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Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (1965) More at IMDbPro »

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46 out of 54 people found the following comment useful :-
Weirder and weirder..., 24 June 2000
Author: jameswtravers (jameswtravers@netscapeonline.co.uk) from London, England

If one had to use just one word to sum up Alphaville¸that word would have to be weird. It is a film that constantly challenges our preconceptions, our expectations, and, as a result, manages to be both deeply disturbing and very funny at the same time.

The film begins as what appears to be a pastiche of the American detective movie of the 1950s, but then suddenly takes a dive into the Twilight Zone. What follows is a perplexing 100 minutes of cinema that manages to be classic film noir, imaginative science-fiction, an action-packed and suspenseful thriller and - most surprisingly of all - a very entertaining black comedy, in the mould of Dr Strangeglove. By trying to blend so many contrasting elements, the result could have easily been a disaster. That the films succeeds, and succeeds admirably, is down largely to two factors.

Firstly, Eddy Constantine plays the part of Lemmy Caution, the private detective, throughout with total conviction, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he is playing a complete parody (and a very funny one) of a character he had made his own in the preceding decade. In the 1950s, Constantine played the hard-nosed detective in a series of French films of the traditional American detective genre. It would have been very easy for a lesser actor to ham the part up or downplay the character, but Constantine does neither, and the result is utterly brilliant.

We have a familiar character transposed from a familiar milieu into a parallel universe, where everything appears to be superficially familiar but then is shown to be a distortion of what we see in our own world - a kind of Humphrey Bogart through the Looking Glass. Over and over again, we are surprised at how easily we are tripped up and misled by our own preconceptions. This would not have been possible without a strong central character who is firmly anchored in our world - and Eddy Constantine serves this purpose brilliantly. The fact that he works so well with his co-star, the superb and very stylish Anna Karina, is a bonus.

Secondly, Alphaville's creator, Godard, appears to be at the height of his powers as a director. He shows complete mastery of the revolutionary cinematographic techniques which he thrust onto an unsuspecting world in the early years of the New Wave (the late 1950s). Far more accessible than some of Godard's contemporary films (such as La Chinoise and Weekend), the style is nonetheless distinctive and fresh, somehow giving the film an extra dimension that constantly surprises and entertains. Godard is also responsible for the script, an adaptation of a novel by Peter Cheyney, where he manages, quite cleverly, to draw parallels between the futuristic soulless society of Alphaville and contemporary France. (There are more than a few direct statements to suggest that Godard regards his own country as Alphaville - for example the infamous HLM joke. Godard appears to see France ending up as an isolationist state, seeming to have imperialistic ambitions, with its language under strict state control - not an uncommon caricature of the country in the latter years of the 20th century.)

Popular concerns about the impact of computer technology on society are also exploited by Godard who suggests that widespread dehumanisation and total state control will be the outcome.

Paul Misraki's enigmatic background music adds to the eerie other-wordly atmosphere of the ensemble.

Overall, an amazing film that never ceases to surprise and shock. A dark and very frightening thriller, a comic pastiche of detective films, a love story, a sci-fi movie with a power-mad (and asthmatic) computer... how Godard managed to pull this one off is probably one of the great mysteries of cinema history. Watch, listen, laugh and be amazed.

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39 out of 44 people found the following comment useful :-
First and foremost a spoof., 29 September 2003

Author: FilmSnobby from San Diego

Lemmy Caution, a French version of Sam Spade -- or perhaps a James Bond gone to seed -- is on a mission: "liquidate" the tyrannical Dr. Vonbraun, inventor of the "death ray" and the Orwellian supercomputer, Alpha 60. But to get Vonbraun, Lemmy must make the intergalactic voyage from his home in the Outlands (roughly, "Nueva York") to Alphaville (roughly, mid-Sixties Paris). He gets there via his Ford Galaxy. That's right -- a car. Are you with me so far?

