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Movies / On DVD / Contempt
Contempt

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Contempt (1964)

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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

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Sep 29, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

Blu-ray Disc Features:

  • Region [unknown]
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Contempt

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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An expensive international production, but still one of Godard's most personal and most perverse films.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
08/09/04
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Another great argument in favor of the current restoration-and-rerelease trend, Contempt is a cinematic masterwork that superbly satires the filmmaking community with subtle yet biting aplomb.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
01/01/00
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

What's the price of selling out? Contempt asks the question of its characters, its audience, and its own director.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
04/11/08
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A fine film about the pressures of filmmaking. And it's an even finer film about the tragedy of marital dissolution.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
David N. Butterworth
David N. Butterworth
rec.arts.movies.reviews

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!

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment 2 Comments
05/20/03
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Contempt was Jean-Luc Godard's 1963 attempt at a big-budget, big- star production, and more or less satisfied his curiosity.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It takes its artistic agenda seriously, but also luxuriates in the sensuality and plasticity of film images.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Edward Guthmann
Edward Guthmann
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A powerful, uncomfortable and essential work.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
11/25/02
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Bardot's icy, almost lifeless cipher of a blond is Godard's metaphor for cinema: a big, plastic bit of good-looking nothing.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/01/00
G. Allen Johnson
G. Allen Johnson
San Francisco Examiner

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.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
12/29/02
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

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?

Full Review Source: ToxicUniverse.com | comment Comment
02/15/03
Jeremiah Kipp
Jeremiah Kipp
ToxicUniverse.com

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.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
12/12/02
Matt Langdon
Matt Langdon
Filmcritic.com

This one has too much forced intellectualism to it, even though it is an engrossing time capsule.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jeff Millar
Jeff Millar
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of my favorite Godard films.

Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | comment Comment
02/28/02
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies

A masterpiece.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Louis Proyect
Louis Proyect
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Godard has a great sense for the visual, and his films are feasts for the eyes.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews

I would argue that Godard's eclecticism must be acknowledged and understood before one can genuinely appreciate the film.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Godard has finally dared to get serious, achieving not mock pathos but a perfect tragedy.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
03/14/08
Joshua Rothkopf
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York

It's not Godard's best film, but it is one of cinema's most interesting looks at itself, masquerading as a love story gone awry.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

It's talky and filled with broken rhythms and a running stream of thoughts, and is boldly told in exaggerated stylized terms.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
11/06/05
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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