Contempt: The Story of a Marriage
By December 09, 2002
Contempt, one of Jean-Luc Godard’s greatest masterpieces, has a stately air that breaks with the filmmaker’s earlier, throwaway, hit-and-run manner, as though Read more »
- France
- 1963
- 103 minutes
- Color
- 2.35:1
- French
- Spine #171
SYNOPSIS: Jean-Luc Godard’s subversive foray into commercial filmmaking is a star-studded Cinemascope epic. Contempt (Le Mépris) stars Michel Piccoli as a screenwriter torn between the demands of a proud European director (played by legendary director Fritz Lang), a crude and arrogant American producer (Jack Palance), and his disillusioned wife, Camille (Brigitte Bardot), as he attempts to doctor the script for a new film version of The Odyssey. The Criterion Collection is proud to present this brilliant study of marital breakdown, artistic compromise, and the cinematic process in a new special edition.
Cast & CreditsOpen
Cast
| Camille Javal | Brigitte Bardot |
| Paul Javal | Michel Piccoli |
| Jeremiah Prokosch | Jack Palance |
| Francesca Vanini | Georgia Moll |
| Himself | Fritz Lang |
Credits
| Director | Jean-Luc Godard |
| Screenplay | Jean-Luc Godard and Alberto Moravia |
| Cinematography | Raoul Coutard |
| Producer | Georges de Beauregard, Carlo Ponti and Joseph E. Levine |
| Music | Georges Delerue |
| Sound | William Sivel |
| Editing | Agnès Guillemot |
| Unit managers | Philippe Dussart and Carlo Lastricati |
| From a novel by | Alberto Moravia |
Disc Features
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:
- New high-definition digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Raoul Coutard and enhanced for widescreen televisions
- Audio commentary by film scholar Robert Stam
- The Dinosaur and the Baby (1967): a conversation between Jean-Luc Godard and Fritz Lang (61 minutes)
- Two documentaries featuring Godard on the set of Contempt: Bardot et Godard (8 minutes) and Paparazzi (22 minutes)
- Jean-Luc Godard interview excerpt (1964)
- A new video interview with legendary cinematographer Raoul Coutard
- Original theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
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