In 1965 Jean-Luc Godard, the French New Wave's baddest bad boy, released what became a much celebrated and much vilified science fiction film, Alphaville. There are no special effects in Alphaville. Lemmy Caution, Godard's spy/hero, crosses interstellar space in a Ford Galaxy. Godard cared more for the frisson of language, ideas of science, film noir, and hardboiled detective yarns.
The plot is a simple armature on which Godard hangs his ideas: Lemmy is a secret agent, a soldier in a future Cold War. He is sent to the city of Alphaville to track down the inventor of a "death ray," Dr. Vonbraun.
The central question of Alphaville is, Can we remain human in a society increasingly overwhelmed by its own technology? In the film, a fascist computer, Alpha 60, runs the city, banning nonproductive words such as "poetry" and "love." Lemmy's search for Dr. Vonbraun brings him into conflict with Alpha 60. Godard uses this confrontation to argue a case for the illogic of the heart.
While Alphaville creaks in spots, it's a compelling vision at a time when the Clipper Chip, the CDA, and other noxious policies threaten our privacy and individuality a result of our inability still to decide what our relationship is to the machines we've created.
Alphaville: US$49.95. Voyager: (800) 446 2001, +1 (914) 591 5500, on the Web at www.voyagerco.com.
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