(ANA LILY AMIRPOUR, 19 JANUARY 2014)
“Don’t count the things you’ve lost. Count what’s still left.”
Ana Lily Amirpour’s 2014 debut film A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT may be viewed by some as more a disorienting phantasmagoria of uncharted, alienating arrangements rather than an out and out horror film in the traditional sense…a reading that isn’t necessarily inaccurate. And yet, this dark tone poem of a vampire film is far more than the sum of its parts.
Though divisive for some, what Amirpour delivers is rich in chimerical elements, including but not limited to: the vampire mythology; an arcane spaghetti western; a witty romance tale, both tragic and vengeful; and a morality tale with deeply penetrating implications with regard to cultural isolation, rage, and sexuality; and all from a fiercely unique perspective—as a Persian-language, American film shot in black and white, it’s a far more culturally global vampire film than we’ve had previously. Rife with potent imagery that goes even beyond the exploits of the wraithlike Girl (played with a hypnotic, unsettling beauty by Sheila Vand) on her skateboard, chador unfurling gracefully around her as she avenges womankind in all its scorned and mistreated derivations. Set in Iran (albeit a fictional one), where women’s rights are presently still an extremely murky issue, Amirpour’s film is a meditative study of all that transpires within the imaginary underworld of a noir-ish post-punk abandon known as Bad City…a place of drugs, violence, prostitution, and abuse…and an exploration of human issues that are very real indeed. Amirpour has said in interviews that it’s not intentionally meant to be labeled strictly a feminist project, and that “it’s about how surfaces are not what they seem. There’s more than meets the eye to people. It’s not just women, it’s everybody. Everybody in the world, in the film, in my mind, is much more than what you see on the surface. All people underneath have strange weird secrets inside…[the film] isn’t an ‘-ism’.” Her film is, however, overflowing with female empowerment, and Sheila Vand’s nocturnal creature of social redress is perhaps more anti-villain than she is anti-hero…a monster who fully accepts that she’s “done bad things”…bad things we tend to condone.
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The TWHFFC continues to proudly unearth and expose the monstrously integral impact of #womeninhorror all month long.
All February long, the Teenage Werewolves Horror Film Fiend Club has unfurled its capes for the incredible women within horror who tirelessly toil to make our the genre as relevant and potent a platform as possible. Like the genre itself, these individuals are women inside the industry who refuse to die, who refuse to stay silent in a grave of under-representation. Behold, and feast upon their immoveable power…we bring you: the MAVENS OF THE MACABRE! Ana Lily Amirpour’s 2014 debut film A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT delivers the chimerical elements of vampire mythology, the spaghetti western, a witty romance tale both tragic and vengeful, and all from a unique perspective—as a Persian-language, American film shot in black and white, it’s a far more culturally global vampire film than we’ve had previously. Rife with imagery up for interpretation (including hauntingly effective choreography with skateboards), GIRL delivers us a dark female hero, avenging for all of womankind in all its scorned and mistreated derivations. Set in Iran, where women’s rights are presently still an extremely murky issue, Amirpour’s film is a meditative study of all that transpires within the imaginary underworld of post-punk abandon known as Bad City, and an exploration of human issuetjat are very real indeed. Amirpour has said in interviews that it’s not intentionally meant to be feminist but we can’t help but celebrate as she ominously warns a local male child to be a “good boy.” Regardless of the intent, this film is overflowing with female empowerment, and it is one that deserves additional viewings, Fiends. The TWHFFC continues to proudly unearth and expose the monstrously integral impact of #womeninhorror all month long, Fiends…so JOIN US!