Rowan Sullivan

466

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night – The Vampire Western

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

This film is like nothing I have ever seen. Who thought you could mix the Western genre with Vampires and end up with a decent film about Female empowerment. Add in the fact that it is shot in black and white film and in Farsi and you’ve found the most unique film out there to brag to your friends about. In case you’re still doubtful, I suggest you check out this film as soon as you can and make up your own mind.

Why Watch A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night?
  • Whilst there are a load of Farsi Vampire Western films, this one really stands out!
  • To see an old woman in a cowboy shirt dancing with a balloon.
  • For some bad-ass female empowerment!
  • For an example of a great foreign language film from the U.S.
  • Black & White films can still look cool (see Polish Academy-Award winner Ida and Embrace of the Serpent for more evidence)
The Breakdown

A man is smoking a cigarette by a fence. He leans towards a gap in the fence, looking to see if anyone is around. He finishes his cigarette, squashes it under his foot and disappears through the gap in the fence. A few seconds later he reappears carrying a cat and walks off. (And that is how you get yourself a pet cat).

Whilst the cat-stealing man takes the opening scene, the real star of the show is the main girl (she never reveals her name). She could well be a feminist icon. In contrast to the macho man (described in the next paragraph) she is a quiet girl who does what she wants. No one can control her, even though our macho man thinks he can. She’s a Vampire/Western superhero sticking up for prostitutes and deconstructing male power.

Our macho man, on the other hand, is an iconic idiot. He has a broken heart tattooed on the back of his neck, a goatee and a Fu-Manchu esque motorbike moustache. Don’t worry, you don’t even have to feel bad at judging his appearance as he is a moron. After his tells his prostitute to get lost without paying her, he encounters our heroine and takes her to his apartment. Here, he does the most obnoxious mating ritual you will see on film. First he snorts a few lines of cocaine. Then he opens a silver briefcase and counts out his stacks of cash. Next, he closes the case and picks up two dumbbells to do a few biceps curls. Finally, he does a few semi-erotic dance moves in front of our motionless (presumably shocked) heroine.

Conclusion

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is one of the most unique foreign films you will see. I haven’t seen anyone mix genres like Ana Lily Amirpour does in this film (Vampire and Western). However, if you liked this film, I’d suggest you check out the Iranian horror film Under the Shadow. Or if you’re looking for great Vampire films, check out What we do in the Shadows.

 

 

467

Tsotsi

Tsotsi Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Are you here for an introduction to the slums of South Africa? Well Tsotsi is a great place to start as the film is easy-to-watch, entertaining, and emotional (all the criteria for a fantastic Hollywood film). It is also a great pairing for City of God – a Brazilian great with more good music and great editing!

Why Watch Tsotsi?
  • To hear some great South African tunes
  • As it’s THE Foreign Language Academy Award winner from 2005
  • To see a little bit of Johannesberg
  • To get under the skin of a baby-faced thug (Tsotsi is slang for thug)
The Breakdown

Two guys are playing craps in a cluttered slum house. One of them rolls a four and a five and the players start arguing over whether it is a 9 or an 11. Another observer settles their argument whilst Tsotsi stares out a window at the end of the room. At this point, the banging South African music starts and Tsotsi and his crew leave the house and parade around the slums. These guys are the slum thugs of Johannesberg and we are going to hitch a ride with them into the city.

Right from the start we see the difference between the slums and the city. The slums are crowded, with shacks stacked on top of other shacks and no electricity or running water, except for a little tap that the community queues for. In contrast, the city is mostly clean and built up, especially in the wealthy suburbs which Tsotsi and his crew go and visit. The suburbs even have trees, cars, and gated houses. It is a completely different world.

Also pay attention to the editing, particularly when Tsotsi and his gang arrive in Johannesberg station looking for a target. The camera fixes Tsotsi’s face in the middle of the screen and cuts to see what he is looking at. The camera switches from Tsotsi to commuter, from Tsotsi to family, from Tsotsi to a man handing over money. Boom, here is his target. Now the camera cuts between Tsotsi’s face and the same man who he saw handing over money. The camera gets closer to Tsotsi and his chosen victim between the cuts as Tsotsi closes in on his target. The editing makes it clear that he isn’t there to just people watch.

The Conclusion

The slums are a part of Johannesberg, and to ignore them is to ignore Johannesberg. Similarly, to ignore the people that live in the slums is to ignore your fellow citizens. For this reason, Tsotsi is an important story. At the beginning we see and judge a ruthless criminal that needs to be punished. However, by the end we may change our mind with a little more understanding.

 

 

468

Desierto

Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Did you enjoy Gravity or The Revenant? Then maybe this film is for you. This all action, no dialogue thriller draws a lot from the horror genre to bring you a film heightened by recent events (think Trump). It will keep you on the edge of your seat from the beginning to the end and will scare you from attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border from outside of your air-conditioned car for life!

