"A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014) Many have described Ana Lily Amirpour’s acclaimed debut with these six words: Black-and-white Iranian vampire movie. And while that’s certainly true, it only begins to convey Amirpour’s wondrous vision. Set in the imaginary town of Bad City, the film stars Sheila Vand as a doe-faced goth who wears a chic striped shirt visible beneath her burkaas and prowls the town. Though her origins remain obscured as she trails various locals late at night, she quickly turns into the face of repression burdening all of them. After she forms a curious bond with the downtrodden Arash, the film moves beyond its elegant form and develops an emotional core. The plot specifics allow "A Girl Walks Home" to comment on the strict dimensions of Iranian society — its treatment of women and imbalance of wealth chief among them — in ways both abstract and profound.
- 10/23/2015
- by Indiewire
- Indiewire
Ana Lily Amirpour, director of the hypnotic A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, was born in England, of Iranian parents; grew up in Bakersfield, of all places; and studied film at UCLA. Her film is like a cinematic echo of such wanderings, a repository of all kinds of worldly influences, cinematic and musical and literary: the dialogue is in Persian, but the setting looks like small-town America; the solitary, dusty imagery belongs in a Western, but the protagonist is a vampiress who wears her chador like a superhero cape; and, to conclude the genre salad, the story of young lovers, everlasting nights, and drug dealers is electrifying, modern noir.
Bad City, the imaginary location where the action takes place, is both nowhere and everywhere. It conveys a sense of being in two (or more) places at once, and (thus) in no place at all. It’s not “Iran Iran,...
Bad City, the imaginary location where the action takes place, is both nowhere and everywhere. It conveys a sense of being in two (or more) places at once, and (thus) in no place at all. It’s not “Iran Iran,...
- 8/20/2015
- by Guido Pellegrini
- SoundOnSight
Reviewed by Kevin Scott
MoreHorror.com
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)
Written by: Ana Lily Amirpour
Directed by: Ana Lily Amirpour
Cast: Sheila Vand (The Girl), Arash (Arash Marandi), Marshall Manesh (Hossein the Junkie), Mozhan Marno (Atti the Prostitute), Dominic Rains (Saeed the Pimp), Rome Shadanloo (Shaydah the Princess), Ray Haratian (The Boss), Pej Vahdat (DJ Porno), Ana Lily Amirpour (Skeleton Partygirl), Masuka (Masuka the Cat)
There are two things that have inhibited me in the past from broadening my horror film horizons. Those things would be subtitles and anything filmed in black and white. I’ve conquered my perceived drudgery of reading subtitles, and after many forced exercises to multitask my watching and reading simultaneously, I can get lost in a really good horror movie, and the subtitles come as second nature. I’m still struggling with the black and white. Even established classics such as “Night of the Living Dead...
MoreHorror.com
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)
Written by: Ana Lily Amirpour
Directed by: Ana Lily Amirpour
Cast: Sheila Vand (The Girl), Arash (Arash Marandi), Marshall Manesh (Hossein the Junkie), Mozhan Marno (Atti the Prostitute), Dominic Rains (Saeed the Pimp), Rome Shadanloo (Shaydah the Princess), Ray Haratian (The Boss), Pej Vahdat (DJ Porno), Ana Lily Amirpour (Skeleton Partygirl), Masuka (Masuka the Cat)
There are two things that have inhibited me in the past from broadening my horror film horizons. Those things would be subtitles and anything filmed in black and white. I’ve conquered my perceived drudgery of reading subtitles, and after many forced exercises to multitask my watching and reading simultaneously, I can get lost in a really good horror movie, and the subtitles come as second nature. I’m still struggling with the black and white. Even established classics such as “Night of the Living Dead...
- 8/6/2015
- by admin
- MoreHorror
★★★★☆
It's easy to mistake Ana Lily Armirpour's A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) as purely a mash-up of spaghetti western, horror and neo-noir - until a sign appears in Farsi, accompanied by a pile of dead bodies inexplicably dumped in a nearby gulch. In this subversive Iranian vampire flick, the appropriation of pop culture is perfectly suited to Bad City, a disquieting East-meets-West netherworld painted in high contrast monochrome. Though possibly a stand-in for Tehran, it feels more like a dark corner of Armirapour's imagination: both timeless and eerily contemporary. The vampire (Sheila Vand) stalks lowlifes at night on her skateboard like a bad conscience, her chador billowing behind her like a cape.
