Not too long ago, I saw a film that I really didn’t know anything about going in.
It’s the first of this double feature and it brought to mind the second film.
Vampires are sort of used up as a subject, but these two films show that there’s still some life in them, yet.
A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT (2014)
Written and directed by Ana Lily Amirpour
Based on a graphic novel by Ana Lily Amirpour
Taking the indie world by storm is this little film that purports to be the first vampire film to take place in the Middle East (although it was filmed in California). On the surface, it’s about Arash (Arash Marandi), a young Iranian man who can’t quite find his place in the world. He’s lost his car to the local small-time gangster and the ladies have no interest in him at all. As he’s walking the streets one night, he sees a mysterious girl (Sheila Vand) on a skateboard and instantly falls in love. There’s obviously something interesting about her, but he can’t quite put his finger on it.
As she leaves him, she encounters someone she deems worthy…and kills him.
What the movie is really about is atmosphere and feelings. Arash and The Girl have many encounters, but they don’t “hook up” in any physical way, only emotional and, if possible, spiritual. There are lots of killings, but not tons of gore. The “story,” as it were, is really just an excuse to have some amazing black and white cinematography, interesting visuals and characters and an overwhelming feeling of loneliness in a small Iranian town. Jim Jarmusch is probably very proud.
There is one other big point to the film: Respect women and you’ll be a good person…and be left alive. Many, if not all, of The Girl’s victims are disrespectful of women. The Girl gets the revenge on these guys that all women want to get. She’s one girl who won’t be taken advantage of, and she won’t allow any others to be, either.
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is a beautiful film in a lot of ways. It’s streaming right now. Check it out.
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008)
Directed by Tomas Alfredson
Written by John Advide Lindqvist
Based on a novel by John Advide Lindqvist
Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) is a sad little boy. He has to deal with bullies on a daily basis and it seems that his parents are split up. His dad is great until he starts drinking. Then he’s sort of inattentive. He’s all alone in the world. There’s nothing for him…until he meets Eli (Lina Leandersson). She’s a lonely little girl that he meets in the frozen landscape of his apartment complex’s playscape.
Eli is a strange girl who lives with an older man. She tells Oskar that they can’t be friends, but she’s still drawn to him as much as he’s drawn to her. What she can’t tell him is that she’s a vampire. The older man that she lives with, Hakan (Per Ragnar), kills people for her to eat. But when he can’t get anyone, she does quite well on her own.
There are some silly CGI scenes (beware of the cats…seriously), but that doesn’t detract from how great this movie is. The American remake (Let Me In) thankfully took the cat scene out, but it doesn’t have the same power as the original. A decent film, but not a great film.
Let The Right One In is every bit as beautiful and lonely as A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, but it’s also far more gruesome and disturbing. It’s also a much sadder film. There’s no giving away the ending here, but it’s not the best of all outcomes.
I like both of these films a lot.
It’s rare for a vampire film to show how truly lonely the life of a vampire really would be. Usually, they’re all about the seduction and gore. These two films, though, really take us to the reality of their world.
Being a vampire would suck.