The key to understanding Jean-Luc Godard's *Alphaville* is to realize that it is first and foremost a spoof. It spoofs nearly everything it touches: science fiction; comic-books; George Orwell; Aldous Huxley; American private-eye movies; spy movies; technology in general and computers in particular; romantic love as presented in cinema. If you sit down to watch this expecting a high-minded piece of French New Wave cinema, you're going to end up being put-off. Those familiar with Godard will perhaps be less put-off. After all, when was this guy ever really "high-minded", anyway? Godard was the prankster of the "Cahiers du Cinema" gang. Just listen to the score by Paul Misraki if you're looking for the tongue in the cheek. Even the putative theme of the movie, which is the priority of "love" and artistic creativity over logic and technology personified by the talking Alpha 60 supercomputer, is not taken too seriously. "Love" is personified by the beautiful dingbat princess, Natasha Vonbraun (Anna Karina), who doesn't even know what the word means. She's a child, as easily manipulated by Lemmy Caution as she is by the technocrats of Alphaville. Therefore, our rooting interest for humanity resides in Lemmy. Eddie Constantine reprises the role of Caution, a popular TV character in France during the Fifties, for Godard here: Lord knows what Constantine thought when he first read the script. The way he delivers the line, "This 'Alphaville' ought to be called 'Zeroville!'" gives a forceful indication of his bemusement. He submits to Godard's nouvelle vagueisms like a good soldier, delivering a fantastic performance in the process. Raoul Coutard's cinematography captures the heartlessness of the architecture in mid-Sixties Paris, which seemed to consist of blocky buildings blaring florescent lighting from every window, claustrophobic corridors, run-down apartments, and endless spiral staircases. It's a pitiless place, which perhaps was Godard's one serious statement amidst all the postmodern, meta-cinematic foolery: we're living in Alphaville already.

Altogether, this is Godard's most satisfying film. Despite all its detractors, *Alphaville* still survives (in a Criterion edition, no less). Classics always do.

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46 out of 60 people found the following comment useful :-
Minimalism is not a crime, 22 September 2004
Author: doomvox from San Francisco, Ecotopia

Alphaville is an attack on the syndrome of Science Fiction films full of flash and color but devoid of ideas. They intentionally took an "Our Town" attitude toward special effects -- e.g. driving along in a car, with dialog indicating that they're in a spaceship; commenting on how beautiful the stars look when you can't see anything but the glare of streetlights, and so on. If there's a problem with this movie, it's that the ideas themselves are perhaps not really all that strong; the notion of a dystopian city ruled by an all powerful computer just doesn't seem that heavy, not even taken as some sort of symbolic allegory; but on the whole I think SF cinema would be in much better shape if it had learned the lesson of Alphaville (think "La Jette"). Minimalism is not a crime, which is why I find it very annoying that I need to babble for another couple of lines to convince IMDb.com that I've said enough to be worth logging as a movie review.

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37 out of 45 people found the following comment useful :-
unconventional and brilliant, 9 December 2003
Author: badwater (blackboxmonkey@hotmail.com)

i find this film fascinating and refreshing. Godard creates a world of the future and sets it in modern Paris. the city of alphaville is run by alpha-60, a supercomputer, which dictates the society and forces it to operate exercising extreme logic. logic=happiness and reason. this sounds completely insane. rather, it would have sounded completely insane in 1967. what is interesting about this film is looking at it from todays viewpoint. it takes place in the future, but is set in "modern" sixties paris. some people look at this and feel as though godard made the film poorly by choosing the locations that he did...but why would he do that? we know he is quite capable and he certainly had access to the funds to create a distant futuristic world if he so desired. i feel that he set the film in the locations he did because it says something specific about the world he lived in. this was not some ridiculous futuristic world that was highly unlikely to evolve. this was the future of the present. ok, this can be a little bit confusing, but follow me: by setting the film in sixties paris, what was at the time present day, places the viewer in a seemingly uncomfortable position. they are experiencing the future in a very immediate sense. what is to happen is already happening. this is a very layered and complex issue that masks itself and appears in the form of simplicity (i.e. very simple locations). it can easily be construde that godard used cheap sets, but that is just not the case. i find it fascinating how so many people view this film and come to that conclusion without thinking that perhaps he meant to say something by it.

