Le Mépris (Contempt)

Summary

“You don’t love me anymore.”

Jean-Luc Godard passed away last year at the age of 91. As one of the pioneering filmmakers in the French New Wave, Godard made an enormous impact on cinema. In his best films, Godard created something wonderful, new, and exciting. While I believe that Godard creatively peaked in his first decade as a filmmaker, he left behind a string of incredible films in that time – Breathless, Pierrot le Fou, Band of Outsiders, Vivre sa Vie, Weekend, Alphaville, and Le Mépris (Le Mépris is translated as Contempt, and I will occasionally reference to the film as such.) The Criterion Collection introduced me to Godard’s work and I found myself enthralled by the works of his contemporaries such as Truffaut, Jacques Demy, and Jean Pierre Melville (even though Melville preceded Godard.) Godard was a revelation for me once I clued into the rhythms of what he was making. 

Godard and Truffaut adored American cinema and when they created Breathless (Godard directed, Truffaut wrote the screenplay,) the film set off shockwaves throughout the  international film scene. That film more or less began the French New Wave. With Le Mépris, Godard was given a large budget, Raoul Coutard as his cinematographer, and Michel Piccoli and the gorgeous starlet Brigitte Bardot to film in beautiful portions of Italy. The resulting film is in my opinion one of Godard’s absolute best. I mention it in the same sentence as Breathless and Pierrot Le Fou when discussing my favorite works by Godard. I have been a fan of Le Mépris since the Criterion DVD release, so I was ecstatic that StudioCanal and Lionsgate were bringing it stateside in 4K UHD. I sat down and watched it the other night.

Paul (Michel Piccoli) is a former playwright that has become a screenwriter in order to achieve financial success. He has a beautiful blonde wife named Camille (Brigitte Bardot.) The couple is in love and happily living in a beautiful flat in Rome as the film begins. American film producer Jack Prokosch (Jack Palance) arrives in Italy. He wants Paul to take over screenwriting duties on a treatment of The Odyssey that Fritz Lang has been working on. Paul is intrigued by the project and accepts the job. Jack is a dominant personality and Paul is somewhat threatened by him, both financially and physically. When Paul lets Camille ride with Jack back to Jack’s place while he walks there, something may or may not occur between Camille and Jack. Afterward, Camille has no respect for Paul anymore. As the title of the film suggests, Camille feels contempt towards Paul. Paul begins to feel insecure and question if she has stopped loving him. The tension between the two lovers comes to a boiling point as they head to Capri for Paul to work on the film. Paul also struggles with whether or not he is selling out artistically by pursuing financial gain instead of his former artistic goals.

Stylistically, Le Mépris  is a triumph. With absolutely stunning cinematography by Raoul Coutard, the film makes excellent use of eye popping primary colors (reds, greens, blues) and whites. Coutard was a genius and this is arguably Godard’s most beautiful film. The settings of the modern apartment in Rome or the iconic home in Capri looking over the Mediterranean both look gorgeous through Godard and Coutard’s lens. I can’t understate just how pretty the film looks, which meant it was an ideal candidate to be brought to 4K UHD.

The writing on Le Mépris is more conventional than many of Godard’s other films, but I say that as a compliment. As Godard moved further and further into experimental cinema, I felt like he also moved further away from relevance and entertainment value as he entered the Seventies and Eighties. In Contempt, Godard capably told a story of the dissolution of a relationship and the pressures brought to bear by Hollywood upon talent. There is still room for experimentation in terms of sequences where characters quote what they are reading to one another, or in colorful lighting, or in some of the camera movements, but in Contempt for the most part Godard stays close to telling a conventional story. The story was adapted by Godard from a novel by Alberto Moravia called Il Disprezzo. The chain of events in the film is believable, and I enjoyed the way that Camille’s sudden change of heart is never fully explained for the audience. It is left up to interpretation, which makes the film so much more memorable. Very few films have captured so well the ways in which lovers act out as their relationship dissolves. The finale of the film is satisfying and is sure to stick with the viewer

