I first saw 'Alphaville' on B.B.C.-2 in the early '70's. In those days, black-and-white foreign movies were a regular fixture of the schedules. As 'The Radio Times' billed it as 'science fiction', I decided to watch. The film was mostly impenetrable to my young eyes, but I did not switch off. Something compelled me to stay with it.
In the early '90's, B.B.C.-2 included it as part of Alex Cox's 'Moviedrome' series ( why don't they bring that back? ). I still found it hard to fathom but was mesmerised by the unusual setting, story and performances.
Hard-as-nails secret agent ( number 003 ) Lemmy Caution ( Eddie Constantine ) travels to Alphaville, a futuristic city on a distant planet, in search of his friend Henry Dickson ( Akim Tamiroff ). Other agents - including 'Dick Tracy' and 'Flash Gordon' - have vanished while searching for the scientist von Braun ( Howard Vernon ). Caution poses as 'Ivan Johnson', a journalist for 'Figaro-Pravda'. The girl who shows him to his hotel room offers to sleep with him, describing herself as a 'level-three seductress'. Caution turns her down. Then the first of several attempts on his life is made.
The city is run by super computer Alpha 60, which has ordered citizens not to express emotions. Words like 'conscience' and 'love' do not exist here. In one of the film's most arresting scenes, people guilty of weeping in public are machine-gunned to death in a swimming baths.
Alpha 60 is plotting to destroy the Outerlands by fermenting discontent. So it is up to Caution, aided by Von Braun's beautiful daughter Natascha ( Anna Karina ), to stop it...
It sounds like a Bond knock-off but its the way it has been made which makes it so uniquely compelling. It effectively marries a sci-fi plot to a film noir look. Jean Luc Godard had no budget ( nor script ), shooting in the most modern parts of Paris he could find, and no special effects whatever. Yet still he produced a classic science fiction movie. Of course 'Alphaville' works on many other levels, but for me it is a stunning parable of what can happen when technology is allowed to run rampant. There are disturbing signs that our world is already heading in that direction.
Constantine had played 'Caution' ( a character created by Peter Cheyney ) in a series of B-movie thrillers. Godard poached both actor and character in order to secure German funding. Though no great actor, Constantine is good here as an old fashioned hero bemused by a dystopian world. Godard's then-wife Anna Karina is fabulous as 'Natacha'. Throughout, she is totally emotionless, and then at the end, when Alpha 60 has been destroyed, finally manages to express her love for Caution, a heartbreaking moment.
'Alphaville' will not be to everyone's taste ( certainly not for those who hate subtitles! ). At times it gets bogged down in long drawn out discussions about the nature of reality, but the ideas it conveys are fascinating. Influential? Ridley Scott later made a space age private eye film of his own - 1982's 'Blade Runner'. 'Alphaville' is a richly rewarding experience, one to be viewed many times over and over again. I will take this over the latest mega-budget rubbish from Hollywood any day of the week!
In the early '90's, B.B.C.-2 included it as part of Alex Cox's 'Moviedrome' series ( why don't they bring that back? ). I still found it hard to fathom but was mesmerised by the unusual setting, story and performances.
Hard-as-nails secret agent ( number 003 ) Lemmy Caution ( Eddie Constantine ) travels to Alphaville, a futuristic city on a distant planet, in search of his friend Henry Dickson ( Akim Tamiroff ). Other agents - including 'Dick Tracy' and 'Flash Gordon' - have vanished while searching for the scientist von Braun ( Howard Vernon ). Caution poses as 'Ivan Johnson', a journalist for 'Figaro-Pravda'. The girl who shows him to his hotel room offers to sleep with him, describing herself as a 'level-three seductress'. Caution turns her down. Then the first of several attempts on his life is made.
The city is run by super computer Alpha 60, which has ordered citizens not to express emotions. Words like 'conscience' and 'love' do not exist here. In one of the film's most arresting scenes, people guilty of weeping in public are machine-gunned to death in a swimming baths.
Alpha 60 is plotting to destroy the Outerlands by fermenting discontent. So it is up to Caution, aided by Von Braun's beautiful daughter Natascha ( Anna Karina ), to stop it...
It sounds like a Bond knock-off but its the way it has been made which makes it so uniquely compelling. It effectively marries a sci-fi plot to a film noir look. Jean Luc Godard had no budget ( nor script ), shooting in the most modern parts of Paris he could find, and no special effects whatever. Yet still he produced a classic science fiction movie. Of course 'Alphaville' works on many other levels, but for me it is a stunning parable of what can happen when technology is allowed to run rampant. There are disturbing signs that our world is already heading in that direction.
Constantine had played 'Caution' ( a character created by Peter Cheyney ) in a series of B-movie thrillers. Godard poached both actor and character in order to secure German funding. Though no great actor, Constantine is good here as an old fashioned hero bemused by a dystopian world. Godard's then-wife Anna Karina is fabulous as 'Natacha'. Throughout, she is totally emotionless, and then at the end, when Alpha 60 has been destroyed, finally manages to express her love for Caution, a heartbreaking moment.
'Alphaville' will not be to everyone's taste ( certainly not for those who hate subtitles! ). At times it gets bogged down in long drawn out discussions about the nature of reality, but the ideas it conveys are fascinating. Influential? Ridley Scott later made a space age private eye film of his own - 1982's 'Blade Runner'. 'Alphaville' is a richly rewarding experience, one to be viewed many times over and over again. I will take this over the latest mega-budget rubbish from Hollywood any day of the week!
