Alphaville

“Alphaville”
Jean-Luc Godard, 1965

One of my acquaintances described the work of the French New Wave director, Jean-Luc Godard, as such: “His [Godard's] movies are at once serious and intellectual, as well as trashy and playful. . . . Imagine The Naked Gun directed and written by a philosopher, and you have an idea of how he's like.” This is a perfect description of “Alphaville,” which is the first Godard film that I have seen. Ostensibly, it is a mixture of science-fiction and film noir, and we follow a haggard private eye as he journeys through the futuristic town of Alphaville, which is run by a menacing super-computer.

There are many potentially fascinating themes at play here. What, for instance, is the role of women in this society? All of them are gorgeous, but they behave like robots who are enslaved to men. There is one major narrative that centers on the private eye and his love for one of these women, and his attempts to save her from the clutches of the super-computer, which seeks to turn all people into mindless drones.

Admittedly, the plot doesn't make much sense. The lengthy monologues by the super-computer, too, don't make sense. “Alphaville” is really the product of a director who simply loves to make films. Godard has a wonderful, off-kilter sense of humor, and he loves to arbitrarily experiment with his camerawork, sound, and acting. This results in a surprisingly approachable and fun film that belies its narrative's pessimistic vision of a de-humanizing future. In short, “Alphaville” is rather awesome.

First Viewed: 10/17/08, in 35 mm projection - IMDb