Jean-Luc Godard brought the very best out of the small crew of actors on the project. Michel Piccoli was an exceptional talent, and he is completely convincing in the role of the lovelorn Paul. His face constantly sells the confusion, insecurity, and fear that Paul experiences as his wife begins to fall out of love. Brigitte Bardot was breathtakingly beautiful. Truly stunning. In this film, Bardot shows off her acting chops and is definitely very well suited to the role. With an actress as beautiful as Bardot, it is so easy to understand why Paul would feel so completely bewildered and fearful of her vanishing attraction towards him. Beautiful women can easily make their lovers feel insecure or nervous, and this pairing serves the material perfectly. Jack Palance is likewise perfectly cast in the film. His tall strong domineering physical presence is a perfect foil to that of Michel Piccoli’s Paul. Fritz Lang plays himself in the film and it was nice to see the older master in the film. Giorgia Moll is not given a tremendous amount to do in the film, but I liked seeing her in the film. On top of the lush cinematography and strong performances, Le Mépris has a beautiful score by the masterful composer Georges Delerue. Delerue is the composer that is most associated with the French New Wave, and this is a great example of why he was in such high demand during that period.

Overall – Le Mépris  is one of Godard’s finest works. The film finds the director working with amazing collaborators to create a memorable work of art at the peak of his powers. I am so thankful that it has been given the 4K treatment.

Video

Presented in Native 4K in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, Le Mépris looks wonderful in StudioCanal/Lionsgate Films’ new UHD presentation. Fans of the picture will be elated by the work that StudioCanal has done on this transfer. 

Detail provided on some opening text cards specify:

“The film was restored and digitalized in 4K by StudioCanal from 2021 to 2023 at Hiventy with support from the CNC. In order to optimize the 4K restoration, the original 35mm negative and scenes from the interpositive were used along with the reference print reworked in 2002 by Mr. Raoul Coutard, the film’s director of photography. The previous digital versions showed a lack of detail in high and low light. Furthermore, the colors deviated from the director’s specifications. Thanks to documented information, the original contrasts, details and saturation were restored. The project was supervised by the StudioCanal team, Sophie Boyer and Jean-Pierre Bolget.”

Fine detail is excellent with well resolved grain. The cinematography by Raoul Coutard has never looked better. The primary colors in the film finally come through with the appropriate richness. Reds, greens, and blues in particular have never looked better on prior releases of the film, and I feel like this version finally represents exactly what Coutard and Godard set out to achieve stylistically. It all looks correct, and in glorious 4K. Fans of the film can finally rejoice.

Audio

StudioCanal has done an admirable job on the DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono track. George Delerue’s wonderful music sounds fantastic. Range is limited, but I was so caught up in the visuals that I never really noticed any type of issues with the sound.

Supplements:

• Introduction by Colin McCabe  – in the sole ported over special feature from the prior release, Colin McCabe discusses Godard’s intentions in Le Mépris and a few behind the scenes details.

Overall Scores:

Video – 5/5 

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 1/5

Overall – 4.75/5

Le Mépris is one of the defining films of French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard’s career. Godard made films until just a couple years before his death, but none were better than the films that he made between 1960 and 1970. Le Mépris found Godard working with exceptional talents behind and in front of the camera. Brigitte Bardot, Michele Piccoli, and Jack Palance are all wonderful in the film. George Delerue lends the film a beautiful score, and the cinematography of Raoul Coutard is some of the finest featured in any of Godard’s work. Sixty years after its release, Le Mépris still feels fresh and inventive. The film looks extraordinary in the UHD format. The film finally looks the way in which I feel Coutard and Godard wanted it to look, and it looks beautiful. The DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono track preserves the original sound design well. The only aspect that kept this release from earning a 5/5 score is the lack of the legacy extras from the prior StudioCanal disc. You will still need to hold onto that disc for the special features. This release comes extremely highly recommended for fans of the film. Definitely add it to your collection!

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.