Nordling here.
One of these days I'm going to pool up enough vacation time and go to the Sundance Film Festival. I'm especially envious of Quint, who is going this year, because I want to see THE RAID 2: BERANDAL very badly indeed. But I'm sure Quint's going to see everything he can and report back. I've always loved AICN's coverage of Sundance, and after a brief hiatus, we're back in force this year.
The best part of Sundance is seeing those movies that seemingly come out of nowhere, and I hope Tim League is looking closely at some intriguing prospects this year for Fantastic Fest. One of them sounds straight out of FF's wheelhouse - A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT, which might be the very first Iranian vampire Western ever directed by a woman. Okay, make that "definitely" instead of "might." Executive produced by Elijah Wood, Daniel Noah, Josh Waller, and others, A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT sounds like something I could wholeheartedly embrace. Here's the synopsis:
Strange things are afoot in Bad City. The Iranian ghost town, home to prostitutes, junkies, pimps and other sordid souls, is a bastion of depravity and hopelessness where a lonely vampire stalks its most unsavory inhabitants. But when boy meets girl, an unusual love story begins to blossom... blood red.
Cinema's first Iranian vampire western, Ana Lily Amirpour’s debut feature basks in the shear pleasure of pulp. A joyful mash-up of genre, archetype, and iconography, its prolific influences span spaghetti westerns, graphic novels, horror films, and the Iranian New Wave. Amped by a mix of Iranian rock, techno, and Morricone-inspired riffs, its airy, anamorphic, black-and-white aesthetic and artfully drawn-out scenes combine the simmering tension of Sergio Leone with the weird surrealism of David Lynch.
Above all, Amirpour’s tale of love and squalor is fun. Why else would a vampire ride a skateboard?
Ana Lily Amirpour's been directing since she was 12 years old. I love when genre filmmaking shows us different perspectives and ways of life; much like Alejandro Brugues' JUAN OF THE DEAD, I bet A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT will expose its audiences to an entirely different kind of life, and I'm excited to see it.
And we have not only the exclusive premiere of the poster, but an exclusive look at the comic book that will be made available to all Sundance attendees of the film. Here's the poster:
And here's the first page of the comic.
And the third page of the comic.
A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT will premiere January 19th at Sundance, with an encore screening on January 20th. I hope to get to see it soon!
Nordling, out.
