A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

This was one of the most anticipated art-house horror films. The fact it's done in Persian with Iranian director and crew absolutely peeks every filmophile's interest. Unfortunately, the hype surrounding it sometimes works against anticipated releases like this, but the wait was worth it.

A Girl Walks Home...was heavily influenced by Jim Jarmusch's aesthetic, like a love letter to this director. A vampire western with a touch of romance - something I haven't seen before. Let's see if this unusual combination worked... The last few years were great for vampire subgenre, reviving it with a few films that have became instant favorites and, in my opinion, deserve their place in film history.

Let The Right One In and Only Lovers Left Alive are notable examples, and now A Girl has joined them, forming fantastic trinity of style, ideas, cinematography and unparalleled atmosphere. Modern vampire subgenre works best in authentic urban surroundings, with as little action sequences as possible, focusing on loneliness, inner turmoil of the characters, existentialism and sometimes unlikely companionship between humans and vamps. A Girl has it all, adding extra cultural layer to these key ingredients.

Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive have set vampire tale in Western and Eastern world both, and A Girl... paints excerpts of Iranian life. (Although filmed in California) the rest is authentic. This black&white picture offers style and atmosphere, quiet, meditative and rarely violent, it's filled with music and shadows. There is a running thread of social commentary although the town and premise are fictional.

Mysterious titular 'Girl' in fictional town named 'Bad Town' stalks the residents quietly, watching them go about their routines, helping the weak and good, punishing the crooked and corrupt. We know absolutely nothing about The Girl, but there is a pattern...unlike women in Iran, she has a certain, albeit supernatural power, and she uses it to punish men who have bullied others and wallowed in vices. Even if I'm only reading into this, I thought this was liberating in the context of the culture that's old and rich but traditionally repressive against women.

However, The Girl is not some feminist vigilante fixing to destroy the mankind, just like Eli in Let the Right One In, she protects those in need. Unlike Eli, The Girl does not look for symbiotic relationship with disposable humans, the companionship she forms with Arash is of different nature. Big shout out to Masuka the cat, the talent and screen presence is fantastic and adorable. One lovely and immersing cinematic experience, bravo, Miss Amirpour!

This was a very stylish movie that also managed to be pretty visceral, which is a special combination that doesn't come along often. It's a horror movie shot in black and white with great visuals and restrained performances, but it doesn't feel artsy or tedious. It finds time to let loose and have some wild sequences as well as the contemplative ones. I liked the characters, especially the central female. She actually does walk around alone at night, but she's not in any danger, which makes it pretty cool. It would say it's worth a watch, and probably even deserves a rewatch at some point. Recommended.

SPOILER: I was a bit disappointed to learn after seeing A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night that it was not an actual Iranian film. Turns out it is entirely American funded and made in California, it's just that it has an Iranian director, crew and cast, while it is set entirely in the Farsi language. When I say I was disappointed it was only that I truly wanted to believe that a film with such frank scenes of sexuality was being made in Iran. There has been something of a surge in Iranian films in recent years, most prominently in the case of the excellent drama A Separation (2011) and I thought it could be possible that this was another in this cycle. Alas, but no. Still, that doesn't deter from the fact that this is a pretty singular bit of work. I suppose the very fact that it is an Iranian film made entirely with American money is in itself pretty interesting.

Like another of 2014's best horror films Honeymoon, this one is also directed by a woman. Ana Lily Amirpour is of Iranian descent but born in the UK and brought up in America. I guess because of her heritage coupled with the tensions between America and Iran, many meanings seem to have been interpreted in this film. I think the truth is that this is a film with some minor political undercurrents but which takes its influences far more from cinema itself. Set in a bleak dusty place called Bad City, a settlement full of drug addicts, vice and despair, it follows a small group of characters one of which is a female vampire who roams the streets at night preying on the worst in her society.

It wouldn't be unfair to say that this is an exercise primarily on style over substance. This doesn't bother me personally, as I enjoy films that embrace cinematic style. It's typified by great black and white cinematography with lovely widescreen framing. It is also a mash-up of film genres with a hero and car which evokes 50's teenage rebel films, Ennio Morricone inspired music that references spaghetti westerns, moments that recall the odd tone of David Lynch movies, the visual look of Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish (1983) and the revisionist approach to the vampire film typified by Let the Right One In (2008). When you combine all of these disparate elements together in an American film shot entirely in Iranian, the result is a very odd film indeed. I guess you could call this a feminist vampire film, in that she only attacks predatory and immoral males, while she is quite far removed visually from the slinky female bloodsuckers from many a European vampire flick (although there certainly isn't anything wrong with them!). It also plays on the idea that the Hijab veil looks similar to the garb of those traditional vampires. It is also distinctive for having bizarre details such as a prominent cat, a skateboarding vampire and a soundtrack that mixes Persian music with new wave influenced western pop. The latter being a particular favourite of our vampire lady.

