Review of Contempt (1963) by Tonypolito — 09 Oct 2010
"Contempt" ought be required film-school viewing due to its extraordinarily accomplished cinematic composition.
Every scene/frame is a meticulous and gorgeously balanced canvas in both arrangement and color - often bold, symbolic color. When Godard sits Bardot and Picoli in a stark white room along with two bold red mid-Century modern divans, it plays like art hanging on a museum wall. When the two argue in their apartment, Godard tracks them about in real-time, decades before the ubiquitous Steady-Cam. And when Picoli has to dejectedly hike up a mountain stairway, the viewer sees him not hunkered down from behind, but from high above, where the stairs take on the appearance of an abstract painting, swallowing up Picoli whole.
Godard incorporates lavish views of Capri, and yet, in testament to his talent, Capri stands no taller than any other visual element of the film. Criterion, of course, has restored all this visual content to a level that honors it fully.
The score's also lavish; Georges Delerue's lush and poignant "Camilla's Theme" was, 30 years later, attached to Sharon Stone, as her tragic idee fixe in "Casino.".
The plot, a director's efforts frustrated by his producer and studio, is secondary - but it yields up plenty of backstory. Godard was ordered to shoot in Cinemascope (per Ebert). As retribution, Godard scripts the director to say "CinemaScope is fine for snakes and coffins, but not for people.".
Ordered out of post-production to juice up the film with the Bardot nudity he omitted, Godard prologues the film with a myriad of extreme close-ups of Bardot's body - plenty of skin, no eroticism.
RECOMMENDATION: The viewer may well be bored by Godard's analysis of directorial trials and tribulations - but the visuals shouldn't be missed.
Recommended viewing.
This review of Contempt (1963) was written by Tonypolito on 09 Oct 2010.
Contempt has generally received very positive reviews.
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