Alphaville

by Chris Darke

First book in any language to focus on Alphaville, published on the 40th anniversary of its release. It uses new interviews with Godard's main collaborators on the film to reveal new aspects and explores its multiple influences, on 'Blade Runner', for example, or 'Code 46'. This is the first ever full appraisal of Godard's highly influential classic of sci-fi noir. Chris Darke writes about how, working without sets, special effects, or even a script, Godard made a dystopian vision of a technocratic future city. He explores the film's unique combination of genres and styles, its remarkable creation the secret agent Lemmy Caution, and uses his new interviews with the director's collaborators to chronicle the film's production. He also relates Alphaville to Godard's later work, setting it in the context of his wider career and of its influence on other filmmakers and artists.

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

Reviews

[elly · Rating 4 out of 5]

brief and engaging read. even though he only delves into a couple of alphaville's aspects in detail, darke provides a great overlook of the text and a great place to start thinking about godard's film. also the go-to to consider light and dark in alphaville.

[Dylan Kiewel · Rating 3 out of 5]

i probably could have written a better book on this movie