I'm a big fan of Godard's style of filmmaking, and Alphaville does nothing to dispel my enthusiasm for his art. Alphaville is a triumph of style, if nothing else. The story is pretty simple, French super-spy Lemmy Caution blows into town to destroy Alphaville and the tyrant Von Braun who runs the place with his computer, the Alpha 60. But this film is more detective noir than sci-fi and that's why it works, because Godard sticks with what he knows best. The sci-fi elements are presented in basic visuals: the beaming light of Alpha 60, the neon sign reading e=mc2, and so on.
As usual, The photography and compositions are superb, as in the hotel room conversations between Eddie Constantin and Anna Karina, the sexy "bellhop" who escorts Constantin to his room and offers to bathe with him, the photo-negative stuff toward the end, and the swimming pool-execution scene, which is truly priceless.
If the film has weaknesses, it's in the conventional gangster shoot-em-up and the love story mixed in to the plot in a movie that is distinctly unconventional. But in Alphaville, Godard creates another work of film art that is not to be forgotten. 3*** out of 4
As usual, The photography and compositions are superb, as in the hotel room conversations between Eddie Constantin and Anna Karina, the sexy "bellhop" who escorts Constantin to his room and offers to bathe with him, the photo-negative stuff toward the end, and the swimming pool-execution scene, which is truly priceless.
If the film has weaknesses, it's in the conventional gangster shoot-em-up and the love story mixed in to the plot in a movie that is distinctly unconventional. But in Alphaville, Godard creates another work of film art that is not to be forgotten. 3*** out of 4