Alphaville 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Alphaville 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 10, 2024

Jean-Luc Godard's "Alphaville" (1965) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with Anna Karina; archival audio commentary by critic and novelist Tim Lucas; vintage trailer; and more. In French and English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

A stranger in a foreign place

Eddie Constantine made his acting debut in 1953, playing an American special agent named Lemmy Caution in Bernard Borderie’s stylish film noir Poison Ivy. Initially, this character was partially modeled after Humphrey Bogart’s Rick Blaine and Raymond Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe, and his adventures were supposed to end with Poison Ivy. However, he became so popular and Constantine liked him so much that he refused to die for a very long time. Like Jess Franco’s beloved character Al Pereira -- whom Constantine also played in the equally stylish mind-bender Attack of the Robots -- he then reappeared in all kinds of different genre films.

Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville is the second of these genre films. In it, Caution arrives in the bizarre intergalactic city of Alphaville looking for a man who has gone missing. However, while collecting information that could point him in the right direction, Caution and his accidental assistant, Natacha von Braun (Anna Karina), enter a deep rabbit hole where everything they see and hear becomes part of a giant intellectual test. As they move forward, the real and the surreal become one as well.

In Alphaville, Constantine looks and sounds a lot like he does in Poison Ivy, but his famous character is a different man. There are two reasons for this. First, Caution is no longer in film noir territory, but in one of those fluid places that many of Godard’s earlier films visited. Second, Godard pulls his strings differently and, in key areas, routinely prevents him from being a star. As a result, Caution’s adventures in Alphaville become awfully difficult to compare to the ones he has in Poison Ivy.

The changes allow Godard to launch a massive pseudo-intellectual lecture covering a range of socio-political subjects. For example, as Caution learns more about the city, Godard tackles different ideas about totalitarianism, the counter forces in a Western society that can protect against it, how a Western society understands identity and individuality and links them to freedom, the entities in it that can use and abuse them, etc. So, as is to be expected for a Godard film of this nature, there are a lot of statements with political overtones, the overwhelming majority of which feel terribly dated now.

Excluding one other film, titled Germany Year 90 Nine Zero, which was again directed by Godard some years later, the remaining films about Caution are very different. Indeed, they all treat Caution as a legitimate star and allow him to lead with authority. They all surround Caution with similarly interesting characters, some good, some bad. And most importantly, they are all proper genre films, not pseudo-intellectual lectures, typically featuring plenty of proper action.

Knowing all this, what should you make of Alphaville?

It is an impostor. (Godard's second film with Caution is one as well. It pretends to follow the steps of Roberto Rossellini’s classic film Germany Year Zero). For this reason, it is worth seeing because like all impostors it does things differently and awkwardly, and eventually, it reveals its true identity in a rather amusing way.

Godard shot Alphaville with frequent collaborator Raoul Coutard, who lensed his greatest films. However, Alphaville is impossible to compare to visual stunners like Contempt and Pierrot le fou.

Alphaville is available in two versions: French and English. The French version is the original version. However, the English version, which was finalized with Godard's involevement, has been screened as well.

Kino Lorber’s combo pack release introduces a new 4K restoration of Alphaville sourced from the original camera negative and completed on behalf of StudioCanal. On the 4K Blu-ray, the restoration can be viewed only with the original French audio track.

Alphaville 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Alphaville is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray disc is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray disc is Region-A "locked".

Please note that screencapture included with this release are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

The release introduces a new 4K restoration of Alphaville sourced from the original camera negative, which was completed by Hiventy in France on behalf of StudioCanal. The 4K restoration can be viewed on the 4K Blu-ray with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view with Dolby Vision. The Blu-ray presents the previous restoration of Alphaville, which was made avail be on this Blu-ray release.

The overall quality of the 4K restoration is very good. It introduces some minor but meaningful stability improvements, plus noticeable improvements in delineation and depth. On my system, all visuals with plenty of light has superior sharpness and clarity, in certain areas better depth as well. Why only in certain areas? Because most of the darker visuals have plenty of thick shadows that make these improvements less obvious. Also, in several darker areas, and particularly the ones that feature more nuanced shadows, finer details can appear slightly softer. I did not see any traces of problematic digital corrections, so the Dolby Vision/HDR grades likely contribute a bit and exacerbate source limitations. The surface of the visuals is noticeably healthier, too. On the previous restoration, from time to time extremely small blemishes and other similar imperfections can be spotted. Fluidity is very good.

Alphaville 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. However, the English track is available only on the older restoration of Alphaville that is included on the Blu-ray. The 4K restoration can be viewed only with the original French track on the 4K Blu-ray. Optional English subtitles are provided only for the French track.

The overall quality of the French track on the 4K Blu-ray is excellent. All exchanges and the narration with the electronic voice sound great. However, I am a bit surprised that the English track is not included because it has historical value. It is an original track too, and Alphaville has been screened with it.

Alphaville 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by critic and novelist Tim Lucas. It provides plenty of information about the production of Alphaville, its narrative construction and style, some particular choices made by Jean-Luc Godard and cinematographer Raoul Coutard, Eddie Constantine's career and acting choices, etc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by critic and novelist Tim Lucas. It provides plenty of information about the production of Alphaville, its narrative construction and style, some particular choices made by Jean-Luc Godard and cinematographer Raoul Coutard, Eddie Constantine's career and acting choices, etc.

• Introduction - presented here is an archival video introduction by critic Colin McCabe. In English, not subtitled. (6 min).

• Anna Karina Interview - in this archival program, Anna Karina recalls what it was like working with Jean-Luc Godard during the shooting of Alphaville. In English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Alphaville. In French, with English subtitles. (2 min).

• Cover - a reversible cover with vintage poster art for Alphaville.

Alphaville 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Eddie Constantine's legendary character Lemmy Caution is abducted and placed in an environment that quite simply isn't right for him, and it is why the real star of Alphaville is Jean-Luc Godard, who proceeds to deliver a massive pseudo-intellectual lecture covering a range of socio-political subjects. This makes Alphaville an amusing film, but also the most incoherent and disappointing one featuring Caution. Kino Lorber's combo pack introduces a new 4K restoration of it completed at Hiventy in France, which represents a solid upgrade in quality.