Why Was “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” Shot in Black and White? Why is Atmosphere so Important?
The atmosphere of this film is, essentially, a character itself. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) is more an exploration of sensation, feeling and ambience than a narrative-driven film. While the black and white helps retain authenticity in transition this graphic novel-based story across platforms, it also allows the cinematography and lighting to work in unique ways that amplify exactly what the director wants the audience to see. Incredible concentration is placed on visual details throughout every frame of the film, so much that pressing pause on any shot is an image worthy of singularly beholding. A black and white palette lets every shadow, sparkle and nuance stand out. It affords moments of lush imagery, bright wide shots, hallucinatory shots, and incredible darkness.
Atmosphere is the objective of this film. The direction and the cinematography are obvious in their inspirations from Leone, Tarantino, among dozens of others. The “coolness” of the picture isn’t just for fun, it’s the film’s primary tool for moving the minimal plot and dialogue through the world. It’s what funnels the emotional reach of the actors and the emotional attachment of the viewer into the same forward momentum. Painfully long stretches of silence, uber-sexual close-ups of dancing bodies, pounding music, mesmerizingly bright against utter darkness - these things surpass effect and serve the momentum of the film.