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Contempt (1963)
"Le mépris" (original title)

 -  Drama  -  18 December 1964 (USA)
7.7
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Ratings: 7.7/10 from 13,013 users  
Reviews: 111 user | 105 critic

Paul Javal is a writer who is hired to make a script for a new movie about Ulysses more commercial, which is to be directed by Fritz Lang and produced by Jeremy Prokosch. But because he let... See full summary »

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Title: Contempt (1963)

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
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Himself
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Storyline

Paul Javal is a writer who is hired to make a script for a new movie about Ulysses more commercial, which is to be directed by Fritz Lang and produced by Jeremy Prokosch. But because he let his wife Camille drive with Prokosch and he is late, she believes, he uses her as a sort of present for Prokosch to get get a better payment. So the relationship ends. Written by Stephan Eichenberg <eichenbe@fak-cbg.tu-muenchen.de>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

american | apartment | marriage | italy | capri | See more »

Taglines:

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] See more »

Genres:

Drama

Certificate:

Not Rated | See all certifications »
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Details

Country:

|

Language:

| | |

Release Date:

18 December 1964 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Contempt  »

Box Office

Budget:

$900,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$33,284 (USA) (27 June 1997)

Gross:

$153,141 (USA) (5 September 2008)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (cut) (re-edited)

Sound Mix:

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Between 1959 and 1967, Jean-Luc Godard made an unprecedented 15 movies, of which Contempt was the sixth. See more »

Goofs

It is possible that all "mistakes" in the film that involve visible equipment are intentional, or at least intentionally uncorrected: the film, after all, is about the artificiality of making a film, and the initial credit sequence shows filmmakers shooting the film itself. See more »

Quotes

Paul Javal: Was that smile mocking or tender?
Camille Javal: [smiling] Tender.
Paul Javal: Answer me, then.
Camille Javal: If it were true, I'd tell you. A woman can always find excuses. But you're a stupid sod sometimes.
Paul Javal: Bad language doesn't suit you.
Camille Javal: Doesn't it? Just listen. Asshole... fuck... shit... goddammit... bastard... bollocks... bloody hassle. You still think it doesn't suit me?
See more »

Crazy Credits

The opening cast credits are read, without titles See more »

Connections

Referenced in Full Frontal (2002) See more »

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User Reviews

 
Godard's Contempt
20 December 2004 | by See all my reviews

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.


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