The
first film in my analysis of The
Films of Ana Lily Amirpour is the goth vampiric German expressionist
spaghetti western A
Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. This debut film is an
artistic accomplishment in the amalgamation of genre, tone, and theme. The
composition of this film, its pace, and subversive subject matter was to become
an eventual calling card for future films with Amirpour at the helm. This
freshman film in what I like to call Amirpour’s “Apocalyptic
Anomie” Trilogy (Girl, Batch, Moon),[1] is
an eclectic encapsulation of the director’s favorite things: music, movies, and
movements. Yet, this ambitiously anarchic allegory of Feminism, isolated ennui,
and the languished longing for love/life was nearly snuffed out by a transforming
cinematic landscape.
PLOT
A
young man in an impoverished Iranian city becomes ensorcelled in the
supernatural when, after losing his car to the local drug dealer (due to his
father’s drug use and addition to prostitutes), he encounters a female
presenting vampire. As their attraction grows, paralleled by her viniferous body
count, they must decide to stay and face consequences, or flee and take their chances
together on the open road.
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HISTORICAL CONTEXT
A
Girl Walks Home Alone at Night produced between 2012-2014 is
the perfect encapsulation of the indie movie scene at a time when the
monopolistic monoculture, brought on by Disney content
acquisitions, was starting to take hold. The uphill
battle faced by Amirpour and fellow producers, along with the film’s ancillary
thematic content which speak to the socio-political tensions between Iran and
the United States over the last 40 years, point to a systematic yet slouching
sterilization of cinema.
Production
Like many first films, Amirpour’s Gothically
noir reluctant romance began as a short film, then later extended to feature
length. Unlike a lot of indie films of the past, especially during their heyday
of the 1990’s when the independent movie scene was belligerently bolstered by
an aggressively agitating misogynistic sexual predator, Harvey Weinstein, through
his company Miramax, the production of A Girl did not have a typical
trajectory. Usually, a film is made on a shoestring budget, cobbled together with
the director’s lunch money, other loans, or trades for equal value; then
shopped around on the indie film circuit to acquire a distributor. However, after
winning the Noor Iranian Film Festival for the short form version of this
story, Amirpour started a Indigogo page and crowdfunded the film’s expansion
into feature length.
In the early 2010’s crowdfunding was yet to be
commonplace, where a larger number of smaller investors are promised “extras”[2] once the production team
and producers reach or exceed their funding goal. The rise of crowdfunding as a
legitimate option for the development of creative projects, as well as the
payment of medical bills, is symptomatic of the continued virulence of Western
Free Market Capitalism. Obviously, of the two examples, the crowdfunding of
medical debt is the more egregious of the two, regardless
of their success rates. Yet, the necessity of crowdfunding creative
projects like A Girl, points to just how risk adverse the major
producers in Hollywood have become; only supporting a project if it is either: socially
and politically vacant, or already bought and paid for. Thus, major studios,
worth billions of dollars, allow the general populace to take on all of the
risk, while they can acquire a sure thing once the monetary goal is reached.[3] Similarly, as crowdfunding
is continually used, the more these profit driven companies will attempt to
underinsure potential patients (Medical companies), and produce
standardized monocultural drivel
(Media Companies).
This not only allows for the increase in profits by lowering coverage
and production cost for companies, but it also reinforces the lack of diversity
in healthcare support and storytelling. Just as many poorer people of color are
the ones that end up starting a crowdfunding campaign for medical debt, so too
do non-white male directors and their stories about non-white male gender fluid
persons end up needing similar support.
Cinematography
A Girl Walks Home Alone
at Night was shot by Lyle Vincent, and along with Amirpour, they craft a sublimely haunted and melancholic tonal tapestry (lacking) technicolor. Shot
in black and white, Vincent and Amirpour use the color grating to sharpen the
angles and definitions of wherever light shines. This allows “The Girl” to
completely disappear in darkness, enveloping her using just her cloak. Amirpour
also chooses to include extreme close-up shots that peer into the psyche of
whomever is the subject of the camera’s focus.
While the film does have mild
female nudity, the camera never seems to adopt the male gaze. There are no long
tracking shots up or down female bodies and the sex acts depicted are always of
individuals that are fully clothed, while shot from a voyeuristic distance of
an observer. Even when Atti, the prostitute, is dancing provocatively, it is
not presented as lewd, lascivious, or crass.
