Alphaville: Defying Conventions

Lemmy Caution, the main character in the 1965 film Alphaville, fights for freedom and justice the only way he knows how; defying the conventions set by Alpha 60. Jean-Luc Godard, the writer-director of the film, fights for freedom and justice the only way he knows how; defying the conventions set by the majority filmmakers of his society. In Alphaville, Godard utilizes the foremost purpose of alternative cinema; defying the conventions set by the mainstream cinema. This particular example challenges the established concepts of both the science-fiction and noir genres. Godard's ability to break out of these genres also directly relates to the allegory that he has set in place in the city of Alphaville. These genres are successfully molded together to create an achievement with an abundance of creativity. A quality that Godard thought was lacking in films of the mainstream French and American cinemas of the time.

"No one ever says 'why', one says 'because'". This is the admission of one of Alpha 60's unnamed scientists; who are committed to continuing the era of logic that has ruled their lives. The principal function of the films' plot is the allegory that it creates in this alternate world. A common topic in the history of film in France is the rise of fascism, going all the way back to the poetic realism of the 1930s. The period in which this film was made was perpetrated by the cold war, a fear of communism, and to a lesser extent the lessons learned during the Second World War. There are some direct references to these issues in the seductresses that have been branded with numbers on their foreheads, just like victims of concentration camps in Nazi occupied Europe. As Lemmy first drives into Alphaville, we see a sign reading "Silence. Logic. Security. Prudence.". This is the credo that is maintained by Alpha 60 in voice-overs throughout the film. Most of these sentences use philosophical arguments that are in fact generalizations and cannot be proved to be true of the society as a whole. In my opinion, the physical altercations that Lemmy Caution goes through in the film, mirrors the intellectual altercation that Godard is having with mainstream cinema. As Lemmy defies Alpha 60, Godard uses his creativeness to defy the logic that society has set up for his art.
There is a consensus by most film scholars that the original period of film noir ended with the 1958 Orson Welles film Touch of Evil. And since the post- conclusion era of neo-noir, many filmmakers have attempted to capture the same mood and feeling of many of the great noir films by using certain filmmaking techniques that eventually became part of the mainstream. This in itself is ironic because when it started out many of the classic noir films were considered to be "B" movies by the studios and much of the viewing public. In Alphaville, Godard defies the conventions of these genres initially by simply making a noir film that takes place in the future, and that involves science fiction.

One of the most recognizable aspects of noir is the music; and Godard uses music that would be identified by most as music that fits into the noir genre. The difference is that it is used in a way that unsettles the audience because it surfaces at points when the audience does not expect it to surface. For example, as Lemmy lights his cigarette and gets out of his car the music is heard. However, the music also ends at irregular beats; as Lemmy then walks into a hotel it is suddenly cut off. Also, when in his hotel room, Lemmy is walking around and then closes a door and the same cutoff occurs. The film's sound is another tool that Godard experiments with. During the first fight in the hotel room, we cease to hear the sound effects as the music continues to play. It is then resumed when the assailants go crashing through a glass door. The color of the film is perhaps the most important experiment because it disrupts the audiences view so drastically. There are several pockets of seconds mostly near the films' climax, when the black and white coloring is reversed; so that what was previously black is white, and vice versa. This is an even more obvious defying of mainstream conventions because there seems to be no other rhyme or reason for doing it. This is in sharp contrast to film noir because it almost completely takes the viewer out of the film, which would disrupt the gritty and realistic atmosphere of the mysteries.
The science fiction genre is very different from noir in that it is able to take on many forms. In other words, various storytelling techniques can be used to communicate science fiction to the audience. Alphaville has the look and feel of a noir film while containing the themes of a science fiction film. The conventions of science fiction are immediately stretched because of the fact that the film is colored in black and white. While it is true that since the inception of color, there have been classic science fiction films in black and white such as The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), many films have chosen to represent alternate universes by using vibrant colors almost too beautiful to exist on our planet. Films like Forbidden Planet (1956) have used this technique to suggest the fantastic nature of these alien worlds, while Godard uses black and white color and bleak photography, often at night, to suggest the sinister nature of this futuristic society.
Another challenge to the conventions includes the computer voice of Alpha 60. Normally, a voice such as this must have no room for doubt that it could be a human speaking in place of a robot. But this voice is spoken by an individual who had throat cancer and learned how to speak out of their esophagus. This implies a complexity on the part of the computer that we have never seen before, as well as a creepy voice that no one can exactly pinpoint. It reminds me of the similarly effective voice of HAL 9000 in 2001:A Space Odyssey. This is not the limit of the similarities between these two films. The production design is another point that defies the mainstream. In film history there have been large sets to portray alien or futuristic societies. Consider an epic like Fritz Lang's Metropolis that contains two whole separate worlds with tall skyscrapers looming over the characters. Godard instead does not build any sets whatsoever, he just uses buildings in 1965 Paris that are made in a modern style. The audience therefore cannot say that these buildings could not exist in the future because they existed at the films' time of release. This also applies to the visual aspect of Alpha 60 because its creation is rather simple. It is only comprised of a larger fan with a light shining behind it to signify it is in working order. This is another relation to 2001:A Space Odyssey in that HAL 9000 visually is just a red light that is put directly in front of the camera.

Just before the climax of the film Lemmy finally meets the professor, who is a leading scientist working for Alpha 60, that he has been trying to reach since the beginning. However, this meeting becomes rather anticlimactic because it turns out that the professor is just another shill for said computer. This is a disparity from the mainstream because it must be proven that there is good in all people and that we are all able to accomplish everything ourselves. But the professor is not able to save himself or the inhabitants of Alphaville so Lemmy just pushes him aside and discards him along with all the others who he has passed on his way to justice.

For most of these filmmaking techniques that Godard uses to defy the conventions of the mainstream, the most telling aspect is that there is a sense of randomness in the use of them. For many of them, Godard seems to employ their use just for the sake of using them, which is a clear indication of their intent to simply defy the conventions that were set out for him. Godard also uses many actions of the characters for comedic affect. For example, when Lemmy is speaking to Natacha Von Braun in his hotel room he shoots a bullet at his lighter to light it and then lights her cigarette. Actions like these serve to remind the audience that they are watching something that was created by someone else and it is not real life. He deliberately contradicts himself in regards to the realistic nature of the film. The production design leans towards realism instead of formalism, but many of his artistic decisions lean towards formalism. By making Alphaville as uneven as this, he is rejecting the rules of conventional filmmaking in the mainstream sense. Every aspect of his films does not have to fit together perfectly because everything in this world changes. As the film's hero remarks, "All things weird are normal in this whore of cities". This is one of the major functions of the modern age and an aspect of the French new wave that Godard is a part of. This also explains his creation of some of the characters' names in the film. Von Braun, Nosferatu, Ivan Johnson, and Dick Tracy all reference names of people or are part of our popular culture. Another feature of the French new wave is ubiquitous references to American culture. This serves to take the audience out of the picture as well.

The foremost function of alternative cinema is to defy the conventions of the mainstream cinema, and Alphaville takes on this function in many forms. Its allegory status in turn assists the film in attributing society's struggle of the era against fascism. This also relates to the fact that society needs artists like Godard to continue to be creative and question all conventions that exist for us. But in my opinion, the filmmaker even goes beyond these statements; he believes that unlike how Lemmy Caution finds resistance against freedom at every turn in Alphaville, artists like himself should never have to worry about how they will be able to continue their work. The film represents an extreme example of this, in the scenes where citizens are killed for acting illogically. This is framed as a warning to both the audience for accepting protocols in that direction, and to the studios, which should be helping people like him.