Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 149)
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- Опубликовано: 6 июн 2022
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I love the contrast of the overly intellectual supercomputer and the city inhabitants versus the main detective whose simple and uses brute force to get what he wants. A very funny contrast
Eddie Constantine played Lemmy Caution in many movies in the 1950s and he was EXTREMELY popular all over Europe in this role!
Godard said he was inspired by John Ford's 1956 film 'The Searchers' to make 'Alphaville'. In Ford's film we have a character (Ethan, played by John Wayne), who goes in search of a young woman who was kidnapped by Comanche Indians, in order to free her.
The influence of the comics on the film is also clear, so much so that Godard had his assistant create and publish a comic strip of the film in a French magazine ('La Cinématographie française') prior to release.
In addition, to make 'Alphaville', Godard also used and mixed elements present in two science fiction books, which are 'I Am Legend', by Richard Matheson, and 'Non-Stop', by Brian Aldiss. And we have fundamental references to other literary works, such as '1984', by George Orwell, 'Brave New World' (Aldous Huxley) and the 'Surrealist Manifesto' (André Breton), among others.
And Godard was also interested in topics such as Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence, which came about from a conversation he had with Antonioni, during the 1964 Venice Film Festival, in which the Italian filmmaker told him about the research he had done on these subjects for his film 'Red Desert'.
Godard was very interested and also researched these themes, saying that he discovered that they were increasingly important in the decisions of businessmen and governments.
Furthermore, 'Alphaville' was also seen by Godard as a development of a segment he had produced for a collective project entitled 'RoGoPaG' (Rossellini, Godard, Pasolini and Gregoretti; 1963).
Godard also made it clear that, despite having futuristic elements, the society he shows in 'Alphaville' is that of the present (from 1965...), since industrially developed countries, with advanced science and technology, for Godard, already possessed the characteristics he shows in the film.
thank you. very helpful.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the book the main character has and quotes from in the movie "Capital of Pain" a 1926 surrealist poetry collection by Paul Eluard. It seems like a very cool book
@@nomorenames5568 Without a doubt, 'The Capital of Pain', a book by the brilliant French surrealist poet Paul Eluard, has an important role in the history of 'Alphaville'.
After all, it is through the poems in 'The Capital of Pain' that Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine) manages to free Natasha von Braun (Anna Karina) from the domain of 'Alpha 60', which is the computer equipped with artificial intelligence that controls the population of the entire Galaxy, of which the city of Alphaville is the capital. Thus, for Godard, it is through poetic awakening that the residents of Alphaville would be able to free themselves from the dominance of 'Alpha 60'.
It is also worth highlighting that Godard made it clear that 'Alphaville' was not a science fiction film, although it had elements of the genre, but that it dealt with modern society, which already existed in the 60s in the USA, Europe, Japan, USSR . 'Alphaville' makes a critical analysis of the modern world, which was built based on science and technology, and which generates a civilization that turns human beings into true zombies.
Thus, people stop being free and become incapable of creating something, causing the disappearance of art in this civilization.
In addition to 'The Capital of Pain', another book that had a significant influence on 'Alphaville' was 'France against Robots', by Georges Bernanos, which says exactly that, that is, that modern civilization turns people into robots , destroying their freedoms and making them incapable of creating any form of art.
@@marcosdoniseti2981 I want to digest everything you've said here before replying properly but I just remembered there is a line in the movie from Lemmy "This is my Journey to the End of the Night", a direct reference to Louis-Ferdinand Celine's book of the same name. So many interesting works came together in this movie!
@@marcosdoniseti2981 I really do notice the contemporary critique of the film and yet it's also so incredibly prescient of today and our social media addicted population. I was just today, commenting in a discussion about how no one ever does anything anymore, almost like there is an epidemic of social anxiety. Parents describing soccer leagues collapsing from lack of parents signing kids up, delivery drivers seeing most people act scared to be seen and doing things like scurrying out after they make sure the driver is at the end of their street before going out to grab the food even when it's raining, dozens of people RSVP for an event/party and over 75% just don't come and stay home. It's an epidemic that stems from fear and lack of trust in the social contract.
