In this dystopian-noir, Jean-Luc Godard provides his head-on criticism of technologism and the threat that it might represent towards eradicating human individuality and emotion.

Not without the presence of unusual film techniques, as it is usual in Godard’s heavily experimental cinema, especially through the use of light and sound, the tale is actually rather easy to understand as it follows a standard type of genre film. That of “the man against the machine/system” (this time embodied by an actual machine).

In the role of the “Man” (Lemmy Caution), Eddie Constantine, just as her counterparts Anna Karina and Howard Vernon provide extremely stoic and serene performances, very much adequately in line with the behaviour that the citizens of Alphaville have to present of themselves.

The story, which has clear influences from George Orwell’s 1984, as it has already been mentioned flows rather nicely, with the motivations of all the characters being quite well defined and understandable (including those of the supercomputer Alpha 60) making the plot interesting and thrilling to follow.

In conclusion a movie with a classic premise but that with the pioneering technological twist serves as clear inspiration of many movies that would be coming in the upcoming years, and that are still coming, that try to present a reluctant view on the progress of technology and its potential harms against society. Regardless of its (at least in my humble opinion, as it usually happens to me with Godard’s filmography) at times over reliance on experimentation, for this particular movie this unusual approach to filmmaking seems more justified and assimilated by a story and acting that transform the picture into something both intellectually challenging (in the good sense) and entertaining.