“A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night” was one of Sundance 2014’s sweetest surprises, a confident widescreen, black-and-white Farsi-language all-American debut, a bracing post-punk blend of vampire iconography, the spaghetti western, Kaurismäki-like sorrowfulness, Jarmusch-worthy equipoise, shot in Bakersfield, California, which passes for the nocturnal reaches “Bad City,” Iran. Ana Lily Amirpour’s politically suggestive feature debut is ripe with eye-widening joy from its first frames, its pacing alternately languorous and coiled, the graphic-novel-like imagery emerging and evolving with surrealist stealth. In Amirpour’s own excitable words about her tender, melancholy achievement, “It’s like Sergio Leone and David Lynch had an Iranian rock ‘n’ roll baby, and then Nosferatu came and babysat for them.” Amirpour also has a fantastic ear for music that elevates even the drowsiest, dreamiest passages. With Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Mozhan Marno, Dominic Rains, Milad Eghbali, Rome Shadanloo, Marshall Manesh and Reza Sixo Safai as “The Rockabilly.” 99m. (Ray Pride)
“A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” opens January 2, 2015 at Siskel.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
Talking Screens, August 19-25, 2022: The Joys of Girl Picture | The Importance of Alma's Rainbow | The Power of Prey In Chicago: Ayoka Chenzira's 1994 coming-of-age comedy-drama "Alma's Rainbow; the Finnish "Girl Picture;" one more chance to see Wong Kar-wai's "In The Mood For Love;" "Parting Glances" set during the early stages of the AIDS crisis with Steve Buscemi in an early lead; "Marie Antoinette;" "City Of God;" and Chicago Film Society brings back the rarely seen "Livin' Large." Reeling…