at any rate, look around today. presently, we are all able to read reviews of this and other films because we are all connected to a vast and expansive internet system. a computer in almost every home. people sit for hours and type and converse and express themselves in purely mechanistic ways, just like the people of alphaville. its a little frightening in some ways. we are losing touch with the ability to communicate in a natural humanistic manner. this is totally present in alphaville. this sense of alienation from the characters. we are not experiencing the world with them, as is usually the case with godards films, but rather, it is viewed from an objective point, distancing the viewer. it is quite important that godard sets the piece like this because if the viewer were allowed to enter the world of the characters and identify with them in anyway, we would lose sight of what the overall message would be. bottom line, this film is unconventional and brilliant. if anyone wants to chat further and more in depth, feel free to email me.

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33 out of 41 people found the following comment useful :-
My brief review of the film, 27 April 2005
Author: sol- from Perth, Australia

An excessively weird although constantly engaging futuristic film, there is plenty to enjoy in it, even though it is a bit hard to understand. Godard makes brilliant use of shadows and lighting to set up a scary atmosphere, and negative images are used effectively throughout to create a sense of awe and provide a feeling of a foreign environment. The sets are very creative, taken from existing buildings in France, and the music used throughout the film fits in delightfully. At times the film bears a bit too much resemblance to Orwell's '1984' to stand on its own two feet, and there might be a few other problems for the nit-picky, but I simply found this to be a fascinating and well made film, and it definitely comes recommended if you simply feel like watching something different for a change.

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34 out of 45 people found the following comment useful :-
Lemmy Caution you..., 26 September 2004
Author: TheatreX from Louisville, KY

First, let me caution you, that is, those of you that like "mainstream" movies and big stars.....this is in black & white, made in 1965, and is in French with subtitles. Now, for those of you still with me after that, if you're adventurous and have an appreciation for strangeness, see this movie.

This is somewhat of a 40's detective movie where the hardcase Bogart wannabe (Eddie Constantine) finds himself in a futuristic totalitarian city on a quest. So what is Alphaville? Is it really on another planet? Or is it on earth? Hard to say but it sure seems like the folks that live there think it's another planet. It's run by Alpha 60, a giant computer. There are many references to George Orwell in this movie, like the "bible" in the nightstand in the hotel is really a dictionary, and the dictionary keeps getting smaller as certain words are taken out of the language, as in, BANNED. Logic rules and emotion is forbidden. So why is "Ivan Johnson" (Lemmy Caution, the private eye, as played by Constantine) there? It's a bit complicated and I'm not sure I even understood. I was fascinated by this movie from start to finish, but I can't honestly say I understood it all. Luckily I'm not one of those people that everything has to make sense to, at least when it comes to films. There are some strange little things thrown in here and there, like references to Dick Tracy & a pair of doctors called Heckell & Jeckyll. One segment has a group of privileged people watching executions of people (one of whom is a man that wouldn't stop crying when his wife died) and after each person is shot, they fall into a swimming pool and a bunch of young women in bathing suits dive in a swim around, to the applause of the audience. What the hell?? Anyway, I found this to be a very good, if not great, film, and for anyone that wants to see something different, please give it a watch. 8 out of 10 stars.

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16 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
It's not going to appeal to everyone..., 17 June 2003

Author: Space_Mafune from Newfoundland, Canada

Forget about watching this if you have no patience for slow-moving drama, thought-provoking narratives, and/or philosophical discourse.

This film is however unique, virtually impossible to categorize and visually arresting. It's basically a film noir set in an Orwellian future with its lead character using emotion, jokes, philosophy and love to weeds doubts into the rule imposed by a mechanized society of tomorrow....and well it's much more than that too. Recommended to anyone who enjoys the qualities listed in the first paragraph.