It's easy to mistake Ana Lily Armirpour's A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) as purely a mash-up of spaghetti western, horror and neo-noir - until a sign appears in Farsi, accompanied by a pile of dead bodies inexplicably dumped in a nearby gulch. In this subversive Iranian vampire flick, the appropriation of pop culture is perfectly suited to Bad City, a disquieting East-meets-West netherworld painted in high contrast monochrome. Though possibly a stand-in for Tehran, it feels more like a dark corner of Armirapour's imagination: both timeless and eerily contemporary. The vampire (Sheila Vand) stalks lowlifes at night on her skateboard like a bad conscience, her chador billowing behind her like a cape.
- 7/29/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
"I don't like when things are - I can't believe I'm saying this - so black and white," laughs Sheila Vand, the doe-eyed star of Ana Lily Amirapour's stylish and darkly devious feature debut, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), released on DVD and Blu-ray this week by StudioCanal. I chuckle as well, not only because we are discussing the moral ambiguity of her protagonist, but also because the entirety of the vampire indie film is incidentally shot in lustrous monochrome. By night, cloaked in a head-to-toe chador, The Girl shadows and preys on the townspeople of Bad City, a fictional underworld that supposedly takes place in modern Iran, but was actually shot near Bakersfield, California - where Amirpour is from - with a cast of all Iranian-American actors.
- 7/27/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
If you are someone who uses Netflix Instant as your sole source for TV and movie entertainment, then you know how easy it is to fall into a rut. It can be so hard to find quality movies after a while and you end up watching the same stuff over and over. Well, search no more! Here are 6 often overlooked movies that you may not have seen or had a chance to watch yet. (Or you may not know whether they are worth your time but trust me they are!)
The One I Love
Starring Elisabeth Moss of “Mad Men” fame and Mark Duplass from “The League.” This film is… surprising. I can’t give too much away because the film was specifically advertised with misdirection. The actual premise sneaks up on you and you is one of the most clever films released in 2014. Also these two actors are the...
The One I Love
Starring Elisabeth Moss of “Mad Men” fame and Mark Duplass from “The League.” This film is… surprising. I can’t give too much away because the film was specifically advertised with misdirection. The actual premise sneaks up on you and you is one of the most clever films released in 2014. Also these two actors are the...
- 7/26/2015
- by Sarah Sommer
- Boomtron
‘That buzzy strapline doesn’t account for half the pleasures to be found in this silkily strange little film’
For an emerging film-maker, breaking new ground can be a poisoned chalice. A few years ago, the gentle childhood drama Wadjda became the first feature-length film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, a landmark achievement that inevitably dwarfed the impact of the film itself (a decidedly low-key affair about a teenage girl who dreams of owning a pushbike). Director Ana Lily Amirpour may well avoid such a fate with her striking debut feature A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, hailed in its press release as “the first Iranian vampire western”, if only because it’s hard to imagine such a niche claim-to-fame inspiring many imitators.
More importantly, that buzzy strapline doesn’t account for half the pleasures to be found in this silkily strange little film, in which genre awareness is...
For an emerging film-maker, breaking new ground can be a poisoned chalice. A few years ago, the gentle childhood drama Wadjda became the first feature-length film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, a landmark achievement that inevitably dwarfed the impact of the film itself (a decidedly low-key affair about a teenage girl who dreams of owning a pushbike). Director Ana Lily Amirpour may well avoid such a fate with her striking debut feature A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, hailed in its press release as “the first Iranian vampire western”, if only because it’s hard to imagine such a niche claim-to-fame inspiring many imitators.
More importantly, that buzzy strapline doesn’t account for half the pleasures to be found in this silkily strange little film, in which genre awareness is...
- 7/24/2015
- by Charlie Lyne
- The Guardian - Film News
The phrase “first Iranian vampire western” will follow A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, and its director Anna Lily Amirpour, until the end of cinema itself. A year and a half after it glided sexily into Sundance, the movie has made waves for its genre play, for Sheila Vand’s already iconic vampire look, and for its incredible, eclectic soundtrack. The movie has been in vogue ever since, even though there appears to be little beneath its chador-clad exterior to chew upon. Part of the explanation is never mentioned in its buzzy tagline, but most of the attraction is really down to its story of misfit rebellion, a James Dean tale with a Donnie Darko-esque soundtrack, by way of Iran.