My feeling on the film overall is a little mixed. I really appreciated the visual style and the original aspects inherent in an Iranian vampire film, while the mix of genres did create something new. On the other hand, it begins very well and does meander in the second half somewhat. It would probably have worked better as a ninety minute movie given the slightness of the material itself. Still, it has to be praised for going somewhere new and it shows there is always a different way to approach old ideas.

Set in an oil industry ghost town-like city in Iran, this movie, directed by newcomer Ana Lily Amirpour - an American of Iranian descent - is highly reminiscent of Jim Jarmusch's early style. Interestingly, in an interview between her and legendary producer/director Roger Corman on the DVD extras, she claims she's not much of a fan of Jarmusch. But as virtually everyone who studies film has pointed at the stylistic similarity, she's taking it as a compliment.

Like Jarmusch's work, the movie is shot in atmospheric black and white - and it works beautifully. The dialogue is all Persian (Farsi) - even though the movie was shot in America, standing in for Iran - and is subsequently sub-titled. However, this does not work against the film (whose strength is its visuals) at all, as the dialogue is at all times minimal and slow, thus making the reading easy and unobstructive to the fascinating camera work.

So, it's a horror movie. It's principal character is a Persian woman vampire - who stalks the town, robed in a black chador, which is quite an unsettling shadow to behold standing 10 feet away from a potential victim late at night. The events exist within a kind of imagined Iranian underworld of pimps, hookers, drug dealers and street urchins. Our vampire watches this dark town, at times slowly riding a skateboard down the street! When she interacts with people, she is unblinking, mostly un-verbal, and seems to be at all times appraising their circumstances and their worth.

Aside from the beautiful blocking shots and photography, a high point of the film is its use of sound effects, music (which sometimes references Morricone-like spaghetti westerns) and an impressive soundtrack of mostly modern pop music.

Any criticism of this movie (though it's more praised than not) seems to center around it being "style over substance" and "too slowly paced". Well, it is moody, that's for sure - and maybe too slow for many of today's horror fans, that's true - but there's no arguing that its greatest strength is its style.

Greetings again from the darkness. This is my third "first feature" from a writer/director this week, but there endeth any similarities. Ana Lily Amirpour presents the first ever Iranian romantic vampire thriller that blends the styles of Spaghetti Westerns, graphic novels and 1950's rebel flicks, while making a social statement regarding Muslim women.

This festival favorite is an expanded version of Ms. Amirpour's 2011 short film of the same title, and the use of black and white, combined with cinematographer Lyle Vincent's extraordinary photography, delivers a beautifully stark dream-like atmosphere that lends itself well to the sparse dialogue approach.

Despite minimal conversation, we quickly recognize Saeed (Dominic Rains) as the ultra-arrogant drug dealer and bullying pimp, Arash (Arash Marandi) as the hard-working dutiful nice guy who sees himself as a would-be James Dean, Hossein (Marshall Manash) as the drug-addicted dad who burdens his son, and Atti (Mozhan Marno) as the aging, powerless prostitute with little hope. There is even the street boy (Milad Eghbali) who sees all and says little … and is the target of the film's most terrifying scene (and maybe one of the most terrifying bloodless scenes of any horror film).

What really stands out about this low-budget gem is the seamless and effective mixing of genres. In addition to the "vampire" moments, there are a couple of the most quietly erotic scenes that I can recall (including an ear-piercing), and even a quite humorous scene with an under-the-influence Arash mesmerized by a lamp post while wearing a Dracula costume and being observed by a real vampire.

The vampire is played perfectly by Sheila Vand, whose intoxicating eyes and subtle facial gestures convey all whether she is feeding her appetite, being gently seduced by Arash, or slowly coasting on her skateboard. Her only time to unleash pent-up emotions is the previously mentioned scene when she warns "Be a good boy". Otherwise, she is the lonesome vampire in search of connection who periodically weeds out the bad men – simultaneously improving society and empowering women.

It's an odd production as the characters speak Farsi, but filming took place outside Bakersfield, California in a locale that fits the story town's name, Bad City. Any influence of Iranian culture is only evident through interpretation and the excellent cast. The beautiful camera work is complemented by an outstanding and unusual soundtrack … a combination that proves Ms. Amirpour's eye and feel for storytelling. The minimal dialogue approach is successful thanks to the atmospheric style and the talents of the cast (many of whom will be familiar to American TV and film audiences). It's an exciting first feature and has many anxiously awaiting the next project from Ana Lily Amirpour.