Additionally, being a fan
of practical effects, Amirpour has many special effect shots that happen in camera,
often in a single take. When “The Girl” is seducing Saeed (the Pimp), in a
single shot, “The Girl’s” fangs are extended and physically interacted with. Similarly,
after “The Girl” bites off Saeed’s finger, she opens her mouth wide in a smile,
and then regurgitates the finger in one long fluidly sexual motion. The former
shot was achieved by film splicing/frame removal; so that the shot with fangs
comes so quickly on the heels of the shot with no fangs (literally the next
frame) it looks as if her fangs are extend/retractable. The latter shot
required the actor to be able to hold the severed finger in her mouth while
smiling which adds to the scene’s sexual entendre.
Yet, the most compelling aspect
of A Girl’s cinematography is the versatility of shot diversity. Whether
between shots, or transitioning from different scenes, Vincent and Amirpour showcase
an assortment of styles. Long lenses, extreme close ups, dolly shots, crane
shots, “Dutch tilts”, slow motion, frame removal…all techniques are present in voluminous
variety. One of the more fascinating cinematic choices being made throughout
the film is the decision never to have the characters at the center of any shot.
This decision not only has our eyes always looking elsewhere, as the audience’s
focus is constantly pulled from the foreground focus to the background, or the
edge of the frame; but it is also designed to increase tension. This is
illustrated in the first scene as Arash (Arash Marandi) walks past the city
limits sign crossing the reservoir, as the shot slows to a crawl, we witness
that the ditch is not filled with water, but with bodies; as the title flashes
on the screen. Through this stellar
visual storytelling, we understand the looming threat, as we cross the
threshold into a new environment. It is brilliant.
Historical Backdrop: US
and Iranian relations
The
film is set in an enigmatically named town in Iran – “Bad City” (a playful
homage to Frank Miller’s Sin City), yet given the socio-political
relations between the two countries, Amirpour, Iranian herself, decided not to
shoot in Iran due to the inevitable gender backlash the film would experience
and a desire to avoid harsher shooting restrictions. Instead, through shot
composition and set dressing, Bakersfield, CA doubled for Iran; and yet, this
film still holds the spirit of the US Iranian relationship which began 80 years
ago.
The diplomatic
souring of US-Iranian relations began in 1953 when the American CIA supported
and aided the Coup of the democratically elected Prime Minister who
nationalized Iranian oil Production and was set to increase oil prices on
Western Countries. Since the US government wanted access to Iranian oil
reserves, they propped up a brutal dictator in ‘The Shah of Iran’ because of his
“pro-west “policies.
Decades later, when the
Shah fled the country, the United States harbored him for a time. Once the Shah
was displaced, an exiled religious leader (Ayatollah Khomeini) dissolved the
monarchy and made himself the legitimate religious authority. Because US
intervention kept The Shah from returning to Iran to face Judgement. Khomeini
loyalist held US Embassy hostages for
444 days. After the crisis was abated, and the US/Iranian ties severed, The
US began to sell munitions and aid to Iranian enemies. This included Iraq and
Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war through the 1980’s.
Tensions again rose in
1985, when the warmongering Pro-Capitalist Regan Administration circumvented
President Jimmy Carter’s Arms Embargo on Iran by selling weapons to Iran under
the guise of supporting Contra Militants topple a Nicaraguan Government. This
was additionally obfuscated by the “Guns
for Hostages” program that traded guns for 7 hostages captured by Hezbollah
terrorists. Girl references this
history through consistent establishing shots of oil fields and a centralized
shot of a partygoer in a Ronald Regan Mask; it becomes a subtle but important
historical backdrop in front of which this story plays out.
SOCIAL ANALYSIS
One
of the consistent arguments that come up when discussing film, especially if
you are an academic engaging in content analysis of pop culture, is the question:
When does the private ownership of a piece of content stop, and when does the
public ownership of the content begin? Most would say that upon the release of
the content (song, novel, film etc.), the creator’s artistic expression no
longer belongs (solely) to its author. Typically, this argument is invoked when
talking about beloved franchises, and the various characters within them. Does
Dave Filoni owe something to Star Wars fans when he helms a new show or
produces another film? Certainly, the fans think he does…which is the point.
