Review of Alphaville (1965) by Ryan H — 10 Nov 2010

What could possibly be better than Jean-Luc Godard making a scifi noir? Not many things. Of course it has a lot of the same themes as other dystopian literature and films, but there are so many original ways Godard decides to tell the story. We have over-the-top music playing when Caution is simply walking around Alphaville. Everything is shot like a noir. Alpha 60 is perhaps the weirdest sounding voiceover I've ever heard. I just loved everything about the film. And Anna Karina is so freaking perfect.

**SPOILERS**.

I think the ending is perfect, the way he finally kills Professor Nosferatu and everyone goes crazy. It definitely was symbolic of vampires: kill the main vampire and every vampire crumbles. He uses this to show that a dystopian society will follow a leader like a vampire, and the only way to change things is to take out the leader. Perhaps I'm just rambling, but I thought it was a cool connection. The idea of death and immortality through certain acts is played with a lot in this film and I would love to watch it again to analyze it on that level. Caution and Natasha running away in the end was great. The only way to defeat logic is through love. Everything in Alphaville was controlled by logic. No emotions were allowed. It's also a sexy city. But with logic being the only thing people can work off of everything falls to pieces. It's only logical they would be attacked by another galaxy soon enough, but this logic factors out emotions, and they are ready to kill thousands of people based on their own lives. Natasha is brought out by the end because Caution wants her to tell him she loves him. By this simple act, we know how things will be. I'm worn out, tired, and I'm sure this wont make much sense later, but I might as well get my thoughts out while they are still here.