I just love stories like this that reward consumers with such wonderful intellectual discussions.
Great Review !………… the closing minute is unforgettable.....especially The Music !
Whenever i watch a film that is hard to find a review for it on RUclips your channel always has a good review about it.I’m from Iran and I’m so happy you are interested in Iranian cinema as well.thank you
I love the way Lemme at the end breaks down Alpha 60 with riddles !
Referenced by Art Rockers Laibach in their track "Le Privilege des Morts". Fantastic film and some of the best scenes in cinema. Also quite amusing.
Professor Josh is out here doing a public service, always coming through with the best movie recs and interesting movie takes
thank you, grace.
Hands down my fav film of all time! Great review! You get it!!!
thank you.
I just watched this for the first time and I am in love. I was looking for a thrilling sci-fi that also managed to be intellectual and I dont think I could have found anything better. The extreme relevance of the themes to our times just makes it that much cooler. What an amazing movie. My only question is which Godard film do I watch next?
I saw Alphaville on IMAX in 1999. It was amazing.
Great stuff Josh. Will try and watch it again in HD. Keep it up.
thank you very much.
Thanks for the video. Plan to watch it this month on the CC.
you're welcome. have fun!
Great review. Thank you so much. Can’t wait to watch it.
Thank you
This was the genesis of Blade Runner, at least its look
very helpful; i too saw this movie years ago and was lost and a bit bored and gave up, your context will help me when i get back to it, ,,, and as you say, seemed prescient about many of our current relations to AI, algorithms, and the subtle big brother in our pocket we too often ignore
you'll see that movie pop up all over the channel. I keep using it in all of my instructional videos -- I am just making two of them this week, and shots from Rear Window came to mind.
one of the first Godard films ive seen
Hey, i am from Russia (now many people hate this word...whatever), and i very enjoying to listen your revues. So, your "content" is demand in different places.
Thanks you.
Thank you very much! this channel is friendly to Russians and anybody else, so you are welcome here. That's because the people aren't the state, and vice versa. Lord knows I don't want to be blamed for my country's current sins, which are many. Also I have nothing to do with the state and have absolutely zero power to influence it in any way. I assume it's the same for you, too.
There are scenes in Godard films that I love and admire but it’s really hard for me to love any of his films I’ve seen as a whole. His films (including Alphaville) often deliver merciless loud, high piercing beeps to shake the viewer out of the film and as Godard has explained it “cause the viewer to remember they are seeing a film and reflect on that.” Personally, I find this perverse and psychologically punishing and have experienced much more creative and less punishing ways to ‘wake the viewer up.’ I appreciate the creative genius side of Godard but just can’t get over some of his childish tactics/antics.
I think this is understandable and fair, and I agree with this assessment on at least half of the Godard films I've seen. Yet Alphaville does also seem like a serious critique of tyranny involving tech. Its postmodernism is less a jest and more an attack -- fascinating now because "decentralization" is the hot topic/concept that counters the kind of centralization that the movie loathes. So, I don't think this particular movie is childish. Other Godards? Certainly.
I wish they had portrayed the computer with something better than a smoker behind a space heater.
yeah, at this point, there were few examples of how to represent a conscious computer on film. Kubrick choose the best of all, several years later. I think everything before this is just a giant box or a boxy-looking robot
I love that! It's a movie made as if a 14 year old with his dad's camera was trying to make a scifi film. "This space heater and these microphones will be the computer... the car can be his spaceship... I'll film some city shots at night to be the city of the future..." and yet Godard takes this insane approach and makes it work 100%.
why? BECAUSE.
Isn't it poetry as a mean of resistance against tyranny ?
did I misspeak in the video and you are correcting me? I am not sure the context of the question.
