Whole thing using ordinary buildings for a dystopian, authoritarian world. Cryptic statements. Rebellious he-man type pitted against an authoritarian state that uses PSYOPS.
Seems like MacGoohan must have seen this film, then did The Prisoner in 1968.
I've never seen it mentioned anywhere, but when I watched the film I had the identical reaction. There are too many similarities between the film and the TV show for it to be entirely coincidental, although you'd think it would have come up in various interviews with MacGoohan and the other producers/writers of the show.
shareI agree about the similarities. McGoohan may have seen this movie. Or he and Godard may have arrived into this type of world via '1984' separately. It has made me want to revisit 'The Prisoner' series after enjoying this movie.
shareIn the immediate post-WWII period, the social & philosophical issues raised by both Alphaville & The Prisoner were explored by many creative people, not only in film but in novels, poetry, psychological-social critiques, popular songs (Dylan, Beatles, many others), etc. That had been building in Western culture since the beginnings of the Industrial Age, in fact. When both Alphaville & The Prisoner first appeared, all of that was in the air & formed much of the prevailing zeitgeist. It was mind-expanding to be young then & encountering all those ideas at once, everywhere!
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