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Ana Lily Amipour’s 2014 Iranian film, subverts the audiences’ expectations by fusing two juxtaposing genres into a familiar narrative of “boy meets girl”. The title itself, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night associates with the “damsel in distress” convention that is prominent in the Western genre and Vampire sub-genre. Assuming that her audience are conditioned by formulaic narratives and these conventions, Amirpour uses the title to create this perception which is then reversed in the actual film. This provides entertainment factor and re-articulates in this cycle of genre.
With the knowledge that it has elements of a Western, viewers’ would expect a stand-off that consists of a close-up of the eyes coupled with a tension-building soundtrack. The tension linger on to about six minutes while the actual fighting sequence itself is featured for a brief minute. In A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, the Western genre conventions shines within the non-diegetic sound as she taunts and teases her victims for several minutes while the actual attack occurs for less than a minute.
The Vampire sub-genre is intertwined within the romance between The Girl and Arash. Since this film was released in 2014, the vampire and romance genre mix cultivated a massive following amongst younger audiences. Amirpour is aware of the film’s space and therefore plays with this concept through the scene where Arash is ironically dressed as Dracula and is unaware that The Girl herself is a vampire. As The Girl tilts his head to reveal his neck, she kisses his neck rather than sinking her teeth in it.
In hindsight, the film encapsulates a variety of other genres. The thriller-suspense that occurs during the murders, an essence of film noir from the black and white imagery and 1950s James Dean-esque of Arash’s costume, the French- New Wave through The Girl’s costume and persona, and coming of age through the character development of Arash and his interpersonal relationships. Wow, talk about genre mixing.