Review of Contempt (1963) by Jesse M — 27 Jun 2009

Godard's stab at mainstream cinema is still firmly rooted in the art house. The film of Jean-Luc Godard are polarizing beasts indeed. It's easy to see how one could dismiss this or any Godard as aimless, self indulgent drivel. Call me a pretentious film snob but there really is no one else quite like Godard in the history of film. The crux of this film is basically an exchange between two self absorbed empty souls in Bardot's character and Michel Piccoli's character as they careen from one room to the next exchanging verbal and physical jabs at one another. It goes on for 30 plus minutes but never loses steam, somehow it gets inside the brain and combined with the breathtaking cinematography, sudden rushes of music, and lovely color scheme it fits into a category alien to anything I've ever seen.

Piccoli plays a writer recruited by an overzealous producer played by Jack Palance to adapt Homer's "The Odyssey" into a film. Famed director Fritz Lang plays the director of this film within a film and Brigitte Bardot plays the trophy wife of Piccoli. The film opens with an extended shot of Bardot's ass and it's not the last. Bardot oozes sex onscreen and plays her part quite well. All performances are fine here, the film within a film never really adds up to much other than some truly majestic shots of statues of Greek gods.There are some Godardian devices scattered about, notably a scene in a theater where as the four leads talk, the musical performance in the background is muted.

Certainly not for all tastes, "Contempt" is a challenging, exhilerating, bewildering mess of a movie-and maybe that's the way Godard intended it to be.