Contempt
August 27th, 2015

Courtesy of The Criterion Collection:

Jean-Luc Godard’s subversive foray into commercial filmmaking is a star-studded Cinemascope epic. Contempt [Le Mépris] stars Michel Piccoli as a screenwriter torn between the demands of a proud European director (played by legendary director Fritz Lang), a crude and arrogant American producer (Jack Palance), and his disillusioned wife, Camille (Brigitte Bardot), as he attempts to doctor the script for a new film version of The Odyssey. Contempt is a brilliant study of marital breakdown, artistic compromise, and the cinematic process based on Italian novel A Ghost at Noon by Alberto Moravia.

Tidbits:

• Viennale – 2012

“A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end… but not necessarily in that order.”

Courtesy of The Criterion Collection:

A pioneer of the French new wave, Jean-Luc Godard has had an incalculable effect on modern cinema that refuses to wane. Before directing, Godard was an ethnology student and a critic for Cahiers du cinéma, and his approach to filmmaking reflects his interest in how cinematic form intertwines with social reality. His groundbreaking debut feature, Breathless—his first and last mainstream success—is, of course, essential Godard: its strategy of merging high (Mozart) and low (American crime thrillers) culture has been mimicked by generations of filmmakers. As the sixties progressed, Godard’s output became increasingly radical, both aesthetically (A Woman Is a Woman, Contempt, Band of Outsiders) and politically (Masculin féminin, Pierrot le fou), until by 1968 he had forsworn commercial cinema altogether, forming a leftist filmmaking collective (the Dziga Vertov Group) and making such films as Tout va bien. Today Godard remains our greatest lyricist on historical trauma, religion, and the legacy of cinema.

Filmography:

• Film Socialisme (2010)
• Our Music (2004)
• In Praise of Love (2001)
• De L’Origine du XXIe Siecle (2000)
• Histoire(s) du cinema (two chapters) (1997)
• For Ever Mozart (1996)
• Jlg/Jlg (1995)
• 2 X 50 Years of French Cinema (1995)
• The Children Play Russian (1994)
• Helas Pour Moi (1993)
• Contre l’oubli (1992)
• Germany Year 90 Nine Zero (1991)
• Nouvelle Vague (1990)
• Aria (1988)
• King Lear (1987)
• Soigne ta droite (1987)
• The Rise and Fall of a Small Film Company (1986)
• Hail Mary (1985)
• (“Je-Vous-Salue-Marie”) Détective (1985)
• Passion (1983)
• First Name: Carmen (1983)
• Every Man For Himself (1980)
• Ici et ailleurs (1976)
• Comment ca va? (1975)
• Numero Deux (1975)
• A Letter to Jane (1972)
• Tout va bien (1972)
• One American Movie/1 A.M. (1971)
• Vladimir et Rosa (1971)
• Pravda (1970)
• Le gai savoir (1970)
• Wind From the East (1970)
• Two or Three Things I Know About Her (1970)
• Sympathy for the Devil (1 + 1) (1969)
• The Oldest Profession “Anticipation” (1968)
• Far From Vietnam (1968)
• Six in Paris “Montparnasse-Levallois” (1968)
• Pierrot le fou (1968)
• La Chinoise (1968)
• Weekend (1968)
• Les carabiniers (1968)
• Le petit soldat (1967)
• Masculine Feminine (1966)
• Band of Outsiders (1966)
• Made in U.S.A. (1966)
• Alphaville (1965)
• The Married Woman (1965)
• A Woman Is a Woman (1964)
• Contempt (1964)
• Reportage sur Orly (1964)
• Seven Capital Sins “Laziness” (1963)
• My Life To Live (1963)
• Ro.Go.Pa.G. “Il Nouvo Mondo” (1963)
• Breathless (1961)
• Operation Concrete (1954)

Here is a curated selection of links shared on our Facebook page for additional insight/information:

• 8/11/15 – Prior to our screening of Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt at North Park Theatre on August 27th, read Philip Lopate’s essay on the film from his excellent book of personal film criticism Totally, Tenderly, Tragically! – link
• 8/26/15 – “Scorsese’s on record as labeling Contempt as one of the best movies about moviemaking going, and it is that. But though the film’s very first shot turns the/a camera literally on the audience, what’s really at stake here is not movies, but romantic love. Or, more specifically: the idea of romantic love as it has been mediated by the complicity between audiences and the motion picture industry.” Eric Hynes & Jeff Reichert, Reverse Shot – link
• 1/19/16 – The BFI asked Steve McQueen (director of 12 Years a Slave) and Peter Strickland (director of The Duke of Burgundy) for their thoughts on CCC alum Le Mepris (Contempt) – link