Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Fresh and Exciting

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It is the soundtrack of Georges Delerue that I believe takes Le Mepris up onto another level. Otherwise I can't explain why I'm so moved by simple shots of sculptures. With the music soaring in the air with it, everything is complete with sound meeting visual.Godard and the team should still be given full credit for the choice of this soundtrack that drives the film. Though, Godard has mentioned that this was his highest budget film, and perhaps the one where he had the least power. Nevertheless, what an amazing film! In every film you sometimes have to allow other artists to make their own and its the team work on Contempt that makes it so strong. There's legendary Metropolis director Lang, and it would help for Godard to rub shoulders with such greats. Le Mepris is created like an epic in relationships, the breakdown of relationships. It's not done in a normal way, you have the typical long conversation you'd find in a Godard movie. Similar to what you'd find in Breathless, but less funny this time. It is a much more serious Godard film, which also owes a lot to the exquisite cinematography and the beautiful locations in Capri. A standout scene for me is the montage when the writer and his girlfriend are separated by the producer, who drives away with her in his car. The best moment is when they're all together again and you see an assistant arriving on a bicycle. The way all these pieces come together, is brilliant editing. Bravo to Le Mepris!

From director Jean-Luc Godard (À Bout De Soufflé (Breathless), Alphaville, Pierrot Le Fou), featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die this French/Italian film had an average rating by critics, but the cast certainly appealed to me, I was going to watch no matter what anyway. Basically respected Austrian director Fritz Lang (Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler, Metropolis) has been hired by American film producer Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance) to direct a film adaptation of Homer's Odyssey, but the script needs a lot of work, so novelist and playwright Paul Javal (Michel Piccoli) is hired to rework the script, as Prokosch is not satisfied with Lang's treatment of the material as an art film. With the conflicts of artistic expression and commercial opportunity are going on Paul is becoming estranged from his wife Camille Javal (Brigitte Bardot), and after being left alone with millionaire playboy Prokosch they may be developing intimate feelings for each other. The story seems to parallel with aspects of director Godard's own life, but the main point as far as I can tell is that there are dodgy or greedy dealings of money during the film production, and it eventually ends with contempt and the marriage of Camille and Paul destroyed. Also starring Giorgia Moll as Francesca Vanini. I will be absolutely honest and say that this film is rather hard to follow, I understand it works well as an insight into the events you get on a film set with some mockery thrown in, and I found Bardot, clothed and unclothed, fascinating to watch, but the little story is confusing, the switch between spoken languages adds to the confusion, what I could keep up with though was relatively interesting, so I suppose it's not a completely wasted satire. Worth watching!

I hate Godard. I think that he's cold and pretentious and relies too often on technique and shock value to see his films through. Sometimes this works out well. Sometimes it doesn't. I am probably the only cinephile on the planet to think that Breathless was a steaming pile of crap, although I found both Alphaville and Masculin Feminin satisfyingly artistic and absurd. This one isn't bad either, and, apparently, unlike Godard's contemporaries, I found that Cinemascope suits his style very well. If this is selling out, I'm all for it.I was quite pleased to see Brigitte Bardot as I've always enjoyed her work. Other points of interest include the long panoramic shots of the Capri landscape and that really lovely string movement which kicks in about the same time. I'm not much of a fan of Jack Palance, but I was impressed that he was able to portray such a thoroughly unlikeable character so well. Fritz Lang was mildly annoying as the put-upon film director, and his character seem to exist solely of advancing the entirely wrongheaded notion that the director is the true and only auteur, and producers and writers and script-girls and cinematographers are all roadblocks between the director and his Art.One reviewer mentioned that this film is "difficult". It is not difficult. Good films shouldn't be difficult, they should be enjoyable. Symbolism, and imagery in particular, should exist to facilitate understanding of the themes, not to merely propel the work into highbrow territory. I found the symbolism in this film to be both clear and effective, and was therefore never confused. This is art film done right.

I was intrigued to watch a film by Godard with Bardot. I cannot say I am impressed. It is a rather pretentious and boring story dealing with petty and insignificant conflicts. Godard has tried to expose the artificiality of cinema. But ironically this very film is extremely artificial. Because in order to expose artificiality, you have to be genuine yourself. And that is exactly what Godard is not. The very dialogs, the constant moving of the characters, the lack of motivation in their actions etc. are far from real life. The American is nothing but a malicious caricature, the constant repetitions of "Do you love me?" "Why don't you love me?" and the like are tedious. I just could not identify with any of the characters even partially. The subject of good and cultured Europe vs. bad and vulgar America is very primitively shown. And the film relies too much on Bardot's sex-appeal to maintain the viewer's interest.The very first minute of the film we are confronted by Bardot's naked ass. Curiously, even the eroticism in the film is cold and sterile, as indeed is the whole film. Maybe the only good thing is the setting where the whole story takes place i.e. the beautiful island of Capri and Villa Mallaparte which is one of the most interesting examples of modern architecture. But this alone is not enough for a film, alas!