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Movies / On DVD / Alphaville
Alphaville

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Alphaville (1965)

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Reviews Counted:23

Fresh:20

Rotten:3

Average Rating:8/10

Consensus: While Alphaville is by no means a conventional sci-fi film, Jean-Luc Godard creates a witty, noir-ish future all his own.

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: With 1965's ALPHAVILLE--part sci-fi action film, part noir thriller--the acclaimed French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard achieves a stunningly clinical futurism using absolutely no special... With 1965's ALPHAVILLE--part sci-fi action film, part noir thriller--the acclaimed French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard achieves a stunningly clinical futurism using absolutely no special visual effects. The result is a moving, original film that, with its abstract, political, and intellectual themes, essentially redefines the apocalyptic science fiction genre. ALPHAVILLE, clearly the product of one of cinema's greatest contributors, is nothing less than a bona fide cult classic. A bizarre space-chase across a glass and metal landscape of futuristic Paris--here called Alphaville--is the movie's premise. Creating a dystopian "tomorrow" characterized by alienation and cold corporate comforts, Godard slyly suggests that the future is now. Secret agent man Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine) travels across the expanses of intergalactic space and time to uncover the fate of his missing predecessor. Working under the alias of Ivan Johnson, Caution is accompanied in his quest by the lovely Natasha Vonbraun (Anna Karina), the daughter of a supposedly missing professor. Caution later discovers that the elder Vonbraun is the mastermind behind Alpha 60--the rigid, masterful computer that governs Alphaville. Alpha's job is to crush individuality, eradicating any human being who does not conform. Ultimately, Lemmy is left with no other choice but to destroy the calculating chip-and-wire monolith, with the only weapons he has left: his heart and soul. [More]

Starring: Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Akim Tamiroff, Howard Vernon

Starring: Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Akim Tamiroff, Howard Vernon, Laszlo Szabo

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard
Producer: Andre Michelin
Composer: Paul Misraki

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Alphaville

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A perfect example of Godard shaking up convention and exploring new ways of making cinema, Alphaville is challenging in places and thematically familiar in others.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/29/07
Laura Bushell
Laura Bushell
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of Godard's most sheerly enjoyable movies, a dazzling amalgam of film noir and science fiction.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Godard's avoidance of conventional science fiction architecture, in favour of what was actually available within Paris 1965, is his way of commenting on the city, what it was doing to its inhabitants, and what they were in danger of becoming.

Full Review Source: Edinburgh U Film Society | comment Comment
01/01/00
Keith H. Brown
Keith H. Brown
Edinburgh U Film Society
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Unforgettable.

comment Comment
09/13/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

It remains an outstanding example of the filmmaker's power to transform an environment through the selection of detail: everything in it is familiar, but nothing is recognizable.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
05/29/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

New Wave classic. Set bold new standards. Whatever.

comment 2 Comments
08/29/05
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

No review available.

comment Comment
06/12/05
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

Mr. Godard's conclusion that love -- good old love -- conquers all is a curiously disappointing finish for such an initially promising film.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment 1 Comment
05/09/05
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
11/12/04
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
06/25/04
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

This cold war allegorical sci-fi film is imaginatively made and proves that sometimes the most mundane images can become dazzling in the right context.

comment Comment
04/29/04
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
Nitrate Online

Packed to the brim with imagination, particularly the insane 2nd half.

comment Comment
12/22/03
Gabe Leibowitz
Gabe Leibowitz
eCinemaCenter.com

It works both as a philosophical treatise on politics and film as well as an entertaining and often amusing look at a future overrun by technology.

Full Review Source: Cinematic Reflections | comment Comment
10/10/03
Derek Smith
Derek Smith
Cinematic Reflections

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
08/17/03
Jonathan R. Perry
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

A poetic, funny, and visually inspired blend of sci-fi, detective-film satire, and political allegory.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/30/03
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Esta fascinante mistura de noir, 1984 e Admirável Mundo Novo filosofa, como Solaris faria sete anos depois, sobre a natureza do homem e suas contradições.

comment Comment
07/25/03
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

No review available.

comment Comment
06/26/03
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

Godard's masterpiece of French new-wave cinema. Essential viewing.

comment Comment
02/11/03
Shannon J. Harvey
Shannon J. Harvey
Sunday Times (Australia)
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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