Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (1965)

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

Jean-Luc Godard (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 May 1965 (France)

Genre:

Mystery | Sci-Fi | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Suddenly the word is Alphaville... and a secret agent is in a breathless race against the Masters of the Future.

Plot:

Lemmy Caution, an American private-eye, arrives in Alphaville, a futuristic city on another planet....

Plot Keywords:

Lemmy Caution | Comic Violence | Ford Mustang | Future | Metropolis

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Eddie Constantine	...	Lemmy Caution
Anna Karina	...	Natacha von Braun
Akim Tamiroff	...	Henri Dickson

Also Known As:

Agente Lemmy Caution, missione Alphaville (Italy)
Alphaville (France)
Alphaville, a Strange Adventure of Lemmy Caution
Alphaville, a Strange Case of Lemmy Caution
Dick Tracy on Mars (USA) (informal title)
Tarzan vs. IBM (France) (working title)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Brazil:12 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 (w) | South Korea:15 | Peru:14 | UK:12A (re-rating) (2005) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1994)

Filming Locations:

EDF building, Paris 12, Paris, France

Company:

Athos Films

Trivia:

Professors Heckel and Jeckell are named after the cartoon birds "Heckle and Jeckle", created by U.S. animator Paul Terry (of "Terrytoons" fame).

Goofs:

Continuity: Towards the end when Lemmy and Natasha get into their car while all the Alphaville residents are incapacitated, cars can be seen driving past, while the drivers should have been knocked out.

Quotes:

Lemmy Caution: Don't budge.
[He shoots]
Lemmy Caution: That way I'm sure you'll keep your word.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Summer in the City (1970)

Minimalism is not a crime

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.