A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night at New Directors / New Films

Despite the title, this movie, which opened the New Directors / New Films festival last night at the Museum of Modern Art, isn't about victimhood. Instead, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is about vampires, more specifically it's about a vampire who lives in an Iranian ghost town called Bad City, preying on those who truly deserve it.  Oh, and it's in Persian, with English subtitles, but was filmed near Bakersfield, California.

Asked what inspired her to write and direct a Western noir in black and white about an Iranian vampire, Ana Lily Amirpour said, "I like vampires and I like dancing, and I was lonely." She also noted that wearing a chador leftover from a previous film made her feel like a bat --- indeed, some of the best shots of the movie feature the unnamed undead protagonist riding a skateboard, her chador puffing out behind her like wings. Others feature her dancing to moody pop in Persian and English, while still others include a fat cat who likes to be carried (sadly absent at the Q&A). While the movie has a narrative arc, it's more concerned with the visual expression of emotions, setting such feelings as alienation, despair, and even the first tiny blooms of trust between two souls to music. 
 
photo: thanks