Genre Guesstimation – Alphaville (1965)

The idea behind this feature (Genre Guesstimation) is for me to watch a bunch of new movies (or ones that I haven’t seen many times) from the chosen monthly GG genre in order to expand my knowledge of movies within that particular genre.

This month’s genre has been chosen by Keith of Keith & the Movies and we will be reviewing our favorite French New Wave Films.

Please get me your submissions by the 25th of Oct by sending them to newwavekeith@movierob.net

Try to think out of the box! Great choice Keith!

Let’s see if I felt that this movie would be worthy of being in the company of my others favorite movies in the genre of French New Wave Films…..

“Once we know the number one, we believe that we know the number two, because one plus one equals two. We forget that first we must know the meaning of plus.” – Alpha 60

Number of Times Seen – 1 (5 Oct 2020)

Brief Synopsis – In a futuristic dystopian society, a secret agent is sent to the city of Alphaville to try and stop a dictator.

My Take on it – Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m not a fan of foreign language films, but having said that, I’m still always willing to take up the challenge when put forth.

This is a strange film that just didn’t work well enough for me.

The film tries to mix together noir and sci-fi elements and it fails to work the whole way through because it’s hard to believe everything especially since it lacks any real suspenseful or thrilling elements in the story.

I’m not quite sure why they chose to show a dystopian future by using modern sets and costumes because it makes it harder to imagine such a world as they describe and is distracting to watch.

The story does have a few mysterious elements that are presented in a very esoteric way which makes things a bit more intriguing to watch unfold even if overall, the story feels very disconnected.

Bottom Line – Strange film that didn’t work well enough for me. The choice to create a dystopian future by using modern sets and costumes helps make things a bit more distracting to watch even if it feels far too disconnected. The mix of noir and sci-fi elements is able to make things a bit more mysterious even if things feel far too esoteric in the way things play out especially given the fact that it isn’t gripping or thrilling at all.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Despite the fact that the film is a work of science-fiction and supposed to be in a city of the future, all the sets were existing locations in Paris in 1965, and all the weapons are conventional firearms. (From IMDB)

Genre Grandeur Worthy? – Not quite. Intriguing idea that doesn’t work well enough in keeping things gripping enough.

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (6/10)