Topic 3: Alphaville and new wave cinema

Screening: Alphaville (1965) by Jean-Luc Goddard

Alphaville was a little bit hard to get my head around at first but once the story got underway i found it really weird but artistic and kind of interesting. I mainly found the concept interesting because i hardly ever watch really old movies and this being set in 1960 would be something that i would ignore this movie if it was on t.v. I really liked the science fiction side to the story, though i found the voice of the computer to be really over the top and it got hard to keep hearing by the end of the movie. It also took awhile to get used to the movie being set on another planet, because it looked like a normal city. It was clear that the director was portraying that technology is slowly “taking over”, I liked the concept of the 'Bible' which the detective finds is a dictionary and it was used to represent the increasing oppression of the residents living in Alphaville caused by the computer Alpha 60.

Reading: Article about Aphaville

There was a lot of interesting information in the articles about alphaville I found the film and screen glossary useful. I really liked the film review by Laura Bushell, it gave me a better insight into what the movie was trying to convey and the writes that the films alternative title was Tarzan Vs. IBM, which is more to the point of what the film is based upon, when the title is that straight to the point it makes people assume they will know the plot and not watch it, so Alphaville is a better name. She also writes that Goddard uses droll humour throughout the film such as the movie being set in the future but he only shoots the movie in real locations in 1960 Paris.

Tutorial Task 3:

I use alot of different types of technology to communicate with my family and friends. the Main sources i use daily are my mobile phone to call and text my family and friends i also use my mobile phone to take pics and video. I use the internet daily such as email which i use for uni and to recieve my phone bill and bank statements instead of recieving mail. I have a facebook and myspace to stay incontact with my friends, i find it to be the easiest way becasue these days everyone is hard to catch up with. I have been using these different types of technology for about 8-10 years since i was about age 10. I started with the internet at age 10 using my email and chatting on msn with friends from school, myspace has only been around for 4-5 years but i have had my account for 4 yrs. I think i would find it really hard if i didnt have my mobile phone or the internet in my day to day life.