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Alphaville

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A cockeyed fusion of science fiction, pulp characters, and surrealist poetry, Godard’s irreverent journey to the mysterious Alphaville remains one of the least conventional films of all time. Eddie Constantine stars as intergalactic hero Lemmy Caution, on a mission to kill the inventor of fascist computer Alpha 60.

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Just saw this last night! Fantastic film! Can we expect a remaster any time soon? Like M for example.

This is one of the CC's that needs to be re-issue with extras as well...

What extras are you thinking of in particular? Anything that's specific to this film (i.e., that they couldn't just stick on a different Godard release)?

Here comes the tough part . Well, not much, perhaps an audio commentary, Some essay, a director introduction and/or an interview with Godard.

Other than a commentary, a piece about Lemmy Caution (with clips from other films in the series) would be useful. This is also probably the ideal place to put Godard's contemporaneous short film, Le Nouveau Monde (from RoGoPaG), which is also offbeat science fiction (a riff on Invasion of the Body Snatchers)

The UK artist Scanner (Robin Rimbaud) also performs live remixes of the soundtrack of Alphaville, which would make a cool alternative soundtrack.

Hell, a two disc set, with "Germany Year Nine Zero" as an extra on the second disc wouldn't be too extreme a request.

Godard and Constantine interviews, trailers for the other Lemmy Caution films, and so on. This is one of the few discs I've been longing for Criterion to revist, so sky's the limit as far as I'm concerned.

-BJ

Has anyone else on the forum subscribed to the Wholphin DVD series? It's a quarterly DVD "magazine" from McSweeney's. I've been making my way through the first volume and my reactions to the shorts have been pretty mixed. That is to be expected with this kind of thing, but I do hope it will get better and better.
Anyway, they have announced that #2, which comes out a month from now, will have a short cinematic tribute to Alphaville by Steven Soderbergh. It should be interesting at the least.

Gregory wrote:...will have a short cinematic tribute to Alphaville by Steven Soderbergh.

Sounds intriguing, thanks for the tip. I'll look for it when it comes out.

In case people have not heard, there was a short book about Alphaville published last November by the University of Illinois Press, part of a new "French Film Guides" series. Worth checking out if you're a fan of the film. (the series also has volumes on Diaboliqueand La Haine which are both pretty good as well)

I sent an email inquiry to Jonathan Turell about a re-release of Alphaville, and he responded that they have no plans to re-do it (or Black Orpheus, for that matter) at this time.

Bummer. I guess I'll eventually break down and buy the bare-bones disc, as it's my favorite Godard film.

I do love Alphaville (one of my favourite Godard films), and it's always saddened me a bit that the cc disc is so bare bones. Also, are the other Lemmy Caution films worth seeking out?

One question and a comment.

How many Lemmy Caution films are there?

And my only comment about this film is the voice of the computer, what was it called... Alpha 66? Well, the voice made it a pain to watch the film, might just be me.

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:How many Lemmy Caution films are there?

I feel like I should know the answer to this.

One of the things I love about Alphaville is how Lemmy Caution indeed seems as though he stepped in from another film, another planet. He doesn't follow any of the rules and proceeds to just do whatever he chooses.

Lemmy Caution wrote:Lemmy Caution films are there?

14 aparently, plus appearances in two episodes of a TV series, all roles but one played by Eddie Constantine. Although I don't know if they qualify as 'Lemmy Caution' films. I've not heard of any of the others.

I also agree that it's a real shame that this is bare bones, I own the film on an old OOP region 2 Warner Godard triple, I'd love to see some additional material, but won't be upgrading unless something substantial is released. I think it's a great film (one of my favourite Godard) and definitely deserves it.

Does anyone else think this is a below par film for Godard? I've seen it three times now and it doesn't get any better. Is it the genre, or is Godard less inspired? To me, it feels like it would be better as a shorter film, as the concepts don't take too long of a time to figure out.

I can never get into Alphaville, I don't know what it is, but I agree with you justeleblanc. In fact, I've tried to watch it twice now, and haven't made it to the end either time. I can't pinpoint what it is, but I much prefer his other films that I've seen.

This film almost turned me off of Godard for good. Thankfully someone pushed Contempt in my face and that changed that. I agree with you guys. I find this to be a pretentious bore.

I wouldn't go so far as to call it a pretentious bore but I didn't love it as much as I loved, say, Band of Outsiders or Breathless. I respected it for what it tried to do and what it tried to say but I had mixed feelings about it overall.

I just finished watching this. What a terrific film. Every single idea grabbed me, and towards the end of the movie I was all crunched up in my seat, bleeding with anticipation. Of course, the end of the movie was just grand, but there was so much to absorb on the way. Some fascinating cinematography in it, as well; I liked the two elevator shots, and the breakfast table bit, and the sequence at the end where Alpha is breaking down. "Think of love!"

Alphaville is my first Godard film, and I can't think of anything bad to say about it.

Magic Hate Ball wrote:Alphaville is my first Godard film

Wow, you have so many more to enjoy.

If its ideas you warmed to and you want to wallow in them then try 2 OR 3 THINGS next but if you still need some narrative with your next Godard experience move backwards to 1964, 1963, etc. None of his films are bereft of his thoughts about the world, he changed his main focus from cinema/art (as subject) to sociology & eventually marxism itself.

ALPHAVILLE was my first film too but I wasn't hooked until I saw PIERROT LE FOU.

What's the movie where the guy throws a film canister like a discus? I saw a picture of it, that looked interesting. I know it's Godard because it was in an article about Godard and it said "In Godard's film [insert], this character is throwing a film canister like a discus" or something like that.

solent wrote:try 2 OR 3 THINGS next

...so, what are they?

Magic Hate Ball wrote:What's the movie where the guy throws a film canister like a discus? I saw a picture of it, that looked interesting. I know it's Godard because it was in an article about Godard and it said "In Godard's film [insert], this character is throwing a film canister like a discus" or something like that.

The film canister movie is Contempt.

Magic Hate Ball wrote:

solent wrote:try 2 OR 3 THINGS next

...so, what are they?

He is talking about this

Galen Young wrote:

Gregory wrote:...will have a short cinematic tribute to Alphaville by Steven Soderbergh.

Sounds intriguing, thanks for the tip. I'll look for it when it comes out.

I have this DVD and it's... like three minutes long. That's an accurate description of the film's content btw

Soderbergh says he watches a bunch of Godard films before he starts a new project to get inspired, pretty neat.

and Magic H8 Ball, I know it's obvious but the next readily-available Godard film you should see is Breathless.