Review of Contempt (1963) by Andrew I — 21 Aug 2011
Godard pulls off something of a miracle here: he takes a great location, beautiful coastline, Bardot in her prime, Jack Palance, classic cars, a Riva, CineCitta' and a large budget and yet still manages to make a film that is much less than the sum of its parts.
There is a 'profound' parallel to the main story with that of the Odyssey, but it's tiresome and strained. Piccoli is a boring, smoky leading man who irritated me throughout. All the speaking French, German, Italian, English and Fritz Lang's cameo at the beginning smacked of pointless braggadocio and chummy nepotism.
As with Au Bout du Souffle, it's never really boring, but it's far from being interesting too.
This review of Contempt (1963) was written by Andrew I on 21 Aug 2011.
Contempt has generally received very positive reviews.
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