Stafford, Kansas and Alphaville (film): Difference between pages

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'''''Alphaville, une étrange aventure de [[Lemmy Caution]]''''' is a 99-minute [[1965]] [[science fiction film]] directed by [[Jean-Luc Godard]], based on the novel by [[Paul Éluard]] and starring [[Eddie Constantine]], [[Anna Karina]], [[Howard Vernon]] and [[Akim Tamiroff]].

'''Stafford''' is a city located in [[Stafford County, Kansas]]. As of the [[2000]] census, the city had a total population of 1,161.

''Warning: [[Wikipedia:Spoiler warning|Wikipedia contains spoilers]]''

== Geography ==

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of 2.4 [[square kilometer|km²]] (0.9 [[square mile|mi²]]). 2.4 km² (0.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.0 km² (0.0 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.00% water.

The plot is simple - Lemmy Caution, an 'outland' agent, arrives in the futuristic city of Alphaville to search for missing agent Henry Dickson. The city is under the control of Professor von Braun and run by the Alpha 60 computer system. Love, poetry, emotion and so on are outlawed for the inhabitants of the city creating an inhuman and alienated society. Caution enlists Natascha, the daughter of von Braun, to help him.

== Demographics ==

As of the [[census]] of [[2000]], there are 1,161 people, 525 households, and 305 families residing in the city. The population density is 476.9/km² (1,234.3/mi²). There are 640 housing units at an average density of 262.9 persons/km² (680.4 persons/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 95.95% White, 0.09% [[African American]], 0.86% [[Native American]], 0.00% [[Asia|Asian]], 0.00% Pacific Islander, 1.46% from other races, and 1.64% from two or more races. 3.53% of the population are [[Hispanic]] or [[Latino]] of any race.

Godard uses the plot to produce a bizarre, messy film shot through with elliptic philosophical dialogue and cynical humour. The film is deliberately dark, in terms of physical lighting as well as many other factors. The action is unbalanced and surprising, Caution is a parody of an American private eye, wearing the trench-coat and shooting people carelessly he is defiantly erratic in the logical city. The key is the battle between Caution and Alpha 60, Caution's love for Natascha introduces emotion and unpredictability into the city that the computer has crafted in its own image. The film was shot in 1960s [[Paris]], the night-time streets of the capital becoming Alphaville with modernist glass and concrete being used for interiors, reflecting the problems of the future onto contemporary [[France]]. There are no special effects to enhance the science fiction elements of the film. In a rather clumsy move Godard apparently wanted to title the film ''[[Tarzan]] versus [[IBM]]''.

There are 525 households out of which 25.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.7% are married couples living together, 9.5% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 41.9% are non-families. 39.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 24.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.12 and the average family size is 2.83.

The film also features its version of [[George Orwell]]'s [[newspeak]].

In the city the population is spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 20.4% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 28.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 45 years. For every 100 females there are 82.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 76.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $27,092, and the median income for a family is $32,383. Males have a median income of $26,307 versus $18,438 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,032. 16.4% of the population and 11.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 26.0% are under the age of 18 and 9.6% are 65 or older.