Jean-Luc Godard, legendary French New Wave film director, made twelve films before he made “Contempt” in 1963. I must preface what I am about to write by saying that I have seen other Godard films that I have liked. I understand French New wave cinema (I was a film major, after all). But...
“Contempt” was adapted from a 1954 Italian novel, IL DISPREZZO, and perhaps that is the start of the problem with this film. It is always a difficult task to bring a novel to the screen. Writers can use inner monologue, exposition, and narration to flesh out a story and let us glimpse the inner workings of the human mind through their characters. It is much harder to do that in film which involves showing instead of telling. Characters' inner lives and personalities as well as motives can get muddied in the transition from page to screen. And I suspect that is the flaw with “Contempt.”
Starring Michel Piccoli as a screenwriter and Brigitte Bardot as his wife, “Contempt” also features Jack Palance as a crass American producer with anger management problems who wants to hire Piccoli to re-write a film of Homer’s ODYSSEY, currently being directed by even more legendary director Fritz Lang, actually playing himself in the film. Bardot as the wife is inexplicably sulky, petulant and unpleasant right from the start. I had a hard time trying to figure out what she was so pissed about. Her husband is a fairly successful screen writer, they live in Rome in a pretty nice and new apartment, and her husband adores her. Rough life, I guess.
We watch as Bardot simply turns, like a wild dog, on Piccoli for no reason whatsoever—at least no reason we, as the audience, are privy to. Perhaps there was more back story and motivation in the original novel. All I know is that the “contempt” from Bardot is related to nothing in the story, I felt absolutely no connection or sympathy for her, and felt ambivalent about her ultimate and quite unpleasant fate.
There are some interesting moments when one considers the craft of film, such as tracking shots (the camera paces back and forth like a trapped animal during a long and boring argument between Bardot and Piccoli) and art direction (lots of primary colors). But that alone is really not enough to save this film. Given his place in film history, and considering other films he has directed, I was disappointed in “Contempt.”
The most interesting thing about this film is the amazing modern villa where the last third of the film takes place. It is the Casa Malaparte, in Punta Massullo, Capri, Italy, seen below in an aerial shot.
Recommend? Not really… if you are a student of film history, it will continue your education. Otherwise, watch “Breathless” or “Alphaville.”
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