VOX movie night: Alphaville (1965)

What self-respecting film club could go on having never screened a film by incisive critic turned French New Wave auteur monsieur Jean-Luc Godard? We have been running for 3 to 4 months now and it seems the time is nigh; as the last film in our 'Neo-Noir' theme, we will be showing Alphaville (1965).

The film follows Intergalactic secret agent, Lemmy Caution (played by Eddie Constantine, already known in France at the time as a star of Noir B-movies), who is sent from ‘the lands outside’ to Alphaville--a futuristic city where love has been outlawed and the population are strictly controlled. His mission is to investigate the disappearance of fellow agent Henri Dickson (Akin Tamiroff) and to capture or kill Professor Von Braun (Howard Vernon), the man responsible for creating the Alpha 60 super-computer which rules Alphaville through cold logic. Enlisting the help of Von Braun’s daughter, Natacha (played by Anna Karina, Godard's muse at the time), as his guide, Lemmy sets out on a nightmarish journey through the bizarre, dystopian city of Alphaville in his quest to find the professor and destroy the world he has created, in the name of free thought and genuine human emotion.

Alphaville (1965) was released towards the tail-end of the New Wave movement--said to roughly last from the late 1950s till mid 1960s. In this film Godard blends the Sci-Fi and Noir film genres, and, at the same time, deconstructs and reconstructs them, to create an original and unsettling cinematic vision. Although set in the future on another planet, there are no special effects or elaborate sets; instead, the film was shot in real locations in Paris, the night-time streets of the capital standing in for the streets of Alphaville. Taking as his theme the superiority of love and poetry over inhuman logic, Godard embellishes his unusually--by his standards--linear plot with philosophy, technological concepts, politics, wistfully romantic dialogue, and amusing surreal moments.

Price: Free! Themed drinks & snacks will be provided!

After the film we will have an optional discussion where you can share your thoughts/experiences with your fellow viewers!
If you can't make it but signed up please let us know ASAP. We rely on sign-ups to know how much food/supplies to buy; when you don't show up we end up wasting money!

Organised by: VOX Delft and Studium Generale