The Women Directors Hall of Fame

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night




Or, as I said in the ‘rate the last movie you watched thread’, "the Persian language arthouse vampire movie that somehow manages to out-Jarmusch Jim Jarmusch."

This is style over substance, perhaps, but as with Orlando, the style sort of is the substance. (It certainly wouldn’t have been the same if it hadn’t been filmed in black and white.) That’s not to say it’s entirely without plot or character though. It’s a good deal less talky than Jarmusch’s Only Lover Left Alive, but it has American indie art film sensibility. I didn’t really consider the whole nationality/politics angle before, but it’s either Americana through an Iranian lens, or Iran as presented as an American indie movie, or both. There are skateboards and headscarves and cute guys in James Dean-type poses, all of it underlined or thrown into relief by the fantasy-horror vampire aspect.

It’s hard to describe this film without referencing other vampire movies. It’s a little bit like Let the Right One In in its portrayal of the budding friendship/love between a boy and a vampire. Someone already mentioned Near Dark (another female-directed vampire movie), it also from its title and whole premise absolutely reminded me of the very start of Buffy the Vampire Slayer the TV series where the girl seems so concerned and then it turns out she is the monster and bites the guy she is with:




But for all that it’s quite different to any of them as well, its own unique take on the vampire genre that encompasses power imbalances and urban decay and light and shade and drugs and revenge and love and connection and cats - all in a very visual way.

I especially liked the part where the girl and Arash meet and she takes him home and plays White Lies' Death, which is one of my favourite songs and used to good effect. The soundtrack was good in general, I thought. It does drag a little in parts, but overall I thought it was pretty great.

I don't think it's that much like Near Dark either. The only part that strongly reminded me of it was There was a basic similarity with Let The Right One In's love story like both of us mentioned, but i agree it was its own thing and it was well done.

Good review.

We're 1/12 of the way finished and half of the members have started That's less than a week in and we also have that extra week so comfortably on schedule.

The character study itself does feel a little empty, doesn't it?
And thinking of Wilde writing it is a wild lil proposition - rather like that.
THANK YOU

and that was exactly caught my attention and got me to see this previously.
Great little movie and it still had it's own style which I enjoyed.

Oh yeah Jarmusch didn't even come to mind during it and somehow i missed that when i read your review. Think i would have saw it completely differently if i read that before seeing it like Ed. I think i was definitely tripped up by initially thinking it was an Iranian film which is why i was focused on its politics and Westerness more than anything.

I did think it was like an Americans imagination of Iran with Iranian speaking actors though. Maybe i'm completely wrong about that (i mean i'm right because it is an American making an Iranian language film, but maybe i'm missing things that make it Iranian).

No, I think you kinda nailed it because there were a few spots where I had a second take, thinking it was strictly Iranian. And I'm sure I may have been doing the same if I wasn't enjoying the out Jarmusching Jarmusch. Which I'll be happily doing on my second rewatch for this HoF.

The Ascent


What a film this was. Very surprised I haven't heard about it before now. I thought nothing would ever beat The Revenant as being the coldest feeling movie I had ever seen but this sure does. Absolutely breath taking film in every way. The cinematography is some of the best you will ever see. The story is really gripping which makes the film move very quickly.

I could care less when movies feel like they are copies of other directors as long as they are just as competent. This one is. If I went into this blind I would have no doubt it was a Tarkovsky film.

I have one small complaint. The opening of this movie is astonishing. This is beyond a shadow of a doubt an art house film and it has soldiers doing barrel rolls in the snow like they are in a Bond film, it is freaking awesome, and it looks awesome, but it has full screen credits rolling over a lot of the opening. Man, that was frustrating but far from a deal breaker of course.

Great film, that will be hard to beat. Be surprised if it doesn't win with this group.

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Letterboxd

American Psycho

American Psycho has been a blind spot for me for too long. I am looking forward to my watch. I just have a feeling I will hate it or love it and it will probably depend on how humorous I find it. Just my gut feeling from everything I have read about since coming to Mofo.

As a teenager it was one of my favourites, this time it went down quite a bit but it is fun. As i said the problem is Bale is great but nobody else is that interesting or memorable; he overshadows everyone else and when you've seen it loads his antics become less entertaining. So your enjoyment all hinges on how you take Bale, his character is unlikeable but he's obviously satrical and he is charasmatic and funny. I love his voice in this so much, he responds to people with this very condescending inflection that suits his psychopathic persona perfectly. Hope you enjoy.

I saw this a few years ago and didn't care for it much. I'm more patient now when it comes to watching slow films. My wife also didn't like it, and sometimes it can be difficult to enjoy something when there's another person who's not. I was also frustrated with what wasn't in the movie. Despite a poor initial viewing, the movie would seem to suit my taste well so I was looking forward to revisiting it.

Spoilers What they didn't show that I initially wanted to see was the massacre in more detail, and also how Kevin got along with people outside of his family, especially his classmates. I now understand that the movie just isn't about that, and it is chilling enough to watch without the added details. It brings up some interesting questions like is evil born or raised, and how much responsibility do the parents have for sins committed by their children. We don't get answers because I don't think there are any. Excellent performances, especially by Tilda Swinton, and the non-linear structure works perfectly. If I could do without anything it would be the barrage of symbolism; in this movie it's the overuse of red. I think symbolism is most effective if it can come from the subconscious. That's a small gripe as I now think it's a fantastic movie that I may still be underrating. Nominating this movie in this HoF will certainly affect it's placement on the upcoming countdown.

This is an exact copy of what I posted when I watched my nom just before I joined this HoF, just so Camo can keep the numbers in order-


I had this German film on my watchlist for a while and moved it to the top when I realized it was directed by a woman. You've got a teenage boy who is a lost soul and a Jesus freak. He's with a group of like minded people but befriends a man who happens to be a non-believer. He ends up moving in with the man and his family. Eventually the man starts to test the teen's faith, and these tests get more and more cruel. The teen stays because he believes it's a test from God and he wants to help the stepdaughter. It is a very slow movie, but it is a well made and very upsetting true story. It deserves a place on the women directors countdown.

And I ordered the DVD for Take This Waltz for next weekend. It looks like something my wife would like.

I'll take a link for A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night if anyone has one.

I like how reading that without watching you'd think you were being disparaging by calling him a "jesus freak" yet that's exactly what he calls himself.

Glad you liked my nom.
In what way?

People from this HoF may vote for it.

I'll be super happy if that's the case.

I wasn't going to watch it again or vote for it, and that's just speaking for me.

I'm halfway through, Cricket is quarter. 7/12 have started and 16/144 reviews are in.

This Hof is moving fast! I skipped most of the last pages as I haven't seen those movies yet. I do plan on watching my own nom, Little Women tonight as it's a Christmas tradition at our house. It's not about Christmas but it does have some prominent Christmas scenes in it.