GRADE: B

Before “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Blade Runner” and countless other films that in one form or another espoused the dangers of society’s growing dependence on high technology, French director Jean-Luc Godard was already railing against its dehumanizing effects and condemning people and industry’s propensity to view science and technology as the solution to all its problems.

One of the first films in which Godard made it a rallying cry and the centerpiece of a story (as much as any subject is ever the focus of a Godard film) was in “Alphaville,” the director’s futuristic fusion of hardboiled detective novel and science fiction.

In short, “Alphaville” follows the exploits of gumshoe Lemmy Caution as he travels to Alphaville, the capital of a fictitious totalitarian country, with the intent of destroying its megalomaniacal leader and near-human central computer, known as Alpha 60. Matters become further complicated when Caution falls hard for Natacha, daughter of Alpha 60’s inventor.

First time viewers of Godard’s films often remark that many seem disjointed and heterogeneous, and audiences often mistake his penchant for manipulating sound (sometimes only a single object is audible, other times the audio will temporarily disappear altogether) and image—with a tendency to use jump-cuts and non-linear construction—as an indication of low budgets and amateur limitations.

Yet there is always a specific purpose behind Godard’s unconventional approach, and when viewers come to realize that the above kinds of techniques (and many others) are being used with great forethought, and that these techniques fulfill an important part of both the narrative and non-narrative structures, they can begin to understand and appreciate his unique brand of filmmaking. In short, Godard wasn’t content to make different movies; he wanted to make movies differently.

His seemingly haphazard ways of putting a movie together are not without reason—Godard uses the very nature of the medium itself as a part of the film’s voice. In “Alphaville,” he illustrates the disastrous impact of a global society and the inverse result of technology’s alleged ability to simplify life and make it better by commingling disparate scenes and sequences to create a confusing conflagration that’s representative of the very condition he’s parodying on screen.

The result is certainly atypical cinema, and not without Godard’s heavy doses of humor, action and violence, all of it magnificently composed and captured by accomplished cinematographer Raoul Coutard. It’s also wonderfully acted by Eddie Constantine as the determined private-eye and Anna Karina (at the time, Mrs. Godard) as the object of his infatuation.

Although probably best enjoyed and appreciated by seasoned cinephiles and fans of the director, “Alphaville” might also fit the bill for anyone in search of an out of the ordinary cinematic experience.

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