UHD Review Alphaville (1965) – 4K UHD Review (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

In Alphaville, Jean-Luc Godard’s sixties techno-noir Alphaville starring Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, and Akim Tamiroff gets a reference quality 4K UHD with remastered audio and Dolby Vision HDR.



Alphaville (1965)



Released: 05 May 1965
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 99 min




Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi



Cast: Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Akim Tamiroff
Writer(s): Jean-Luc Godard, Paul Éluard



Plot: A U.S. secret agent is sent to the distant space city of Alphaville where he must find a missing person and free the city from its tyrannical ruler.



IMDB rating: 7.0
MetaScore: N/A





Disc Information



Studio: Studio Canal
Distributed By: Kino Lorber
Video Resolution: 2160p HEVC...

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[Angelo Colombus]

It took me a few viewings to like the film and will buy the 4K disc.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Thanks for the review, I've struggled to like this film over the years. The Tim Lucas commentary piques my interest so I'll watch it again before deciding whether to upgrade.

 

[titch]

Anybody wanting a straightforward science fiction or film noir, a la Blade Runner, will be heading for the exit after 12 minutes. Even those who think they have seen a few Godard, and got him down pat, will be flummoxed. Or bemused. Filmed on location in modern (1965) office buildings and in small seedy Parisian hotels, but supposed to be set in the future in a city that can only be reached by space travel? And agent Lemmy Caution merely drives his Ford there over a bridge? When I first saw the Criterion LaserDisc 30 years ago, I was rather taken aback. I got Breathless, but this was just over-the-top strangeness. But now I revere it. I just lie back and revel in it. The cinematography is first rate - I'm really looking forward to seeing this 4K UHD. The 4K-mastered blu-ray, released in the UK eight years ago, is divine.

 

[mskaye]

Thanks for the review, I've struggled to like this film over the years. The Tim Lucas commentary piques my interest so I'll watch it again before deciding whether to upgrade.

It's part straight, part sci-fi satire, part spoof of Hollywood genre, part hard boiled drama, part treatise on big brother fascism and dehumanization, part very French essay on existence and love. There is nothing like it and parts of it are some of my favorite moments in cinema.

 

[lark144]

Great review. Thanks! I first fell in love with this film when I saw it at the Elgin in the early 1970's, in a spectacular print that was imported from the French Cinematheque. I had seen ALPHAVILLE before, but it did nothing for me. This screening changed that. While the film is full of ideas, or perhaps quotations is more to the point, specifically, lots of material from Jacques Derrida's "On Grammatology" about language and its "double" which Godard was reading at the time, the key thing is the black and white cinematography. Excuse me if I'm getting the specifics wrong, but I went to a screening much later at the French Institute in NYC, where Coutard was present, and he said that Godard didn't want to use any fill lights, or even practicals. They went with available light, which wasn't really done at the time in theatrical features in France, using Tri-X stock, having an ASA of 200, which they pushed to 400. I imagine the 4K is even more luminous and ethereal than the print I saw. BTW, what is the grain like? That was always part and parcel of the imagery, as Tri-X was very coarse in terms of grain structure, and then they pushed it. For me, that shimmering grain on prints helped impart an otherworldly, sc-fi aspect. Oh, and one reason for Akim Tamiroff's presence is that visually, ALPHAVILLE was very influenced by Welles' MR. ARKADIN.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Great review. Thanks! I first fell in love with this film when I saw it at the Elgin in the early 1970's, in a spectacular print that was imported from the French Cinematheque. I had seen ALPHAVILLE before, but it did nothing for me. This screening changed that. While the film is full of ideas, or perhaps quotations is more to the point, specifically, lots of material from Jacques Derrida's "On Grammatology" about language and its "double" which Godard was reading at the time, the key thing is the black and white cinematography. Excuse me if I'm getting the specifics wrong, but I went to a screening much later at the French Institute in NYC, where Coutard was present, and he said that Godard didn't want to use any fill lights, or even practicals. They went with available light, which wasn't really done at the time in theatrical features in France, using Tri-X stock, having an ASA of 200, which they pushed to 400. I imagine the 4K is even more luminous and ethereal than the print I saw. BTW, what is the grain like? That was always part and parcel of the imagery, as Tri-X was very coarse in terms of grain structure, and then they pushed it. For me, that shimmering grain on prints helped impart an otherworldly, sc-fi aspect. Oh, and one reason for Akim Tamiroff's presence is that visually, ALPHAVILLE was very influenced by Welles' MR. ARKADIN.

Tim Lucas brings up the Welles influence on his commentary, though that wasn't lost on me when I first saw it on a film class almost two decades ago.

The grain is velvety, almost like the image is on a pearlescent surface. Worth nothing I don't have a Dolby Vision display yet, so it was just regular HDR I viewed, but it still looked fantastic. This would have been low on my list of expected 4K upgrades from Kino, but it's clear they were as impressed with StudioCanal and Hiventy's work.

I should give this a try with the English dub sometime. Blade Runner took several viewings before I went from being lukewarm to seeing it as a great film.

 

[lark144]

Tim Lucas brings up the Welles influence on his commentary, though that wasn't lost on me when I first saw it on a film class almost two decades ago.

The grain is velvety, almost like the image is on a pearlescent surface. Worth nothing I don't have a Dolby Vision display yet, so it was just regular HDR I viewed, but it still looked fantastic. This would have been low on my list of expected 4K upgrades from Kino, but it's clear they were as impressed with StudioCanal and Hiventy's work.

I should give this a try with the English dub sometime. Blade Runner took several viewings before I went from being lukewarm to seeing it as a great film.

Velvety is most certainly not how release prints--at least the ones I saw--looked. They were rough and grainy. It took a bit getting used to, but I grew to really like that look. It kind of went with the film for me. It was the cinematic equivalent of Art Brut. I have the Studio Canal BD, which I really like, including the blown-out sections, as those were on the release prints. so I never listened to the commentary. I'm not sure if velvety was what Godard and Coutard were going for; more like a film discovered on a junk heap, with the marks and caprices of time. My favorite shot in the film is in the beginning, where Constantine lights his cigarette. There's no fill at all, just the flame of the lighter to illuminate, those crags and creases in his face resembling the dark side of the moon. Still, you make it sound interesting. I generally love Hiventy's work. I was going to stick with the BD. but now I'm intrigued.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I just bought this 4K/UHD from Amazon for $19.99.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

I just bought this 4K/UHD from Amazon for $19.99.

Viewed the 4K disc about 2 weeks ago and this time i watched the film with the commentary which was very informative and the image looked great.

 

[mskaye]

I just bought this 4K/UHD from Amazon for $19.99.

That deal was too good to pass up. Just purchased it.