There are, as is frequently mentioned, a lot of similarities with Jim Jarmusch’s earlier movies Stranger Than Paradise or Down By Law. This extends beyond the black-and-white shots of urban tedium,...
There are, as is frequently mentioned, a lot of similarities with Jim Jarmusch’s earlier movies Stranger Than Paradise or Down By Law. This extends beyond the black-and-white shots of urban tedium,...
- 7/23/2015
- by Liam Ball
- SoundOnSight
On Demand DVD New Releases July 6-12 ’71 Jack O’Connell is “mesmerizing” as a British solider accidentally abandoned on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Alone, he must survive the night within enemy lines. Also stars Sean Harris (R, 1:39) 7/7 Do I Sound Gay? What makes a voice ‘gay?’ This witty, entertaining look at a controversial topic features candid interviews with Dan Savage, David Sedaris and George Takei. (Documentary, 1:18) 7/10 same day as theatrical release A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night In the Iranian ghost town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the … Continue reading →
The post On Demand DVD New Releases July 6-12 appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.
The post On Demand DVD New Releases July 6-12 appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.
- 7/6/2015
- by Meredith Ennis
- ChannelGuideMag
Ana Lily Amirpour’s feature debut is a bloody triumph…
Iranian-American writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour describes her weirdly exhilarating feature debut, which premiered at Sundance last year, as the Iranian love-child of Sergio Leone and David Lynch, with Nosferatu as a babysitter. It is set in the fictional Iranian ghost town of Bad City (the name nods toward Frank Miller’s Sin City) and plays out like the missing link between Kathryn Bigelow’s first two features; the ultra-cool biker pastiche The Loveless and the latterday vampire flick Near Dark. It is steeped in the pop iconography of the past, yet its crystalline anamorphic black-and-white photography has an unmistakably contemporary edge. Cinematically, it exists in a twilight zone between nations (American locations, Iranian culture), between centuries (late 19th and early 21st), between languages (Persian dialogue, silent cinema gestures) and, most importantly, between genres.
Arash Marandi is “the Persian James Dean...
Iranian-American writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour describes her weirdly exhilarating feature debut, which premiered at Sundance last year, as the Iranian love-child of Sergio Leone and David Lynch, with Nosferatu as a babysitter. It is set in the fictional Iranian ghost town of Bad City (the name nods toward Frank Miller’s Sin City) and plays out like the missing link between Kathryn Bigelow’s first two features; the ultra-cool biker pastiche The Loveless and the latterday vampire flick Near Dark. It is steeped in the pop iconography of the past, yet its crystalline anamorphic black-and-white photography has an unmistakably contemporary edge. Cinematically, it exists in a twilight zone between nations (American locations, Iranian culture), between centuries (late 19th and early 21st), between languages (Persian dialogue, silent cinema gestures) and, most importantly, between genres.
Arash Marandi is “the Persian James Dean...
- 5/24/2015
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Ana Lily Amirpour’s feature debut is a bloody triumph…
Iranian-American writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour describes her weirdly exhilarating feature debut, which premiered at Sundance last year, as the Iranian love-child of Sergio Leone and David Lynch, with Nosferatu as a babysitter. It is set in the fictional Iranian ghost town of Bad City (the name nods toward Frank Miller’s Sin City) and plays out like the missing link between Kathryn Bigelow’s first two features; the ultra-cool biker pastiche The Loveless and the latterday vampire flick Near Dark. It is steeped in the pop iconography of the past, yet its crystalline anamorphic black-and-white photography has an unmistakably contemporary edge. Cinematically, it exists in a twilight zone between nations (American locations, Iranian culture), between centuries (late 19th and early 21st), between languages (Persian dialogue, silent cinema gestures) and, most importantly, between genres.
Arash Marandi is “the Persian James Dean...
Iranian-American writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour describes her weirdly exhilarating feature debut, which premiered at Sundance last year, as the Iranian love-child of Sergio Leone and David Lynch, with Nosferatu as a babysitter. It is set in the fictional Iranian ghost town of Bad City (the name nods toward Frank Miller’s Sin City) and plays out like the missing link between Kathryn Bigelow’s first two features; the ultra-cool biker pastiche The Loveless and the latterday vampire flick Near Dark. It is steeped in the pop iconography of the past, yet its crystalline anamorphic black-and-white photography has an unmistakably contemporary edge. Cinematically, it exists in a twilight zone between nations (American locations, Iranian culture), between centuries (late 19th and early 21st), between languages (Persian dialogue, silent cinema gestures) and, most importantly, between genres.
