Review of Contempt (1963) by Melanie R — 22 Nov 2007

Happy Turkey Day to everyone! I hope everyone has a great day. It's a pretty chill Thanksgiving here with my family this year, and I'm just sitting around, trying to get some work done and watching some movies, which is perfectly fine with me.

As part of my Godard/Resnais project, I re-watched.

CONTEMPT (1963):

This is currently my favorite film of all time, so I'm probably a little biased, but I think this movie is absolutely brilliant, in so many ways. Firstly, it's beautiful. The cinematography is breathtaking, Bardot is beautiful, and I absolutely love love the clips of the film-within-a-film about the Odyssey. Secondly, the music. I cannot get over the music. It's probably about the same six bars of music used over and over, but it's so moving and perfect for the film. Thirdly, I think it's such a proving ground for Godard. Yes, he is the master of jerky, jumpy, radical films like BREATHLESS - but he can also do the Cinemascope, high-budget, established actors deal - and do it wonderfully.

I could keep gushing, but it would be better to say GO SEE THIS MOVIE. The Criterion edition is wonderful.

Right now I'm watching.

VERTIGO (1958):

Yes, this is about the millionth time I've seen this movie. I wrote a paper about this one too, for a theory class last year. It's hard to watch the movie again and not think in those terms, but it's still a great movie to sit back and enjoy (or in my case right now, have as background while I work on a psychology term paper).

VERTIGO is one of my favorite Hitchcock films. Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart are both spectacular in this film. But really, I just love the story. I love the way it unfolds, I love the mystery, and I love the fact that Novak and Stewart don't have any sort of conversation until you're already far into the film. It's these more subtle aspects that make Hitchcock the master he is.

Anyway, it's always a fun watch & it's a movie that any movie fan should see.