The role of feminism in Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Authors

Trenton Straight, West Virginia UniversityFollow
Caroline Murphy, West Virginia University

Document Type

Other

Publication Date

2020

College/Unit

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department/Program/Center

English

Faculty Sponsor

Rose Casey

Abstract

Throughout the black and white spaghetti western, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, the narrative of an Iranian girl vampire using her powers to both torment and prey on men attracts the attention of the feminist movement. Director and writer Ana Lily Amirpour creates a hypnotic and isolating atmosphere through her unique style of cinematography. Through this technique, she creates a staggering power dynamic that reverses gender roles that previously dominated the horror genre. In essence, a stark divide is created between the roles of men and women throughout the film. While many film critics and analysists consider Amirpour’s film a feminist work of art, the director states quite the opposite. As a result, one may question the relevancy of feminism throughout film. Does one consider A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night a feminist film purely because it tells the story of a female protagonist who manifests her rage through killing men? What role does the director play in the individual viewer’s contextualization of a film? In contemporary film and literature analysis, the prevailing theory is that the author or director’s intent is irrelevant when considering the reader’s interpretation. In terms of feminism in film, there may be limitations to the ideology based on this interpretation. Therefore, this podcast explores how feminism and its relevancy is addressed in Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night.

Digital Commons Citation

Straight, Trenton and Murphy, Caroline, "The role of feminism in Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" (2020). Undergraduate Scholarship. 2.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/ugscholarship/2