A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a Persian foreign language
film set in the Iranian suburbs.
The film follows the story of a mysterious girl stalking townspeople and using her supernatural powers to help those in need.
The film follows the story of a mysterious girl stalking townspeople and using her supernatural powers to help those in need.
The film draws immediate parallels to Let the Right One In. Both films provide different
takes on modern vampire tales, have massive cult followings and explore similar
narratives with unique female leads. Differently from LTROI, A
Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is shot entirely in black and white.
With that being said, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night lures
you into the film’s storyline by creating a remarkable atmosphere. It goes
forward to tell a story reflecting on human relations and important aspects of
our lives through a character with otherworldly powers.
The film touches on many real-world themes revolving around opposing
western and eastern influences present in modern day Iran. As well as focusing
on different facets of Iranian society through the characterization of the
fictional town and its inhabitants.
Synopsis
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night follows the story of an unnamed
girl roaming the streets of the fictional town “Bad City”. ‘The Girl’ is an
oddity. She is distant, quiet and stalks people across town. Not much is known
of her and that’s the way she wants to keep it.
She walks around Bad City at night and on her voyages, she
meets some quite colourful people. Each of whom are drastically different from one
another and each of whom meet different fates.
After a few nights of wandering around the town, she eventually meets a boy named Arash. The two walk around the city together and try to form some sort of friendship through their shared loneliness.
After a few nights of wandering around the town, she eventually meets a boy named Arash. The two walk around the city together and try to form some sort of friendship through their shared loneliness.
The remainder of the film follows both characters over the
next few days as they both deal with things going on in each other’s lives.
Following both characters as they attempt to make sense of all of the strange, problematic, exciting and dangerous things happening around them.
Following both characters as they attempt to make sense of all of the strange, problematic, exciting and dangerous things happening around them.
Important Themes
Despite being a fantasy film, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
still sheds light on some important themes. By setting the vampire tale in the
East, it allows the fantasy world to uncover underlying repressive themes prevalent
in Iranian society.
The film smartly
juxtaposes its stoic female main character against the largely traditional town of Bad
City. Going forth to tell a story of a girl with power. Who is free to do
whatever she pleases as a girl who is not defined by societal constraints.
Today in Iran, women’s rights persists to be one of the
biggest topics when it comes to criticism of the Persian country.
Iran continues to enforce laws controlling what clothes women can wear, how much women can be involved in politics, what events they can attend as well as a host of discriminatory policies created on the grounds of familial rights, reproductive rights and sexual violence.
Iran continues to enforce laws controlling what clothes women can wear, how much women can be involved in politics, what events they can attend as well as a host of discriminatory policies created on the grounds of familial rights, reproductive rights and sexual violence.
In light of the #MeToo movement, the Ayatollah stated that women should wear the hijab
to stop sexual harassment. Which pretty much describes the level of ignorance
the government has to issues facing women in the country.
To read more on the topic of gender inequality in Iran, feel free to check out my past post on the Iranian film Life+1 Day.
To read more on the topic of gender inequality in Iran, feel free to check out my past post on the Iranian film Life+1 Day.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night also puts censorship at the
forefront of the film.
Modern day Iranian society comprises of a whole lot of red tape. As pointed out with women’s rights, there are so many restrictions in Iran.
From a film perspective, these restrictions directly kill creativity and seek to keep the status quo by censoring what information can be and what cannot be consumed by the masses.
Modern day Iranian society comprises of a whole lot of red tape. As pointed out with women’s rights, there are so many restrictions in Iran.
From a film perspective, these restrictions directly kill creativity and seek to keep the status quo by censoring what information can be and what cannot be consumed by the masses.
Even though A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is
a Persian film, the entire thing was filmed in California. Showing that if
Persian opinions want to be voiced, they have to do so outside of their
motherland.
Conclusion
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a stellar film. It ropes
together the fantasy world with the nuanced modern Persian world. It tells a
story of understanding, individualism and revolt.
From what I remember, watching the film was such a cool
experience.
I found myself caught up in the story and loved how the film constantly contrasted traditional versus contemporary and western versus eastern societal values. I think it elevated the story so much. Creating a very unique and romanticised atmosphere.
I found myself caught up in the story and loved how the film constantly contrasted traditional versus contemporary and western versus eastern societal values. I think it elevated the story so much. Creating a very unique and romanticised atmosphere.
It’s definitely a one of a kind film, exploring an awesome story
set in the urban east. It's also a good watch for any of you out there preparing for Halloween. You won’t want to miss it.
Many call it an instant
classic and many say that it has an amazing soundtrack. So what’s holding you
back? Go on and watch it!
