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Contempt (1964)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 34
Fresh: 32
Rotten:2
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Consensus: This powerful work of essential cinema joins "meta" with "physique," casting Brigite Bardot and director Godard's inspiration Fritz Lang.
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Synopsis: Jean-Luc Godard's cynical look at the art of filmmaking follows a screenwriter in his attempts to recount Homer's THE ODYSSEY. Full of insights into the compromises required of filmmakers, as well... Jean-Luc Godard's cynical look at the art of filmmaking follows a screenwriter in his attempts to recount Homer's THE ODYSSEY. Full of insights into the compromises required of filmmakers, as well as autobiographical allusions, especially concerning the failed union of Godard and actress Anna Karina, 1964's CONTEMPT is one of the most widely recognized films about the filmmaking process. It is also considered the film that made Godard realize that lavish productions were not for him, sending him back into a lower-budget world where he could maintain complete control over his films. Shot in glorious CinemaScope by Raoul Coutard, CONTEMPT is a poignant artistic commentary and a dramatic exposé of a dying marriage. Paul Javal (Michel Piccoli) is struggling with Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance), the manipulative American producer financing his big-budget venture, and is frustrated by Fritz Lang (playing himself), the film's egotistical director. Concomitantly, his marriage to his gorgeous wife Camille (Brigitte Bardot) founders, and the emotional distance between them weighs heavily upon him. [More]
Starring: Brigitte Bardot, Jack Palance, Michel Piccoli, Giorgia Moll
Starring: Brigitte Bardot, Jack Palance, Michel Piccoli, Giorgia Moll, Fritz Lang
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard
Producer: Carlo Ponti, Georges De Beauregard, Joseph E. Levine
Composer: Georges Delerue
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Reviews for Contempt
What's the price of selling out? Contempt asks the question of its characters, its audience, and its own director.
Godard has finally dared to get serious, achieving not mock pathos but a perfect tragedy.
It's talky and filled with broken rhythms and a running stream of thoughts, and is boldly told in exaggerated stylized terms.
An expensive international production, but still one of Godard's most personal and most perverse films.
Godard sets interesting scenes, with provocative color combinations and a suggestive pictorial flow. But out of it all comes nothing -- or very little that tells you why this wife is so contemptuous of her husband. Maybe he should be contemptuous of her!
Screw Adaptation and its lack of temerity. Contempt is a meta-movie that places the onus back on the viewer. How are we to sensibly respond, and is there any sense in that at all?
While Contempt is seen by many as Godard’s most "commercial" or "mainstream" film, it is also one of his most emotionally stirring and deeply felt.
A superlative film about many things, including the making of a film, the break-up of a married couple, and the parallels between the contemporary New Wave world (of 1963) and the classical (Old Wave) world of Homer.
Latest News for Contempt
October 01, 2008:
EW Looks Back on 30 Unforgettable Nude Scenes ![]()
The MPAA doesn't like it, but America has never been able to get enough of naked people on the big screen -- and Entertainment Weekly has honored our fondness for flesh with a... More...
November 10, 2006:
One-Armed Push-ups All Around in Honor of Jack Palance
Jack Palance, who made a career out of bullying good guys and portraying stern, craggy-faced menaces, died Friday. Surrounded by family at his California ranch, he passed away... More...
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