Sounds like Zeroville
I jump at any opportunity to point out that linguists/psychologists have pretty well dismissed the concept of linguistic relativity (the idea that language affects its speakers' worldview or cognition). The actual problem is just straight up "spin", argumentative fallacies and control of information. In my opinion, it deflates the coolness of Orwell's Newspeak concept quite a bit, as well as some of the ideas in this movie.
I would think what the movie is getting at, in the depiction of the central computer, would pertain to "spin." Same with Orwell, really, from a big-picture view.
That's just false. Maybe they reject some specific theory Linguistic Relativity with a capital L R but saying words don't shape cognition makes no sense, there is no alternative. That'd be like saying our feet don't shape our locomotion. There are countless scientific theories and disciplines used today by experts that rest securely on the fact that words shape our thoughts. Ethnography comes to mind as well as Marketing and Therapists (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for instance) even propagandists working for various governments and militaries. There are even tribal groups that can't distinguish all the colors most people can because they don't have words for them but they can distinguish colors we can't because they do have words for them. Again, what would the alternative be?
Absolutely hated Godard until I saw this film. Then I became a fan! Great film, great review!
thank you.
Love Lemmy Caution secret agent 003. . Predating James Bond secret agent 007.
Could you do a review on why tombstone is great
I've tried breathless, made in u.s.a., and masculin feminin. I couldn't finish them .. I've kind of gave up on godard but I'll probably try this one based on your awesome review 🤞
thanks. yeah, if this one and maybe Weekend doesn't take, skip over him and wait a decade or so to return back. I have my "great directors" that I don't like as well -- and I am not sure if I'm right or not!
@@LearningaboutMovies for some reason it has to be a special kind of noir for me. I like high and low, bladerunner, and I recently watch fritz scarlet Street absolutely love those. The legendary John Huston I've had trouble with as well. Do you have any John Huston reviews or videos ?
@@michaelking9818 maybe your right buddy
Considering the recent release of Crimes Of The Future, I was wondering if you could do a Cronenberg review? I know you consider Videodrome one of the best science fiction films so I am very curious to hear your thoughts on the film and Cronenberg’s work in general.
yeah, I need to get there. I am contemplating looking at The Fly again for this Halloween's video. Videodrome is the one I'd look at but man, it's not easy to condense into a 8-10 minute video!
@@LearningaboutMovies the fly 👍
Do a review on the man who shot liberty valence
probably will get there, though it's not in a long queue. I take donations accompanied by suggestions, and I have made videos based on viewers being generous, this channel being just a hobby that doesn't pay any bills, besides a Criterion subscription.
Fun fact. The french subtitle is "Le Tarzan contra Le IBM."
what?? I thought it was about the strange adventure of Lemme CAution.
@@LearningaboutMovies I don't know about a "subtitle" -- the only subtitle I know is the one Josh names -- but I do know Godard originally intended to call the movie TARZAN VS IBM. Just as well he didn't.
Godard generates a lot from very little. Genius level for sure.
Watched it years ago, mainly for the incomparable Anna Karina and Raoul Coutard's brilliant cinematography. But the gravelly computer voice narrator completely took me out of the picture. HAL from 2001 A Space Odyssey wouldn't work as well with a voice like that. Would be interesting if Godard allowed an alternate audio cut of a voice that was less distracting, maybe as a future 4k bonus feature. Good project for someone out there.
There is an English dub in which Alpha 60 has a more conventional "computer" voice, but I have no idea where you'd find it. The French voice actor for the machine was a man with an artificial larynx, having lost his own to cancer.
@@gomro That's very interesting on the English dub, I didn't know that. Thanks gomro!
You mean that thing that makes the film.
@@zaftra I enjoyed the cinematography and the performances a lot more. Just curious: what was it about the computer voice that made it for you?
@@Fred.pSonic Hypnotic, like early AMSR. Somebody narrating in a normal voice would seem odd to me. Went with essentially an odd film.
”Ogle” doesn’t rhyme with Google.
Edit: many say “Google” is a command to “go ogle.”