Alphaville - Criterion Collection (1965)

The big computer

The action in Alphaville is set in a future where everything is run by the big computer Alpha 60. It's hard to take this film seriously, the futuristic vision is very 1960s: the fear of a computerized society where machines rule with cold rationality and so on. As an example of this vision it is interesting. But Godard doesn't elaborate this future society very much so it is never especially "believable" or consistent. It is more like a playful attempt to make a budget sci-fi: the special effects are restricted to blinking neon signs and close-ups of radios and stuff. A theme is the relation between logic and poetry, the latter is of course beyond the comprehension of the computer... I liked the impersonation of Alpha 60: a close-up of a light and/or a fan plus a weird voice talking about logic and stuff. Sort of a brother of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey (an incredible movie which Alphaville is not to be compared to otherwise...).
Not one of Godard's best, but worth watching (try Breathless instead if you are new to his films). I wish this Criterion DVD had contained some extras to set it in the context of Godard's career. June 23, 2008

2.5 Stars, Not an Easy Watch

"Alphaville", an acknowledged high point of New Wave film, is billed as a must see for its genre-bending philosophical excursion into a totalitarian future. I found this film difficult to immerse myself in and watched it in segments over the course of three or four nights. Things I enjoyed included Eddie Constantine's grizzled visage and terse acting, the beautiful modernist architecture, lovely actresses, and the distorted voice of the deadly "Alpha 60". However, as when recently seeing "Breathless" for the first time, I found myself acutely aware I was watching a film throughout "Alphaville", in other words, there was no enjoyable suspension of disbelief. During chilly and lengthy passages in which words like "consciousness" were exhaustively dissected or when Alpha 60 went on fascistic diatribes, I was less moved than slightly bored. When the hard boiled spy, Lemmy Caution (Constantine) started spouting off like a philosophy graduate student writing a thesis, I reached a point of enervation. I am not an avid reader of French philosophy so I freely admit that perhaps this stunted my appreciation of "Alphaville". Also, apparently, Lemmy was a well known character in numerous European film noir detective movies, and I can understand that some of the power of "Alphaville" came from the transposition of an established character into such a cold alien circumstance. But for someone such as me, both unfamiliar with these previous films and unversed in the philosophical underpinnings of Godard's movie, large chunks of "Alphaville" were little more than a dreary exposition on obtuse abstract subjects. This is definitely a film that forces you to slow down and watch on its own terms, not yours. After reading some of the 4 and 5 star reviews, it should become apparent that even fans of "Alphaville" agree it should probably have pre-requisite reading prior to consumption. For some film enthusiasts that's an invitation, but for others it serves as a warning! Which type of film fan you are may determine how much you enjoy "Alphaville". May 22, 2008

Boring

This movie is super super dull. Very artsy, weak plot, dadaistic dialogue, nothing but two hours of meaningless mumbo jumbo. Maybe this is of interest for film students who see this film as an experiment to break away from the rules of storytelling and dramaturgy or something. But for the regular viewer looking for a good sci-fi movie, you better go look elsewhere. Unbelievably overrated in my opinion. March 11, 2008

One of the most unique, moving, and poetic science fiction films ever made...

This film really doesn't get as much attention as it should. I was recently watching clips of this on youtube, and was struck by a couple of comments. Someone wrote "how does Godard do it? He uses very old fashioned techniques here (dissolves, fades), yet, makes one of the most profound films ever made?". Another wrote "because he's an artist". This is so true. This is one of most challenging, complex, cerebral science fiction films ever made. Despite the fact that it was shot in current day Paris when it was made (with no futuristic sets or anything like that), it still feels like it's futuristic. People live well, but live without heart and soul, which seems to be Godard's point (or one of many...Godard's films are amongst the most complex ever made). There are too few science fiction films like Alphaville. It belongs in a very select category along with 2001, Solaris (the original), A Clockwork Orange, THX 1138, Twelve Monkeys, Stalker, Blade Runner, and A.I.. It is among the sci-fi films that appeal to the mind and soul rather than overwhelm your senses with lots of fast cuts, CGI graphics up the wazoo, and a completely soulless approach to character and ideas. This is one of Godard's classics, which is really saying something considering how brilliant the man is... April 4, 2007

Brainwashed Drones

Lately I have been interested in watching films that have a strong leftist political feel to them. In the realm of Japanese film I have been viewing and purchasing films from the 1960s that have connections with the leftist theatrical troupes and student and social movements. Of course directors like Oshima Nagisa, Imamura Shohei, and Susumu Hani play an important role during this movement so I have picked up a number of their films. Anyway, I am slowly, but surely, developing an interest in films from America, France, etc. that also deal with this same time period and it is quite interesting to compare both diverse and intermingling themes within these films.

In the realm of French cinema, especially that of French New Wave Cinema, the director who has some of the strongest leftist sensibilities is Jean-Luc Godard. I have been trying to watch quite a number of Godard's films and some of them have left me completely cold, but perhaps that is due to general lack of interest on my part when I attempted t view said films, while others I enjoyed quite a bit. Band of Outsiders is still my favorite Godard film. Anyway, the most recent Godard film that I watched is Alphaville (1965).

Alphaville is a Sci-Fi mystery film that honestly has very few elements that can label it a Sci-Fi film. There are no futuristic settings and one does not witness any spectacular scientific inventions. However, there is one glaring exception to this, and that is the presence of Alpha 60: a massive, sentient computer with a nearly omniscient mind about the happenings with Alphaville and with a voice that might remind one of a French Hal who has smoked way too many cigarettes. Whatever its purposes might be, Alpha 60 represents the ultimate in mind control. Basing everything on logic, Alpha 60 eliminates anyone who displays emotion, including a man who cried after his wife died. Such a lovely place to live, isn't it? Well for most of the people who live in Alphaville this is the only world that they know. A world in which words are constantly being eliminated, such as tenderness, because they call up emotions and one in which the dictionary, which is always changing because words are constantly being changed, has replaced the bible as the key "holy" book.

However, in the Outlands people still have that own thoughts and feelings and the spy Lemmy Caution, disguised as the reporter Ivan Johnson, has received orders to find his fellow spy Henri Dickson, a Dr. Von Braun, who he is either to return to the Outlands or liquidate, and destroy Alpha 60. Around forty-five, dressed in a beat up trench coat, and a chain smoker, Lemmy Caution looks more like a gumshoe than a spy from the future, but he is highly capable: At least, until he meets Natasha Von Braun, the daughter of Dr. Van Braun and an example of someone who might possibly be extricated from the power of Alpha 60.

The first fifteen minutes or so of Alphaville were hard for me to watch because I had a hard time getting into the right frame of mind for a Sci-Fi film that looked like it was filmed in the backstreets of Paris, which it was, but I was able to get drawn into the film a bit more as it continued. Godard's film is not only an attack on Communist policies, i.e. Stalinist policies, but it is also an attack on Capitalism as well. While brainwashed, most of the residents of Alphaville material desires are satiated by the system. However, can material items truly replace deeply engrained human emotion? Hopefully not, but Godard's film shows how an oppressive government attempts to mold the minds of its citizens. A must for fans of New Wave cinema and recommended for casual foreign movie fans, Alphaville might not be an enjoyable movie experience, but it will at least get the brain juices flowing.
January 17, 2007

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