I reviewed A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night for Rogerebert.com, and put it on my Top Movies of the year list.
It weaves some kind of weird spell, with its genre mix of vampire-horror, family-angst-drama, 1950s gearhead/rebel-kids, and Spaghetti Westerns (with lots of Ennio Morricone in the soundtrack, interspersed with Iranian pop songs: maybe the first time that has happened in the history of movie soundtracks?). It’s not just that the film looks so good, although director Ana Lily Amirpour is indeed in love with her images. Somehow her love does not become a fetish. Each gorgeous haunting image serves a purpose and they all slowly accumulate to create a mood of dread. There were some critics who thought she lingered too long on some shots, reveling in her own artistry a bit too much. I can understand that criticism and point of view, but for me – the lingering quality works, and the mood created by those lingering shots is extremely effective. There are images shown in A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night that I have never seen before, and that’s saying something, since there is very little that is new under the sun. But a vampire skating down the middle of an empty road, her burqa billowing out behind her? That’s new. A black-and-white Farsi-language vampire film? That’s new.
Aside from the stunning imagery, the film exerts a kind of mysterious emotional power, released through the images, through the placement of figures in the frame and the tension between them. The moments of tenderness (and there are not many) are breath-taking.
And it’s fun to watch a new director, in love with her own creativity and visual power. I really look forward to seeing what she does next.
Here’s a series of shots I love, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Every shot in the film is beautiful, and well-chosen.
I love all the posters and pictures on the wall in her lair, subtle clues to how long she’s been alive, and where she’s been, and the wild variety of tastes she’s accumulated. Marvelous film.
Yes, I love her lair! And I love when he spins the disco ball and the reflections go all dizzyingly fast. So romantic.
Yes to all of this! I can also see how the film could be criticized as superficial, but I think when the filmmaker really loves the images as Amirpour does, they do become more profound. It’s not created to be eye candy, you know? It doesn’t lose meaning because it’s pretty. She put that skateboarding scene in there just because she wanted to see it, but in its slightly menacing grace, it ends up demonstrating precisely why the vampire is so mesmerizing to everyone she meets. Loved the soundtrack too–actually bought a couple of the tracks.
KC –
// She put that skateboarding scene in there just because she wanted to see it, but in its slightly menacing grace, it ends up demonstrating precisely why the vampire is so mesmerizing to everyone she meets. //
Yes! And not everything has to “mean” something. Or push the plot along, for goodness’ sake. Movies are visual. If one has a good eye, then put it in there because you like it. I mean, Terrence Malick seems to be all about that as well. I felt the stillness of some of the scenes in Girl Walks Home Alone – were all about the tension between the two figures – the space in between them – like the girl and Arash outside the factory – When he finally got close enough to pierce her ears for her, it was stunning! And it worked beCAUSE they had been so far apart, so still, for so long.
And yes, the soundtrack was superb – really added to the whole feel.
Yes–totally loved the tension in those small spaces between them. Especially in the scene where they were listening to records. I was breathless watching that.
Oh God, that moment – as he approaches her from behind.
I too held my breath. Favorite scene in the movie, I think I mentioned it in my review.
Sheila
I finally saw A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. I finally got Netflix! I feel mixed about it! And I actually agree with everything you said about the stunning images and the newness of a lot of it, the girl on a skateboard, and all of that, but it wasn’t taking me home all the way like Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive and I didn’t know why. So I watched A Girl again. I think the acting doesn’t quite take it there was one thing. The actor playing the pimp, like a lot of things in this film was on the outside, showing us all what he could do, he didn’t scare me (and he was reminding me too much of John Tuturro’s character in The Big Lebowski minus the humor) But also I found myself the first time viewing it pulled out of it the whole time, like I was registering how beautiful it all was. Little things like the beautiful, iconic spaghetti western tunes were more powerful then what I was seeing too. The actors seemed all to be fine but none of them surprised me. Tilda Swinton was so amazing in Lovers, but so was everyone else. I didn’t notice say, till I saw Lovers again that Tilda on her midnight run was dressed to blend right into the walls of Tangiers, but it wasn’t hitting me over the head with it. Also, I’m not a big fan of Jarmusch but I could feel everything in that film was deeply personal and everything he loved was in it, Detroit, music.. how he feels about technology, etc. I felt when The Girl was packing to leave she wouldn’t leave that guitar behind or some records, little things like maybe Jarmusch would have her do. But Jarmusch has been doing this a while and this is her first film and it’s a pretty amazing start.
Regina –
// but it wasn’t taking me home all the way like Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive //
Oh man, Only Lovers Left Alive. For sure, A Girl Walks Home Alone does not work at that level. For me, it is about the images (pretty much solely) – and the tension between the figures in the frame. These things somehow create the emotional response (in me, anyway – I know there are many who disagree!)
Only Lovers Left Alive affected me on such a profound level that I’m almost nervous to watch it again!
I like your observation about what someone like Jarmusch might have the girl do, when she was packing up. I think that’s fair. Ana Lily Amirpour seems to be very visually oriented, and her background as a Deejay is clear in the film – I am pretty sure she conceived many of those scenes to go with a very specific song.
Jarmusch is also very music-oriented – but somehow the end result is different. What was so amazing in Only Lovers Left Alive was that RELATIONSHIP, and how Tilda and TH created it.