How much does a desire to placate fans edge its way into impacting the creative
freedom of a filmmaker? [4] Adjacent to this, is when an audience assigns a
political and social message to a piece of content. Whether that messaging is understood
as either divine or diabolical, it is still valued; shaping the film’s public
perception in ways that its creator never intended. Ironically, the creator is then often pressured
to affirm or deny these claims, thereby making the art less subjective. Granted,
it’s important to gauge the claims based on human rights. The Matrix (1999) can
be interpreted by Right leaning MAGA loving morons as a “reinforcement of…perspectives
indicative of a white male gaze.” (Brutlag 2022). Because of this
interpretation, during the production of The Matrix Resurrections (2021), director
Lana Wachowski felt behooved to clarify an opposing, and more fluidly inclusive
point. With Amirpour films the reverse seems to be happening. Many scholars
and film
reviewers seem to want to label all of her films, but
especially A Girl, as a Feminist film, even when that label has been rejected
by Amirpour herself. In the context of ownership and
perception, does this mean that the film is feminist regardless of the
creator’s intent?
Sociologically, Durkheim
(2001) and Goffman (1959) would agree that the film is indeed Feminist, not for
any semblance of their understanding of an actual Feminist argument, but
because of the creation of sacred and the social construction of reality.
Durkheim (2001) understood that the power of religion is in people’s ability to
believe in it. It is through social structures, relationships, and communities
that we give power to myths, legends, gods, and stories. Objects and behaviors
become valuable because of the meaning we ascribe to them. Thus, something
becomes “sacred” because we define it as such. While not being a symbolic
Interactionist, Durkheim skirts the use of an interactionist argument through
his explanation of the sacred.
Similarly, Goffman (1963) proposes that social status can be manipulated
by controlling the perception of ourselves in the eyes of others. Therefore, in
that theoretical context, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is ancillary feminist
because that is what the audience sees in its presentation. However, when contemplating
the specific content of the film, an exclusively feminist argument can also be
made.
'A Girl’s' Feminism
The fundamental premise of A Girl Walks
Home Alone at Night is inherently feminist by placing such a protagonist against
the backdrop of Iran, which still exists in a state of religiously gendered persecution.
In a cheeky act of defiance to these problematic protracted perceptions,
Amirpour reclaims the traditional chador
(outer garment often warn by women in Iran made compulsory after the 1980’s Iranian
cultural revolution) by having “The Girl” use it as a cape; providing a subtle
nod to both her own vampiric nature, and early vampire cinema of German Expressionism
and the early 20th century Universal Monster Films. The image of “The
Girl” riding a skateboard, with her chador bellowing behind her, is. iconic.
One of the reasons why this film’s feminist
appeal is so widespread is because the vast ubiquity of misogynistic patriarchy.
It unfortunately speaks to many people regardless of culture. As abysmal as the
reality of normalized experiences of misogyny are, there is a collective effervescence
in the commiseration of universal male domination when it is presented through cinema.
Amirpour plays on these gendered assumptions and experiences through the film’s
title. Living in a world where apps are
created and marketed to women to be safe, the
title: “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” evokes danger and fear given that for
many men, the simple existence of women (not to mention trans,
nonbinary and queer individuals) is perceived as a threat that needs to be met
with violence. The beautiful juxtaposition of the film’s premise is that the
titular “Girl” is the danger.
It is the type of danger
and where “The Girl’s” violence is focused that also infuses the film with a
feminist flavor. “The Girl’s” targets
are representations of toxic masculinity cringily embodied in one single character (Saeed), and
anyone who troubles Atti (The sex worker). In a conversation with Atti, “The
Girl” explains that she feels a kinship and amity with her because Atti reminds
“The Girl” of herself, stating in a lyrically close haiku:
“You Don’t Remember Wanting.”
“It passed long ago.
“Nothing ever Changes.
This points to the solidarity of women through the
shared experience of living under patriarchy; and while the fracturing of this
unity is often at (usually class and race based) intersectional fault lines, this
enmity can be abated through a focus love and communion (Kendall, 2020, Hamad, 2020,
hooks, 2001, Hubbard, 2022).
