A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night – 2014
The cover of this bluray is filled with superlatives. I think the quotes are a bit exaggerated but it’s basically the truth. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a gorgeously shot and visually stunning film. It is strange and special but it might not be the best vampire movie ever made. Not that I can pinpoint that to any vampire film right now. There are a few beautiful vampire movies out there. I don’t think it’s appropriate to mansion them here though so I won’t.
The Dialog is in Persian and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is filmed in black and white. The acting is very good and it has a feel to it that makes me think of mystery and ancient occultism. Not that it has many of those elements in there. It’s just that the whole vampire theme makes everything seem very old. If you are immortal you’re usually very old.
As soon as you see the character portrayed on the cover you realize that there’s something odd about her. If you didn’t know that she was a vampire you might not see that but you’ll notice that there is something about her. She’s wearing a hijab and looks very innocent. She doesn’t turn away from violence though and I feel like the whole movie is kind of based around gender stereotypes. Or rather, the opposite. The Title A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night indicates something fragile I think. That’s something the girl isn’t at all. She takes on violent men and seems to punish them for the way they have treated other women.
Not just violence
But this isn’t just a violent movie. There is some violence in there to be sure. There’s ever some semi-nudity in there which is kind of strange considering the women are wearing hijabs. Well, Viva Liberation! The sensitive side is shown via a love story which is very tender and beautiful. In fact, I think the black and white photo enhances this part of the story. But the black and white also enhances the paradoxes between the violence and the beautiful love themes.
This is an unusual film, to say the least. It’s very artistically filmed and I can’t help but love the aesthetics about it. I don’t think it’s the best vampire movie ever. Maybe it’s the best film I’ve seen with Persian dialog but that’s only because this is my first. I would gladly recommend it if you are tired of the Hollywood blockbuster horror flicks. This is different from them and more thought-through!
