French Cinema Review Jean-Luc Goddard's Contempt
The French New Wave: a Series of Film Reviews and Analysis
Mar 19, 2009
Contempt (1963) 103 minutes. France. Directed by Jean-Luc Goddard. Written/Adapted from a novel by Alberto Moravia. Starring: Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, and Jack Palance.
Film Summary of Jean-Luc Goddard's Contempt
Paul Javal (Piccoli), a play write, is given the opportunity to re-write a script for the new Ulysses movie directed by Fritz Lang . However, Paul's marriage comes into danger,as the producer of the film, Jeremy Prokosch (Palance) takes an interest in Camille, Paul's wife. Paul ignorantly allows for Camille to be driven home by Prokosch, while he takes a taxi alone. Camille is emotionally hurt by this act, and realizes that she no longer loves Paul like she did early that morning. The film follows the slow and painful destruction of the marriage, as Paul continues on his path of ignorance pushing Camille further and further away, as he continues on his quest for more money.
Love or Money: the Pursuit of Happiness
The pursuit of happiness is an interesting theme that appears in Contempt. Ironically, Paul is taking on a job he doesn't want to do in order to make Camille's life better. But, by taking on this job, he is destroying their marriage. Paul is paradoxically trapped between love and money. If he takes the job he'll have money, but no relationship. If he doesn't take the job he'll have a relationship, but no money. The way Paul perceives this is that if he has no money, his relationship will soon be gone as well. Paul struggles with this concept through out the film, and inevitably makes the wrong choices loosing Camille.
The film "begins with a man who is deeply and hopelessly in love, and then explores his attitude toward the woman's body he both desires and fears. She in turn feels contempt for the man who observes her body and feels unworthy of it even when she offers it to him 'totally, tenderly, tragically'. Paul sends Camille away with Prokosch , which proves to be the catalyst for the collapse of the marriage. Paul knows Camille's feelings have changed toward him, and Camille knows she has fallen out of love with Paul. Camille tries to hide her true feelings, while Paul pursues an explanation for this "change".
Goddard's Cinematic Experiment with Realism
The apartment scene is amazing, as it is both frustrating and yet undeniably gripping. Goddard manages to express a realistic fight between two lovers, as he shows us an almost real-time breakdown of a marriage. In the 1999 book The French New Wave Jean Douchet states "The New Wave of Cahiers du cinema rejected the documentary in the name of reality...fictional film, imbued with a sense of real life and subject to the randomness of existence, offered greater potential for grasping the world's truth. Reality for them was in lived experience, immediacy." (80).
What at first seems like a regular occurrence between the couple slowly evolves into a very powerful examination of two egos. This is not the usual cinematic break-up, but is rather a voyeuristic attempt at creating a true break-up. For the audience it seems as though the two are merely going in circles, saying the same things over and over, but anyone who has broken up, or even had a fight with their lover, knows that this scene very much reflects reality. While the scene and characters are fictional, Goddard has gone to great length to create a real experience.
Contempt, at it's core, is an examination of love. More so, it is a stark, legitimate look at the complexity of love and human nature. Piece by piece Paul and Camille remove their emotional facade, until all that is left is the grotesque truth. The apartment scene leaves the audience, much like Paul and Camille, emotional exhausted and filled with a powerful sadness. Contempt is a very abstract, chaotic work that forces the bleak and painful moments of love front and center.
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