Le mépris (1963)

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

Alberto Moravia (novel)
(more)

Release Date:

18 December 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Bardot at her bold, bare and brazen best! Reveling in Rome, cavorting in Capri...jolting even the jaded international jet-set in her pursuit of love! [UK Theatrical]

Plot:

Paul Javal is a writer who is hired to make a script for a new movie about Ulysses more commercial,...

Plot Keywords:

Fritz Lang | Apartment | Marriage | American | Italy

Cast

Brigitte Bardot	...	Camille Javal
Michel Piccoli	...	Paul Javal
Jack Palance	...	Jeremy Prokosch
Giorgia Moll	...	Francesca Vanini
Fritz Lang	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Raoul Coutard	...	Cameraman (uncredited)
Jean-Luc Godard	...	Lang's Assistant Director (uncredited)
Linda Veras	...	Siren (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean-Luc Godard

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jean-Luc Godard		uncredited
Alberto Moravia		novel "Il Disprezzo"

Produced by
Georges de Beauregard	....	producer
Carlo Ponti	....	producer
Joseph E. Levine	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Georges Delerue
Piero Piccioni		(Italian and Spanish version)

Cinematography by
Raoul Coutard

Film Editing by
Agnès Guillemot
Lila Lakshmanan		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Tanine Autré		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Odette Berroyer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Philippe Dussart	....	production manager
Carlo Lastricati	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles L. Bitsch	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
William Robert Sivel	....	sound (as William Sivel)

Camera and Electrical Department
Joe D'Amato	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Other crew
Annie Chauvet	....	publicist (uncredited)
Suzanne Schiffman	....	script girl (uncredited)
Bertrand Tavernier	....	publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Les Films Concordia
• Rome Paris Films
• Compagnia Cinematografica Champion (co-production)

Distributors

• Embassy Pictures Corporation (1964) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Neue Visionen Filmverleih (2002) (Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• Rialto Pictures (2008) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Strand Releasing (????) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Embassy Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Interfilm
• Marceau-Cocinor
• Surf Video (2006) (Italy) (DVD) (French and Italian versions)

Other Companies

• Digitmovies Alternative Entertainment  soundtrack

Also Known As:

Contempt (USA)
Il disprezzo (Italy)

Runtime:

103 min | Finland:97 min | USA:102 min | Italy:82 min (re-edited version) (cut)

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | English | German | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Brazil:16 | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:6 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | West Germany:16 | UK:AA (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Isle of Capri, Naples, Campania, Italy

Company:

Les Films Concordia

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: While the camera follows Paul and Camille around their apartment, its shadow can be seen on a nearby wall for a few seconds.

Quotes:

Paul Javal: I'll tell you the story of Ramakrishna and his disciple. Ramakrishna was a Hindu wise man. And he had a disciple who had absolutely no faith in his teachings. So the disciple went off all by himself. Fifteen years later, he came back and said, "I have found the Way!" He told Ramakrishna...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran (2003)

Godard's Contempt

The whole movie can be captured in one moment. That one fleeting second when the absurd irony and futility of 'everything' will dawn upon you. Either that or you will merely take it for what it is. A masterpiece.

So obviously chained by the wrath of Gods, the movie on the whole has too much to offer. Whether it is the parallels between the existing world and the world of homer, the constant struggle with commercialism or the perusal of a writer's integrity... you will keep on jumping between realism and.... romanticism? Throughout the movie, a haunting melancholic theme continues to play magic on nerves. Amongst countless striking scenes lies a splendidly performed sequence made on a shoestring budget in the apartment that captures the unsettling confessions of the pair. Definitely worth seeing/experiencing!

As much as you will fall under the spell of Godard and feel for the likes of Lang, you can't help being amused by the almost comical character of Palance. Very comical, Very contemptuous.

But at the end its Lang that captures attention on the whole. A lone figure standing amidst harmonious chaos, staring silently at everyone and no one, while life effortlessly moves around him. He makes perfect sense.

Contempt. The whole thing takes place within a system that seems to be contemptuous of itself. So much so that it even ends up holding a mocking mirror, capturing an ultimate contempt for the audience.