Why Watch Desierto?
  • It is Mexico’s foreign language entry for the 89th Academy Awards
  • Are you scared of Trump’s America!
  • To see how barren the U.S.-Mexico borderlands are
  • Pure action thriller and no dialogue (think of Gravity)
The Breakdown

Desirto opens with an expansive shot of the dimly lit desert. The sun slowly rises from behind some mountains in the distance revealing the scorched landscape in front of us. A small truck drives through this beautiful, barren wasteland. In the back of the truck is a handful of hopeful migrants looking for better lives in the U.S. We are not told anything about them and we can only judge them based on their appearance. For them, this horror movie is about to start as the truck grinds to a halt… their only means of getting through the desert has broken down!

There is probably only 20 lines of dialogue in this film, less if you remove character’s talking to themselves. Just like Gravity, another film scripted by Cuaron, Desierto is pure action from the start. However, luckily for Cuaron, no dialogue is needed to explain the characters because Trump’s America gives them authenticity, making them even more scary. The whisky drinking white man with the confederate flag is now a much more real and much more scary prospect.  Combine that with the racist rhetoric used by Trump and you think, maybe this film could happen in real life!

In Desierto the yellows of the barren deserts and rocky outcrops dominate from the opening scene. The director excludes most signs of life from the film to emphasise the emptiness of the desert. The only animals that are living in this environment are rattlesnakes, a symbol of living death. The hostility of the environment makes us feel that we are not welcome there, that we are intruding on someone else’s land. And this feeling of intrusion is an important first stage of the horror genre. (e.g. Texas Chainsaw Massacre where hitch-hikers ‘intrude’ on Leatherface’s land).

Conclusion

Desierto is an interesting addition to the horror genre because it creates a horror out of an often debated political issue: illegal immigrants. This association, and the current zeitgeist in America, gives this film an extra layer which is lacking in the dialogue.

 

 

469

Girlhood – A New-Wave of French Film?

Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

More in line with the likes of Adulthood than Boyhood, Girlhood is an artistic dive into the black working class blocks of Paris. Marieme is our heroine/anti-heroine, a black female who is forced to make a life for herself after she is denied high-school education. Can she weave her way through all the obstacles thrown her way? Or is she confined by her identity and social standing?

Why Watch Girlhood?
  • To see Paris as you probably haven’t seen it before – where concrete towers replace the Eiffel tower.
  • You’re a fan of coming-of-age films
  • Witness the potential of GIRL POWER
  • Check out some beautifully coloured cinematography
The Breakdown

An heavy techno beat breathes life into the darkness of the opening credits. Floodlights break up the darkness as a group of American football players run out of a dimly lit tunnel onto the pitch. One of the girls scores a touchdown and everyone starts celebrating and singing, before the lights shut off and darkness is back. The opening briefly shows us the power of girl groups and also marks the first screen-wipe of darkness.

Pay attention when the director black-washes the screen as each time marks a key point in Marieme’s adolescence. Each time is like the ending and beginning of a new chapter. Each time also follows either a happy or sad moment that defines Marieme. I’d also recommend paying attention to the soundtrack, as the director chooses particular moments for when the songs are played. For example, Marieme and her friends sing along to Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds’ at a time when their happiness and freedom is high. At this moment, the song emphasises their happiness and camaraderie.

Whilst the screen-wipes and songs signify key moments of the film, I am not sure what the role of the colours are. Nevertheless, the colours are beautiful. From the pale blue and pink hues of Marieme’s bedroom walls, lit up by a dim lamp to the slightly washed out colours of daylight in the concrete jungle. The vivid dark blue and black hues of the hotel-room party strongly reminded me of the beautiful cinematography of Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight. See the beautiful colours for yourself and leave a comment if you think you know what they signify.

Conclusion

Girlhood is an important film. The director’s goal was to capture the stories of black teenagers, characters that are mostly underdeveloped in French films. In addition to race, this film is important because it also challenges conceptions of gender and class. All three; gender, class, and race (in that order?) come together to put obstacles in Marieme’s way. Can she escape?

 

 

 

 

470

Snowden

Watch Snowden after watching The Lives of Others

 

Film Difficulty Ranking: 1

This film is a perfect companion to The Lives of Others (from Germany). It reveals that invasive state security is not an outdated institution confined to the old Soviet-bloc, but something that still happens today. Will whistle-blower Edward Snowden be celebrated in decades to come for his bravery or will he continue to be victimised?

Why Watch Snowden?
  • You’re a fan of 1984
  • You have heard of Edward Snowden but don’t know enough about him to keep a debate going
  • Do you want freedom or security? Watch this film to find out.
  • For a dramatized and Hollywood-friendly version of Citizenfour

Anyway, as this is not a foreign or indie film, I’m not going to write another small essay. But, as it’s relevant to one of the other films I have recommended on this site, I’ve included it here in case you want to follow up your interest! Plus it is a good film with a good insight into one of the most controversial figures in politics.