It was 1963… the release of Jean-Luc Godard’s “Contempt.”
For his 60th birthday contempt by Godard was shown in Cannes on May 17th.
On Wednesday 17 May, the filmmaker’s cult film was selected in the Cannes Classics category and screened in a restored 4K version. Modern drama against the background of ancient tragedy, contempt is now taken into account one of the greatest films of French cinema. Although Godard left us last September at the age of 91, he is celebrated posthumously despite a complicated relationship with the festival.
After it was revealed thanks to feature films like A woman is a woman or BreathlessWith this sixth film, the symbolic figure of the New Wave dreams of realizing her fantasy of the “5 million Hollywood film”. With contemptJean-Luc Godard carries out his revolution: he introduces color and the Scope format and plays the world icon Bridget Bardot.
Filming takes place between the famous Cinecittà studios in Rome and Villa Malaparte east of Capri.
Godard describes his film as “a simple film about complicated things“. Based on the famous novel by Alberto Moravia, contempt talks about cinema, love and misunderstandings and tells about the breakdown of the couple founded by Paul (Michael Piccoli), a screenwriter tasked with completing the writing of an adaptation of The Odyssey (Film editor’s note by Fritz Lang) and his wife Camille, (Bridget Bardot). Suddenly, Camille breaks away from her husband and begins to despise him.
Godard also has his own role, he embodies an assistant to Fritz Lang (director of The Odyssey).
Also read: Bardot: Will there be a second season of the series?
A complicated shoot for the filmmaker
On the set, relations between the director and Brigitte Bardot are stormy. Godard is tyrannical and aggressive towards his actors. He lets them play without giving them any real instructions. Jack Palance even throws a roll of film at Godard in exasperation. Not foreseen in the scenario, but the order is followed by the director.
Godard, the standard
And contempt It was a failure when it was released in 1963, after which it became one of the cult films of French cinema. Today it is being considered by several big names in cinema (such as Tarantino), as one of the absolute references of the 7th art, his films are often quoted in other works.
Godard and the Cannes Film Festival
Although Godard was celebrated posthumously this year, the director has always had a moody and tumultuous relationship with the festival. He was frustrated and angry for a long time, and with good reason he didn’t get his first selection for Cannes until 1980, 20 years later. Breathless. A few years later, the filmmaker receives a cream cake during the screening of his film detective. Luckily he reacts humorously and licks his chops. In 2010 he is expected at the Croisette after his feature film film socialism was selected, he nevertheless made last-minute false jumps at the festival with the theme: “The Greek Economic Crisis”. As the years go by, Godard becomes rarer. In 2014 he announced again, this time in a video message, that he wanted to stay at home “out of contradiction”.
contempt hits theaters on May 24th…