Vampirism as [Insert
Allegory Here]
Throughout the history of
film, vampires have been used as various allegories. It is easy to graft onto
the cinematic vampire image a compelling metaphor for immigration, sexual
identity, gender socialization or Disease. In Girl the vampire is
presented as an amalgamated allegory. Amirpour has stated in press interviews that vampirism is being a romantic serial killer. The danger is in the
allure of the act of consuming the lifeblood to be immortal; but it becomes an amorous
trap of ennui when experienced. Yet, as Amirpour depicts vampirism with a type
of anxious attraction, she also deploys that image to make a statement of drug
addiction and the oil industry.
In a shallower reading of
this film, “The Girl” is obviously positioned to be the proxy for addiction in
the way she must regularly kill and consume blood to live. While that is
present, the more interesting and deeper addiction messaging comes from Arash’s
father Hussein. Hussein is the nexus for all the characters in the film.
Through his drug use and lust for prostitutes, his addiction destroys all lives
in his vicinity, including his own. In this context, “The Girl” also becomes a
manifestation of addiction itself; causing both hurt and pain to everyone in
Hussein’s vicinity, before finally coming for him. Additionally, every death
that “The Girl” deals (discounting the homeless character)[5] is after some form of drug
use: Saeed, after he ingests several lines of cocaine, and Hussein, after taking
heroin. The Girl is the consequences of addiction.
That addiction rhetoric
is similarly used when looking at the oil industry through a vampiric lens. In an interview with Rodger Corman for this
film, in talking about shooting locations, Amirpour talked about the city of
Taft, CA near where they shot in Bakersfield. She described the city as a sea
of oil derricks (seen in the film) constantly churning old dinosaur bones up to
the surface. Whereas humanity has decided
to live off the crude blood of the earth, so does “The Girl” feed off the blood
of humans, sucking us dry until there is nothing left. This is simultaneously a cultural, capitalistic,
and environmental critique that tethers together international Iranian relations,
capitalism, and a lack of environmental conservation.
CONCLUSION
A
Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a wonderfully shot
masterclass in subversive and anarchic filmmaking. The film’s themes, cinematic
language and cultural impact invite repeat viewing and academic study. It is
the kind of cinema emblematic of the director’s Gen X sensibilities of systemic
deconstruction and self-introspection; leading to Amirpour’s signature storytelling
style: an elective affinity for found families of outsiders. This is something
she explores in her next two films in rich and bloody detail.
REFERENCES
Brutlag, Brian
2022. “Bodies in Pods: Masculine Domination, Sexuality and Love in The Matrix
Franchise.” In Global Perspectives on the Liminality of the Supernatural
Rebecca Gibson and James M. Vanderveen (eds) p 129-140 New York: Lexington
Books
Durkheim, Emile
2001. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life Oxford: Oxford University
Press
Goffman, Erving 1959.
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life New York: Anchor Books
Hamad, Ruby 2020. White
Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color New York:
Catapult
hooks, bell 2001. All
About Love: New Visions. New York: Harper Collins
Hubbard, Shanita
2022. Ride or Die: A Feminist Manifesto for the Well Being of Black Women.
New York: Legacy Lit.
Kendall, Mikki
2020. Hood Feminism: Notes From the Women A Movement Forgot New York:
Viking Press
Wachowski, Lana,
director. 2021. The Matrix Resurrections. United States.Warner Bros.
Wachowski, Lana
and Lilly Wachowski, directors. 1999. The Matrix: United States Warner Bros.
[1]
There is no direct connection in character, plot or story line between these
films, but the importance and subversion of structures and systems are so
prevalent in each of her first three films that I prefer to link them together.
Additionally, as of this writing, these are the only films Amirpour has
directed. As with the other directors that I have covered in this series, I
will write on any subsequent film she directs henceforth.
[2]
Usually the extent of the “extras offered is directly proportional to the
amount one is investing; usually organized by tiers of support
[3]
This is what recently happened with the development of The Legend of Vox
Machina and Amazon Prime Fan backers contributed enough to create 3 seasons
of the animated tv show, it was already bought and paid for, therefore Amazon
decided to distribute it for only the cost the distribution.
[4] I
discuss the toxicity of Fan cultures in my essay on Comics Cultural Collateral
Damage linked earlier in the essay above.
[5] There
is also a link between homelessness and Drug use/ Addiction.
