Alphaville – Kino Lorber (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: France/Italy, 1965
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Writer: Jean-Luc Godard
Cast: Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Akim Tamiroff, Valérie Boisgel, Jean-Louis Comolli, Michel Delahaye, Jean-André Fieschi, Christa Lang, Jean-Pierre Léaud, László Szabó, Howard Vernon

Release Date: Aug 27th 2024
Approximate Running Time: 99 Minutes 39 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono French (4K UHD, Blu-ray), DTS-HD Mono English (Blu-ray Only)
Subtitles: English (4K UHD, Blu-ray)
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $39.95

"American secret agent Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine, Attack of the Robots) is sent to the distant space city of Alphaville where he must find a missing person and kill the inventor of fascist computer Alpha 60." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (4K UHD), 4/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "2023 HDR/Dolby Vision Master by StudioCanal – From 4K Scan of the Original Camera Negative."

Alphaville comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 71.2 GB

Feature: 70 GB

Though the source is a marked improvement over Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray release, this new transfer does have some shortcomings, notably the appearance of grain. Flesh tones look healthy, image clarity is solid, and compression is very good. That said, black levels are strong, and yet during some of the darker moments, image clarity looks softer than the brighter moments.

Alphaville comes on a 50 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 32.6 GB

Feature: 28.1 GB

It should be noted that the 4K UHD opens with information about this new transfer, where the Blu-ray does not. That said, it appears that the included Blu-ray replicates the disc that Kino Lorber released in 2019.

Audio: 4.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono French), 4/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

The 4K UHD only comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in French with removable English subtitles. The Blu-ray comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in French and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. Included are removable English subtitles for the French language track. The French language track sounds excellent; dialog always comes through clearly; everything sounds balanced; and ambient sounds are well-represented. The English language track is in great shape; it sounds clean, clear, and balanced.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an audio commentary with novelist and film critic Tim Lucas.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a theatrical trailer (1 minute 20 seconds, DTS-HD mono French text with non-removable English subtitles), an archival introduction by Colin McCabe (5 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actress Anna Karina (4 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with Tim Lucas.

Other extras on the Blu-ray disc are trailers for Le Doulos, Bob le flambeur, Touchez pas au grisbi, and Razzia sur la chnouf.

Other extras include reversible cover art, and a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

Directed by Jean-Luc Godard, a filmmaker who was part of the French new wave. Though his career spanned the longest of any of his French new wave contemporaries, he directed his first film in 1960 and his last film in 2018. He is most remembered for the films that he directed between 1960 and 1967. Notable films he directed are Breathless, Le mépris (Contempt), Band of Outsiders, and Weekend.

In the distant space city of Alphaville lives the fascist inventor of the Alpha 60 computer, which has outlawed free thought. Lemmy Caution, a secret agent, is sent to Alphaville to destroy Alpha 60 and its inventor. Will he be able to complete his mission, or is Alpha 60 too powerful to stop?

When one thinks of Sci-Fi cinema, special effects and sights of a future that contain things that are unimaginable now are the two things that immediately spring to mind. Throughout cinema’s history, there have been films that go against the grain with their stripped-down vision of a future that uses elements from the present. Case in point: Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville is a film set in the future, and yet everything in it is from the present. That said, he achieved his vision of the future by using the most modern architecture he could find at that time.

In Alphaville, Jean-Luc Godard is less concerned with fancy gadgets; then he is exploring themes like totalitarianism, mind control, and the general lack of free will. Language is something that is front and center in Alphaville; those in control alter language, meaning of words, and in some instances outlaw other words. Despite its lack of futuristic elements, it is astounding how many of the themes explored in Alphaville are now more than ever relevant.

Jean-Luc Godard controls the performances, shaping the actors into mere tools to realize his vision. This is more evident with Eddie Constantine’s portrayal of Lemmy Caution; he’s not an actor known for his range, and Jean-Luc Godard uses him perfectly. Anna Karina, a frequent collaborator and wife of Jean-Luc Godard at that time, was the real star of Alphaville. She always looked stunning in every one of their collaborations, and she delivers another exemplary performance that outshines the rest of the cast. Despite a small cast, there are several other notable cast members: Akim Tamiroff (Touch of Evil), László Szabó (Made in U.S.A.), Howard Vernon (The Diabolical Dr. Z), and Jean-Pierre Léaud (The 400 Blows).

When Jean-Luc Godard worked within cinema's established genres, he produced films that were uniquely his own. With Alphaville, Jean-Luc Godard takes two genres—Sci-Fi and Film noir—whose aesthetics are nothing alike and perfectly fuses them into one. When it comes to the visuals, this is one area where Alphaville is greatly indebted to the Film noir genre. Ultimately, genre cinema fans can thoroughly enjoy Alphaville, despite its avant-garde leanings.

Though this new 4K UHD from Kino Lorber improves upon their previous release, there is still room for improvement.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs. 

Written by Michael Den Boer