Contempt (1964)

I wonder if my opinion about this awful film would be different had I seen it when it first came out in 1963. Ah...those golden days when everybody believed in the redeeming values of La Nouvelle Vague! However I had to base my opinion on a recent Blu-ray French release which couldn´t get any better in quality. The latest technology at the service of a Godard classic.I knew I was in trouble from the very beginning of Le Mépris with that long shot of a filming crew moving slowly toward the front while a male voice narrates the credits. Creative yes, but oh so boring! Next we see the stars, Bardot & Piccoli, laying in bed exchanging the most inane dialog in movie history. Two things help the pointless scene: Bardot´s naked rear and a soundtrack music that suggests something very important is happening here. The trick keeps repeating itself throughout the whole movie. A dramatic, beautiful, almost classical score insists on making us believe that something is about to happen or is actually happening. Trust me, nothing happens and when it does is so painstakingly slow that boredom sets in and you just don´t care. Since La Mépris is about movie-making, we are next treated to a long, boring exposition of what it´s all about. A rich egotistical American producer, played as a caricature by Palance, is in Italy to film an adaptation of Homer´s "L'Odyssée" and is having a creative clash with the director he has hired, none other than the too old and fragile Fritz Lang playing himself. Palance then goes after Piccoli to re-write the script after his own specifications and brings him and his wife Bardot to the film location in Capri. The celebrated BB looks utterly bored by the proceedings and I don´t blame her. Her marriage to Piccoli seem to be in trouble but it is not clear why. Will she dump her husband for Palance? That is the totality of this Godard mess made palatable by the marvelous color photography and spectacular locations. Le Mépris only lasts an hour and a half but feels longer than four hours due to Goddard´s lousy lack of timing and rhythm. So slow it doesn´t sustain life. Keep away.

CONTEMPT is a drama about a screenwriter, who used the beauty of his wife, in order to satisfy an unscrupulous producer. It is based on the Italian novel "Il disprezzo" by Alberto Moravia.This is the story of a failed marriage. A young, attractive and beautiful woman falls out of love with her husband while he is rewriting the screenplay Odyssey by an American producer... A famous director says that the Odyssey is the story of individuals who face their emotions and situations in the real world. Mr. Godard examines the position of a director in the ultimate commercial film. The protagonists are irritating and alienated passers in a commercial madness. They constantly run away from the truth, intimacy and love. This is, perhaps, a kind of conflict between nudity and inspiration. Simply, there is a lot of questions and very few answers.A conflict between various opinions, which comes down to a conflict between an artistic and a commercial expression is visible in the background of the story. The discussion in a marriage corresponded to the discussion of an epic. It is interesting that no one can give a precise answer, which would describe the relationship between husband and wife. After mutual affirmations of love comes uncertainty on the one hand and contempt on the other.Set design is interesting. Characterization is very good.Brigitte Bardot as Camille Javal is a restless and confused young wife at the same time. Her erotic performance brings a feeling of emptiness and alienation in this film. Her desire for intimacy and togetherness in marriage very quickly turns into anxiety and later in contempt for her husband. Michel Piccoli as Paul Javal is a rude, insensitive and insecure husband. I think, the biggest problem is his irresponsible attitude. He gives his wife, on extremely rude way, to a brutal and bizarre producer (Jack Palance)Giorgia Moll as Francesca Vanini is a typical victim of a commercial madness. Fritz Lang is a quiet voice of reason.This is a suggestive and provocative act by Mr. Godard.

From director Jean-Luc Godard (À Bout De Soufflé (Breathless), Alphaville, Pierrot Le Fou), featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die this French/Italian film had an average rating by critics, but the cast certainly appealed to me, I was going to watch no matter what anyway. Basically respected Austrian director Fritz Lang (Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler, Metropolis) has been hired by American film producer Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance) to direct a film adaptation of Homer's Odyssey, but the script needs a lot of work, so novelist and playwright Paul Javal (Michel Piccoli) is hired to rework the script, as Prokosch is not satisfied with Lang's treatment of the material as an art film. With the conflicts of artistic expression and commercial opportunity are going on Paul is becoming estranged from his wife Camille Javal (Brigitte Bardot), and after being left alone with millionaire playboy Prokosch they may be developing intimate feelings for each other. The story seems to parallel with aspects of director Godard's own life, but the main point as far as I can tell is that there are dodgy or greedy dealings of money during the film production, and it eventually ends with contempt and the marriage of Camille and Paul destroyed. Also starring Giorgia Moll as Francesca Vanini. I will be absolutely honest and say that this film is rather hard to follow, I understand it works well as an insight into the events you get on a film set with some mockery thrown in, and I found Bardot, clothed and unclothed, fascinating to watch, but the little story is confusing, the switch between spoken languages adds to the confusion, what I could keep up with though was relatively interesting, so I suppose it's not a completely wasted satire. Worth watching!

Jeremy is such an alpha-male, big-time movie producer that he'll poach another man's wife right from under him. Camille is pretty, and has a great body, and likes the attention. Her passive husband Paul is a writer but seems clueless about human nature. These three dim souls are our focus in this film, which is beautiful to watch, but intensely self-serious and nihilistic. The scenes of Capri are stunning. Against this dazzling backdrop, self-involved humans play out their dramas as they have since the days of Homer...Maybe what Godard was trying to tell us is that life is vanity. Despite all the sturm und drang amidst husbands, wives, and their lovers, it's all just a lot of blather in the end -- then everyone dies. Goddard also seems to be saying that he really likes Bardot's impeccably shaped derrière. So much for high art!