A profoundly sad yet beautiful fable about the cinema.
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
The star pouts prettily, as always; Palance is fascinatingly evil; and famed director Fritz Lang plays himself with aplomb.
A fine film about the pressures of filmmaking. And it's an even finer film about the tragedy of marital dissolution.
It's talky and filled with broken rhythms and a running stream of thoughts, and is boldly told in exaggerated stylized terms.
It is not just the uniqueness of the narrative structure or the boldly original story that make Contempt such a fantastic film, but also Godard’s typically original and mind-bogglingly beautiful imagery that make the it one of a kind.
It takes its artistic agenda seriously, but also luxuriates in the sensuality and plasticity of film images.
Bardot's icy, almost lifeless cipher of a blond is Godard's metaphor for cinema: a big, plastic bit of good-looking nothing.
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.
This one has too much forced intellectualism to it, even though it is an engrossing time capsule.
Godard fascinatingly wraps the two stories around each other and plays the dark humor very subtly (one of his best comedic touches is having the crassly commercial producer character spout Communistic philosophy).
An expensive international production, but still one of Godard's most personal and most perverse films.
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?
I would argue that Godard's eclecticism must be acknowledged and understood before one can genuinely appreciate the film.
Godard has finally dared to get serious, achieving not mock pathos but a perfect tragedy.
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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