Dystopias

Both Godard’s Alphaville (1965) and Truffaut’s adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 (1966) are clearly explorations of a potentially dystopian future for mankind. They include themes which have been explored in dystopian futuristic novels like We, 1984, and A Brave World where uniformity and unquestioned compliance are the ideals. In Alphaville deviant, illogical, or unnatural behavior is punishable by death. “No one ever says, ‘why’; one only says, ‘because’.” Each resident of Alphaville has a profession, a ranking in their profession (ie. Seductress 3rd Class), and a control number. These small details contribute to our understanding that life in the future will become very impersonal.

Godard includes several lengthy long takes which last for minutes at a time. This decision creates an unbroken rhythm and connection between shots that allows us to feel that we ourselves are living in this dystopia.

Godard goes against the normal cinematic conventions in his experimentations with light. The lighting changes frequently during Lemmy Caution’s interrogation by the spinning fan and flashing lights that function as the “face” of Alpha 60. Alphaville is frequently referred to as the “Light Civilization.” Once the control center of Alpha 60 has been destroyed the citizens of Alphaville are reduced to mindless creatures on the verge of death. The absence of light reduces the residents of Alphaville to circling ants. Godard also visually reflects the instability and madness of Alphaville following Alpha 60’s destruction through his insertion of entire sequences shot in the negative.

Death is viewed as a means of liberation in both films. In Farenheit Clarisse’s friend chooses to be burned along with her books rather than continue to exist in a world without them. When Alpha 60 asks Lemmy what the greatest privilege of the dead is Lemmy replies, “…to die no more.” In one observation Alpha 60 says, “To become a legend is worse than death.” What does this mean? As I see it, this quote reflects a change in Godard after he created Breathless. One character in that film, a successful author says that his greatest aspiration is to become immortal and then die.

Women in Alphaville do not know the meaning of love because they see no distinction between it and sensuality. With Lemmy’s help Natasha von Braun’s discovers love at the film’s end, and like in Metropolis where the heart serves as the mediator between the head and the hands, love is the one force that can save humanity no matter what. (More to come).