Review of Alphaville (1965) by Jonathan H — 29 Mar 2010

Alphaville, Jean-Luc Godard's first and only (that I'm aware of) foray into the world of science fiction, is about a dystopic city, set an undefined number of years in the future on another planet, where our main character Lemmy Caution has just arrived from the ambiguous "Lands Without.

" Posing as a journalist, he checks into a hotel which offers complementary, unthinking prostitutes. He soon starts to ask questions and it becomes apparent he isn't quite who he says he is. Godard directs with his usual postmodernist chic cool that anyone who has seen any of his films before will be well versed in.

However, amidst all the contemporary hipness, the film's main influence is clearly that of which the French New Wavers were often very fond of: film noir. Stylistically there are the dark tones, dramatic music, and gritty realism, and the narrative has the classic mystery elements recalled from detective thrillers; characterization, too, falls in line: the lead, Caution, is a thoroughly pessimistic, downbeat individual, with the fashion sense of the typical private eye of the 40s.

This dystopia shows an explicit and continual transference from a knowledge culture to that of a mechanized technocratic society where logic and reason rule. It'd be fair to assume that this is a stark message of caution (the protagonist's name, after all, is "Lemmy Caution") from Godard about our already technologically advanced existence, and its dehumanizing effects -- and furthermore its role in governance (a snapshot of a totalitarian state).

Of course, sci-fi with a political/societal message isn't anything new (even then), but Alphaville, with its general philosophizing on existence and other issues, and its absorbing story arch, is a magnificent film.

I'd certainly recommended it for all those open-minded enough to look past the menacing presence of Hollywood. It's one of the absolute best examples of pure science fiction, a flick with true depth and uniqueness.