Female Desire and Feminist Rage: Ana Lily Amirpour's Reworking of the Vampire Motif in A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Abstract

Central to this essay is the feature film A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night by the Iranian-American director Ana Lily Amirpour. The director binds viewers to a vampire’s point of view – one that expresses both female desire and feminist anger – by using film-specific stylistic devices such as the depth of field, framing, lighting, sound, and location. The film embraces feelings of anger and rage when confronted with patriarchal domination and violence, and turns these feelings into liberatory tools that give rise to both feminist analysis and agency. And while gender oppression is rejected violently, the film also establishes a community of care that amends, escapes, reveals, and resists patriarchal and capitalist oppression.