Arash Marandi is “the Persian James Dean...
- 5/24/2015
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
You know you’ve seen a good film when it gets under your skin and you’re still thinking about it days later. You know you’ve seen a good vampire film when you wish you were that vampire, even just for a little while. Writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour, in her feature debut, has created a vampire in A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night that will immortalise her among the greatest blood drinkers captured on film. Startlingly she has created a unique vision we haven’t seen before. Her vampire, known only as the Girl, haunts the streets of Iranian ghost town Bad City, walking among its pimps, prostitutes and misfits, clad in her long flowing black chador. It’s a stunning image that startles you ever time you see her on screen. Shot in black and white, it’s a vampire western, a lone figure in a decaying town full of lost souls,...
- 5/19/2015
- by noreply@blogger.com (Clare Daly)
- www.themoviebit.com
Already a darling of the festival circuit, Iranian director Ana Lily Amirpour's debut feature, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, hits our shores in a few short weeks, and a new trailer has come online to give us a taste of what this vampire western has to offer. With a sound track that mix's Ennio Morricone style riffs with Iranian rock and techno, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is definitely a very different beast than what we're used to, but it's disparate influences, from horror movies to spaghetti westerns to graphic novels blend wonderfully well together, and for those looking for something different from the norm, this will definitely worth keeping an eye on. Released: May 22nd Synopsis: Strange things are afoot in Bad City. The Iranian ghost town, home to prostitutes, junkie, pimps and other sordid souls, is a place that reeks of death and hopelessness,...
- 4/30/2015
- by noreply@blogger.com (Tom White)
- www.themoviebit.com
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (review) arrives in UK theatres on May 22nd, and to celebrate, a new trailer for the world’s first Iranian vampire western has arrived. Strange things are afoot in Bad City. The Iranian ghost… Continue Reading →
The post A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night and Finds a New UK Trailer appeared first on Dread Central.
The post A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night and Finds a New UK Trailer appeared first on Dread Central.
- 4/29/2015
- by Debi Moore
- DreadCentral.com
Hailed as one of the best new cinematic discoveries in 2014 is director Ana Lily Amirpour with her debut A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, a moody vampire noir that premiered in the Next section at the Sundance Film Festival. Scooping up the Gotham Award’s Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award and picking up a pair of Indie Spirit Award nominations (including Best First Feature) and wins at international film fests such as Deauville and Sitges, the film opened theatrically in the fall of 2014 to a barrage of critical acclaim. Credited as the first Iranian Vampire Western, Amirpour is operating with a mash-up of vintage tropes, creating an inspired concoction.
With all its characters speaking Farsi, yet filmed in California and set in the fictional locale of Bad City, there is an enigmatic, surreal aura to Amirpour’s exciting debut. An exploration of loneliness utilizing a set of nighttime creatures...
With all its characters speaking Farsi, yet filmed in California and set in the fictional locale of Bad City, there is an enigmatic, surreal aura to Amirpour’s exciting debut. An exploration of loneliness utilizing a set of nighttime creatures...
- 4/28/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The Film
I first watched Ana Lily Amirpour’s directorial debut in November at the St. Louis International Film Festival. Her heavily stylized “vampire-western” set in the fictional crime-ridden Bad City impressed me immensely. I even went so far to call it “the best vampire film since Let The Right One In.” I still stand by that conviction. But to go a step further, upon watching the film a second time for this review, I feel that the film has a unique power that forced me to see the events that unfold from a different viewpoint. During the first viewing I found myself relating more to the male lead Arash. He’s cautiously optimistic but a little green behind the ears. More or less, he’s still figuring out what Bad City is. The second time I watched A Girl Walks Home… I found myself viewing the film more from...
I first watched Ana Lily Amirpour’s directorial debut in November at the St. Louis International Film Festival. Her heavily stylized “vampire-western” set in the fictional crime-ridden Bad City impressed me immensely. I even went so far to call it “the best vampire film since Let The Right One In.” I still stand by that conviction. But to go a step further, upon watching the film a second time for this review, I feel that the film has a unique power that forced me to see the events that unfold from a different viewpoint. During the first viewing I found myself relating more to the male lead Arash. He’s cautiously optimistic but a little green behind the ears. More or less, he’s still figuring out what Bad City is. The second time I watched A Girl Walks Home… I found myself viewing the film more from...
