Alphaville

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.

France
1965
99 minutes
Black & White
1.33:1
French
Spine #25

Special Features

Digital transfer
Essay by critic Andrew Sarris

New cover by Terry Koppel

DVD 1 Disc Out Of Print SRP: $29.95

Special Features

Digital transfer
Essay by critic Andrew Sarris

New cover by Terry Koppel

Cast & Credits

Cast

Eddie Constantine: Lemmy Caution
Anna Karina: Natasha Vonbraun
Akim Tamiroff: Henry Dickson
Howard Vernon: Professor Vonbraun

Credits

Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Screenplay: Jean-Luc Godard
Producer: André Michelin
Cinematography: Raoul Coutard
Music: Paul Misraki
Editing: Agnès Guillemot

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Explore

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer, Director

A pioneer of the French new wave, Jean-Luc Godard has had an incalculable effect on modern cinema that refuses to wane. Before directing, Godard was an ethnology student and a critic for Cahiers du cinéma, and his approach to filmmaking reflects his interest in how cinematic form intertwines with social reality. His groundbreaking debut feature, Breathless—his first and last mainstream success—is, of course, essential Godard: its strategy of merging high (Mozart) and low (American crime thrillers) culture has been mimicked by generations of filmmakers. As the sixties progressed, Godard’s output became increasingly radical, both aesthetically (A Woman Is a Woman, Contempt, Band of Outsiders) and politically (Masculin féminin, Pierrot le fou), until by 1968 he had forsworn commercial cinema altogether, forming a leftist filmmaking collective (the Dziga Vertov Group) and making such films as Tout va bien. Today Godard remains our greatest lyricist on historical trauma, religion, and the legacy of cinema.