Volume 5, Number 6 · October 28, 1965
The Moviegoer: Godard
By Robert Mazzocco
Alphaville
directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center
Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (the young director's ninth offering in little over six years) opened the proceedings at the recent New York Film Festival. Partly because of Godard's position as a panjandrum of the avant garde, and partly because the film had been enormously touted overseas, it was awaited with interest. At Philharmonic Hall, for the majority of the audience, the interest, alas, evaporated. There were, to be sure, scattered cheers, and some controversy: 'A deadend,' said Pauline Kael; 'brilliant,' wrote Jonas Mekas. Others wondered whether or not Alphaville was truly pop art; no one, I think, wondered whether it was art. I intend to deal here with Alphaville and Godard at some length, and then in the next issue of The New York Review discuss the rest of the Festival fare.
Review, 2138 words
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