- 4/24/2015
- by Michael Haffner
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Welcome back to This Week In Discs! If you see something you like, click on the title to buy it from Amazon. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Arash stands apart from the downtrodden populace of Bad City with his blue jeans, white tee-shirt and classic American car, but it’s his ambition for something more than this dead-end town can offer that keeps him moving. His dreams take a hit thanks to his junkie father and a local thug, but something dark and wondrous is just around the corner. Drifting through the night is a young woman (Sheila Vand) whose casual dress is complemented by a jet black chador, and while she’s a girl of very few words she’s not shy about making her intentions known. Sometimes it’s feasting on the blood of the town heavy, other times it’s dancing alone to American pop music, but...
- 4/21/2015
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
April 21st is another big day for genre fans looking to add to their home entertainment collections, as we’ve got a bounty of titles heading our way this Tuesday. The good folks over at Scream Factory are keeping busy with the release of several great Blu-rays, including their Collector’s Edition of John Carpenter’s Escape From New York and their Ghoulies double feature. Joe Lynch’s Everly and the film fest sensation A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night are also making their way to Blu-ray and DVD this week, and we’ve got a Ton of indie titles arriving Tuesday to look forward to, including the latest from the great Jeffrey Combs, Motivational Growth.
Escape from New York (Collector’s Edition) (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
A thrilling landmark film that jolts along at a breakneck pace, Escape From New York leapt to cult status with high-octane action, edge-of-your-seat...
Escape from New York (Collector’s Edition) (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
A thrilling landmark film that jolts along at a breakneck pace, Escape From New York leapt to cult status with high-octane action, edge-of-your-seat...
- 4/21/2015
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
The Iranian skateboarding vampire feminist spaghetti western we have all been waiting for, creepy cool and gorgeously sinister, engorged with suspense and desire. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
This is the “Iranian vampire spaghetti western” you’ve likely heard about. Iranian-American filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour dubbed her debut film that herself, and I’ll cram two more modifiers in there: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is the Iranian skateboarding vampire feminist spaghetti western we have all been waiting for. We just didn’t realize it till now. The tiny release it had in the U.S. last autumn (after its acclaimed appearance at 2014 Sundance) meant not many people had a chance to see it, but now it’s available on demand (it opens theatrically in the U.K. in May), and I...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
This is the “Iranian vampire spaghetti western” you’ve likely heard about. Iranian-American filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour dubbed her debut film that herself, and I’ll cram two more modifiers in there: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is the Iranian skateboarding vampire feminist spaghetti western we have all been waiting for. We just didn’t realize it till now. The tiny release it had in the U.S. last autumn (after its acclaimed appearance at 2014 Sundance) meant not many people had a chance to see it, but now it’s available on demand (it opens theatrically in the U.K. in May), and I...
- 3/31/2015
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
At a loss for what to watch this week? From new DVDs and Blu-rays, to what's streaming on Netflix, we've got you covered.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
"Into The Woods"
The Blu-ray release of this star-studded musical extravaganza has some cool extras, like a deleted scene featuring Meryl Streep singing Sondheim's "She'll Be Back," a doc about the production design and costumes, and even the option to watch the individual performances with the lyrics onscreen. Below, get an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the special effects (and sneakers) used in the making of Disney's hit musical.
"The Thin Blue Line"
This game-changing documentary by Errol Morris has gotten the Criterion treatment, complete with a high-def digital transfer, an interview with Morris, and more.
"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"
The final movie in the "Hobbit" trilogy has arrived on Blu-ray. There aren't a ton of extras, but hey,...
New on DVD and Blu-ray
"Into The Woods"
The Blu-ray release of this star-studded musical extravaganza has some cool extras, like a deleted scene featuring Meryl Streep singing Sondheim's "She'll Be Back," a doc about the production design and costumes, and even the option to watch the individual performances with the lyrics onscreen. Below, get an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the special effects (and sneakers) used in the making of Disney's hit musical.
"The Thin Blue Line"
This game-changing documentary by Errol Morris has gotten the Criterion treatment, complete with a high-def digital transfer, an interview with Morris, and more.
"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"
The final movie in the "Hobbit" trilogy has arrived on Blu-ray. There aren't a ton of extras, but hey,...
- 3/23/2015
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
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