Alphaville

 

Moviedrome Introduction

Film Details

Release Date: 1965

Director: Jean Luc Goddard

Stars:

Eddie Constantine as Lemmy Caution

Anna Karina as Natacha von Braun

Plot Summary

The film follows Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine), an American secret agent from "the Outlands" posing as a journalist named Ivan Johnson. Caution is on a mission to dismantle Alphaville, a futuristic city governed by a supercomputer called Alpha 60, and to eliminate Professor Leonard von Braun, the city's creator.

In Alphaville, human emotions and individuality are forbidden, and the city's residents live under the control of Alpha 60, which dictates their lives and prohibits concepts like love, poetry, and freedom. Those who fail to conform are reprogrammed or executed. Caution’s mission intertwines with his growing bond with Natacha von Braun (Anna Karina), the professor’s daughter, who has grown up under Alphaville’s rules and initially lacks an understanding of emotions and human warmth. However, Caution's influence begins to change her, and together they attempt to defy the system.

Personal History

I've heard of the song, Big in Japan.

Current Review

Couldn't find this anywhere other than ebay. That's £6.75 for 99 minutes I'll never get back. 

I had no idea what was going on until I googled.

Black and white. A Film Noir Detective is checking into a hotel. He is shown around his room by a young female hotel employee. Within a couple of minutes, she has her kit off and is offering to have a bath with him. He is too busy fighting assassins, Inspector Clouseau style.

Lots of striking images, especially new concrete archiecture in Paris.

Oh, and an unforgettable voice-over from an unnamed actor who had lost his larynx to cancer and was using one of those throat pressed decoder devices.

Near unwatchable, albeit with a modern AI future warning.

Quirky Facts

• Despite the fact that the film is a work of science fiction and supposed to be in a city of the future, all the sets were existing locations in Paris in 1965, and all the weapons are conventional firearms.
• Lots of influences in music, with a band taking the name and several artists, inclding Lusisous Jackson and the Cranberries, imitating the style.
• Low-tech "Sci-Fi" Look: Instead of building elaborate sci-fi sets, Godard filmed entirely in 1960s Paris. He used modernist architecture, neon signs, and stark urban landscapes to give Alphaville its futuristic feel, even though no special effects were used. This decision added to the film’s eerie, surreal quality, making the futuristic world feel more grounded and unsettling.

Quotes

• Time is the substance of which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along. But I am time. It's a tiger, tearing me apart; but I am the tiger.

Sustenance

I mean, what could you eat or drink to complement 1960s French SciFi/FilmNoir?  AI recommends absinthe, which sounds about right. 

Future Inspiration

Film Screenings: Host a themed movie night featuring other classic films that blend noir and sci-fi elements, such as Blade Runner, Metropolis, or The Matrix. This can create an engaging atmosphere for exploring similar themes of technology, control, and humanity.

And Brave New World came up again, as a book.