Alphaville (1965)

A U.S. secret agent is sent to the distant space city of Alphaville where he must find a missing person and free the city from its tyrannical ruler.

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

Jean-Luc Godard

Stars:

Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Akim Tamiroff

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Eddie Constantine	...	Lemmy Caution
Anna Karina	...	Natacha von Braun
Akim Tamiroff	...	Henri Dickson (as Akim Tamirof)

Storyline

Lemmy Caution, an American private-eye, arrives in Alphaville, a futuristic city on another planet. His very American character is at odds with the city's ruler, an evil scientist named Von Braun, who has outlawed love and self-expression.

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Plot Keywords:

dystopia | french new wave | satire | comic violence | surrealism | 

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Taglines:

Berlin Festival Award Winner (Best Picture)

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French English

Release Date:

5 May 1965 (France)

Also Known As:

Dick Tracy on Mars

Filming Locations:

EDF building, Paris 12, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$220,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,298, 7 February 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$46,585, 30 May 2014

Company Credits

Production Co:

André Michelin Productions, Filmstudio, Chaumiane

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Banned in all Pakistan's cinemas: 10th July 1970.

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Goofs

When Lemmy shoots the man in his hotel room, smears on the mirrors from the blank cartridges' charges are plainly visible, instead of a bullet holes or broken glass.

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Quotes

Alpha 60: Time is like a circle which is endlessly described. The declining arc is the past. The inclining arc is the future.

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Crazy Credits

Before the credits, Godard adds one letter at a time to compose the word "fin"--"i"..."in"..."fin"--as though to suggest "I, in the end."

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Alternate Versions

In the original French version, the voice of the computer Alpha 60 sounds harsh and throaty as if produced by belching. One English-dubbed version gives the computer a more typical computer-like voice.

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Connections

Referenced in Three Lives and Only One Death (1996)

User Reviews

The Sci-Fi Noir by Godard

In a near future, the American secret agent Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine) travels to Alphaville posing as the journalist Ivan Johnson from the Figaro-Pravda newspaper. His mission is to find the missing agent Henry Dickson (Akim Tamirof) and to convince Professor von Braun (Howard Vernon) to come with him to Nueva York. Prof. von Braun is actually Leonard Nosferatu and has created the powerful computer Alpha 60 that has conceived the inhuman dystopian society of Alphaville, where love, conscience, poetry and emotion have been banished and words are systematically eliminated from the dictionary. Alpha 60 is also omnipresent and Lemmy has the assistance of Natacha von Braun (Anna Karina), who is the daughter of von Braun. Soon he falls in love with Natacha but he needs to complete his mission before leaving Alphaville.

"Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy" is my favorite Godard movie and maybe his most digestible film despite being weird. This is the third time that I see this sci-fi noir (last time was on 07 September 2001) and it is still an intriguing story that resembles George Orwell's 1984, inclusive with the idea of rewriting the dictionary removing words related to emotions and including new ones. The scary atmosphere gives the sensation of nightmare and the sets and locations are ahead of time. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Alphaville"