ALPHAVILLE
One of Godard's most sheerly enjoyable movies: a dazzling amalgam of film noir and science fiction.
The plot is not unlike that of ‘1984,’ with Eddie Constantine playing Lemmy Caution, a spy sent to eliminate the creator of a "Big Brother" computer called "Alpha 60" which controls the lives, thoughts and actions of the Alphaville metropolis.
Lemmy assumes the identity of a reporter, meets up and falls in love with Anna Karina's Natasha Von Braun (the daughter of the dictator of Alphaville who Lemmy is there to assassinate) and as he discovers more about the city and "Alpha 60", comes into conflict with the authorities.
The cinematography, direction and editing of ‘Alphaville’ is mesmerising; every image is full of movement, inventive camera angles and surreal imagery. The film is many years ahead of its time, equally relevant today because the symbolic city of Alphaville bears marked similarities to modern Western society: a corporate civilisation which strives for cultural, social and political homogeneity, holds emotions such as love, tenderness, generosity and sacrifice in contempt and prefers to build a hierarchical society based on logic, science, censorship and regimentation.