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18 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
Une étrange aventure indeed, 20 November 2002
Author: LeRoyMarko from Toronto, Canada

I really like Alphaville. But I can understand why some would find it uninspiring or even boring. A Sci-Fi with no special effect. An intellectual feast in black and white. A movie that probably appealed to the crowd of the Quartier Latin. The story of a techno society. A society where people are killed if they act in an illogical way (ex. express sentiments). The episode of the pool is particularly good. The movie goes between two paradox: technology and poetry. But eventually, victory will prevail in the form of a «je vous aime».

Great lines in this one: «Dans la vie, il n'y a que le présent. Personne n'a vécu dans le passé et personne ne vivra dans le futur». Or this question by Alpha 60: «Quel est le privilège des morts?». Lemmy answers: «Ne plus mourir». This is just great!

On last word: Eddie Constantine and Anna Karina are both terrific in their role.

Out of 100, I give it 79. That's good for *** out of ****.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on November 12th, 2002.

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17 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
Disturbing reality., 28 April 1999

Author: snake plissken-2 (michael.schulz@acm.org) from munich, germany

Complex plot about a secret agent who arrives from the outer space outlands in the capital of a large union of nations which resides in space. The people in this capital are acting very crazy. They are token under tranquillizers the whole time and even don't know anymore what love is. The system from the state is under the spell from a large, intelligent computer, alpha 60, which cares about nearly everything. Developed from a scientist (von Braun aka Nosferatu, both are hints to germans, the first to werner von braun, the developer from the apollo moon project, the second from the first dracula movie ever, the german soundless movie: NOSFERATU 1922)he tries to install a system of pure logic and rationalism. But what about emotions? And freedom? No one cares anymore... And then the secret agent comes into town and have to fight against this system. Goddard shows nearly no special effects and has made his movie in Paris in the sixties, which is a good trick (except that it is cheap!), because it says that this system is not far away from our reality.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A movie few else would dare., 29 March 2002

Author: Austen

Godard was one of the most brilliant directors to ever make movies. His rebellious attitude and style simply puts some people off, which is unfortunate since Godard's movies are smart, well-crafted and, yes, entertaining.

Alphaville is most often compared to movies that came after it, which goes to show how unique and groundbreaking it was (even if perhaps this has been obscured in hindsight). What Godard achieved is seen best at what HASN'T aged. Anytime you show computers and technology in a sci-fi movie it invariably will look dated years later. Yet Godard's stylized approach looks far beyond the superficiality of Alphaville. For example, the first scene with Lemmy Caution in Alpha 60 shows him monitored with microphones manipulated about his head. The jerky motion of the mics (equipment that isn't futuristic is the slightest) portray the mechanical control of Alpha 60 with cunning insight. The microphones are neither left static nor moved with fluid grace (just as another scene with discontinuous shots of a fight). The ominous, intermittent movements suggest the limitations of this computerized state.

I like this movie in its correlation to William S. Burroughs' fictional world Interzone. Alphaville's Dr. Nosferatu (which translates into the undead, as in vampires) bears some resemblance to Burroughs' Dr. Benway. Alpha 60, the monsterous human/machine computer running Alphaville, functions much as Burroughs' Nova Mob. Concerns over science dehumanizing society are pervasive. The scene where Alphaville executes the poets using water ballet echoes the fictional dichotomy the state has drawn.

"Alphaville" is hypnotic. The continuous use of flashing lights impresses this. The ending is what cracks me up. Ending with Natasha VonBraun (Anna Karina) straining to utter "I...love...you." Is this all Lemmy Caution has faught for, some sentimental tripe? Maybe Godard subtly revised Hitchcock's ending to his second "The Man Who Knew Too Little"--Jimmy Stewart delivers the beyond-obvious line, "Sorry I'm late, I just had to go pick up Henry."

"Alphaville" throws together a multitude of increasingly aggresive styles. After "Le Mepris" in 1963, this movie (if one ever could) shows a transition to Godard's scathing "Weekend" in 1967. Godard made so many wonderful movies each its own treasure. Not that everybody should make movies like Godard, I do wish everyone could make movies as good as his are.

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