Alphaville
A hard-boiled outsider battles a logic-obsessed technocracy where love and poetry have become crimes.
Overview
A dystopian future where love is outlawed and self-expression is a crime.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- witty
- eerie
- surreal
- late night cinephile viewing
- french new wave marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly praise Godard's witty, noir-inflected fusion of dystopian science fiction, experimental filmmaking, and enduring political relevance.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Lemmy Caution remains a hard-boiled private-eye while investigating a futuristic city governed by a supercomputer.
Modernist Parisian architecture, industrial interiors, and computer rooms stand in for the distant city of Alphaville.
Alpha 60 and Von Braun outlaw love, poetry, and self-expression in favor of enforced logic.
Godard combines a French B-movie detective character with dystopian science fiction, deadpan satire, and agit-prop ideas.
Films like Alphaville, and why
The Matrix
shares dystopian science fiction, authoritarian control, and philosophical unease about technology
Blade Runner
combines film noir investigation with stylized science fiction and oppressive urban futurism
The Zero Theorem
uses experimental science fiction to examine language, rationality, and human identity
Weekend
shares french new wave experimentation, ironic genre play, and politically charged modernist aesthetics
Movie Details
- Director
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Release Date
- 1965-05-05
- Runtime
- 99 min
- Rating
- 6.9 / 10 (635)
Cast
- Eddie Constantine
- Anna Karina
- Akim Tamiroff
- Valérie Boisgel
- Jean-Louis Comolli
- Michel Delahaye
- Christa Lang
- Jean-Pierre Léaud
- László Szabó
- Howard Vernon
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, BFI Player Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Alphaville about?
- A hard-boiled outsider battles a logic-obsessed technocracy where love and poetry have become crimes.
- What is Alphaville like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Alphaville as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Alphaville violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Alphaville as mild.
- What did critics think of Alphaville?
- Critics broadly praise Godard's witty, noir-inflected fusion of dystopian science fiction, experimental filmmaking, and enduring political relevance.
- Which films are like Alphaville?
- Films with a similar feel include The Matrix, Blade Runner, The Zero Theorem, and Weekend.
- How long is Alphaville?
- Alphaville runs 99 minutes.
- Where can I watch Alphaville?
- In United States, Alphaville streams on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, BFI Player Amazon Channel.
