language feature, starring American actors of Iranian descent, shot in California posing as Iran, but set in the fictional stead of "Bad City". Its titular character, the Girl, is a vampire, but this not really a horror movie. It's parts noir, western, and action movie (but, you know, reservedly so). It portrays the girl, frequently skateboarding down the empty city streets with her chador flowing behind her like a cape, in an intentionally, strikingly superheroic light. It's a stylish black-and-white feature (shot digitally) that really adores contrast, stark whites against blacks, and playing with lighting intensity. The soundtrack is a mix of electronic, darkwave, Morricone-inspired neo-western and Persian indie-pop, just an incredibly unexpected yet absolutely perfect mix of tracks, perfectly employed within the film.
The plot is slim, but it's as much about vibe, atmosphere and setting as it is about story. Arash works very hard, making little money, which he needs to take care of his father (who is addicted to heroin and sex workers). With what little he's managed to save, Arash bought a classic American muscle car (which fits greatly the James Dean vibes he trying to throw off). But trouble comes in the form of his father's drug dealer, Saeed, who's an absurd looking fellow, but not to be trifled with.
In the background the girl seemingly floats through the darkness. Her prey is almost exclusively men, bad men at that. She's a hunter, a predator, but also a feminist it seems. She happens to run into a very intoxicated Arash, having exited a costume party dressed in a very stereotypical "Dracula" costume, and the connection between the two is instantly palpable but also simmering with danger...for both of them.
If there's a thrust to A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, it is this relationship...how a vampire and a mortal, both perhaps more than a little lonely, can find comfort in each other. Amidst all the genre playthings Amirpour injects, its heart is a love story and a familial drama.
The first volume of the comic by Amirpour and artist Michael DeWeese, equally moody as the film though missing the soundtrack, provides an origin for the girl, but it's fairly peripheral. It does provide a tiny little bit of insight into our mysterious anti-hero, as well as build up the "Bad City" environment marginally more but it's far from essential, at least until Amirpour decides to returns to it and build upon it.
But is it horror?
No, but...well... maybe a little. Horror is maybe 5th or 6th down the list of genres it's playing in, and I would say it's never truly meant to be scary, but it's definitely moody. I'm not sure I loved it upon first viewing, but it's stuck with me and I'll definitely be watching it again.
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