Alphaville,
une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (1965)
In 1964 I began working in central London and discovered the delights of the Academy cinemas and the French New Wave films, one of which was 'Alphaville'
Jean Luc Godard’s spoof of, and/or tribute to, American
sci-fi/spy dramas/crime films starred Eddie Constantine as secret agent Lemmy
Caution on a mission to Alphaville, the ultra-modern city state that has
criminalised love and self-expression. The authoritarian voice of the city is
that of a computer Alpha 60 invented by Professor Von Braun who is Caution’s
mission target, but first he must find Henri Dickson played by the Russian-born
American actor Akin Tamiroff and get
involved with Von Braun’s daughter played by Anna Karina (Godard’s wife who
appeared in several of his films).
Akin Tamiroff and Eddie Constantine Eddie Constantine and Anna Karina
Remember, this is Godard directing, so don’t expect a
straightforward drama film, although French New Wave voice overs, cinema-verité location shooting, Raoul Coutard’s black and
white high-contrast cinematography and Eddie Constantine playing his part
totally seriously all add up to a very interesting period piece.
In my opinion, Alphaville is the last of the run of great
films Godard made that started with ‘À Bout de Souffle’ (‘Breathless’) in 1960
and included ‘Pierrot le Fou’, ‘Vivre sa Vie’ and, Tarrantino’s favourite, ‘Bande
à Part’ (‘The Outsiders’). Godard then seem to stop considering his audiences
and made a number of totally self-indulgent films, some of which are frankly
unwatchable even to a veteran of ‘left-field’ film viewing like myself.
Fun fact: Eddie Constantine had already played Lemmy Caution
in a series of French adventure films in the 1950’s and ‘60’s.
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