Contempt

Released Dec 18, 1963

1h 43m

Drama

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Tomatometer

66 Reviews

85%

Audience Score

10,000+ Ratings

Scenes from a marital breakdown between screenwriter (Michel Piccoli) and his wife (Brigitte Bardot), as both become enmeshed in the behind-the-camera struggles of a director (Fritz Lang) and producer (Jack Palance) as they film an adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey.

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Critics Consensus

This powerful work of essential cinema joins "meta" with "physique," casting Brigite Bardot and director Godard's inspiration Fritz Lang.

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Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

Bardot and Piccoli are deeply sympathetic as a couple in free fall, the locations are invariably stunning and the score by Georges Delerue is so heartbreaking and epic that Scorsese borrowed it, re-using it with equal power in Casino.

Rated: 5/5

Jun 26, 2023

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Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

Godard, himself working with American co-producers and facing demands to insert nude shots of Bardot (whose fees constituted half the film’s budget), turns this conflict between culture and cash into an ironic, self-reflexive odyssey.

Jun 19, 2023

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William J. Nazzaro

Arizona Republic

Contempt could not be termed good or poor. It seems a little remote, and unless you are interested in films, or want to view some beautiful scenes of tasteful sensuality, you can pass it by.

Aug 19, 2021

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Diane Carson

KDHX (St. Louis)

Iconoclastic, Godard reinterprets formulaic cinema and creates his own idiosyncratic technical and thematic approach.

May 6, 2024

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Mike Thorn

Vague Visages

Contempt is a daunting and formally labyrinthine work, calling its own fallibility to question even as it submits completely to the romance of cinema.

Dec 12, 2023

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Trust Jean-Luc Godard to make a big-budget movie meant to be more mainstream than his usual fare and then turn it into a look at the raging battle between art and commerce.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 19, 2023

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elana k

This is a hard no for me. I say this not with contempt but with frustration and above all, boredom.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

05/05/24

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Yellowfur D

Ordinary apartments are photographed to create a complex sense of space. The layout and echo of red, yellow and blue are used throughout the film. The character positions and camera movements may seem random but are exquisitely arranged, the product of the superposition of money, time and talent. The plot also has its own ingenuity and hints. Whether it is love or the situation of the movie, they are all buried in the "great" blue. But I really hate using female nudity as a gimmick to sell movies.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/04/24

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Jim E

This was very interesting to watch the 1963 thinking about male oppressive movies, and the two gorgeous females dealing with the situation of the times! Bardot is stunningly attractive in her role with a forceful attitude and gorgeous curves!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/25/23

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Joo P

Good film, but dated.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/03/23

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Thomas V

Visually interesting and Bardot is great set decoration, but this is thoroughly unlikeable. Palance is miscast, the writer and his hot but irritating wife are repulsive, and there's no one here to care about. I feel like Antonioni treated this kind of material in a much more compelling and interesting way.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

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Shioka O

Revisited in 2022 with "Day for Night", good comparison. Whether this is good or not good, this film it super iconic in many ways. Full sophistication. Great cinematography. All the colours and figures imply something obscure and sexuality, it's unfortunate that they can't make like this now. The translator's existence emphasises tense and awkwardness.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/30/22

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Jean-Luc Godard

Director

Brigitte Bardot

Camille Javal

Jack Palance

Jeremy Prokosch

Michel Piccoli

Paul Javal

Giorgia Moll

Francesca Vanini

Fritz Lang

Fritz Lang

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Contempt: 60th Anniversary Restoration Trailer

1:54

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Synopsis

Scenes from a marital breakdown between screenwriter (Michel Piccoli) and his wife (Brigitte Bardot), as both become enmeshed in the behind-the-camera struggles of a director (Fritz Lang) and producer (Jack Palance) as they film an adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard, Alberto Moravia
Distributor: Strand Releasing, Criterion Collection, Embassy Pictures
Production Co: Rome Paris Films, Compagnia Cinematografica Champion
Genre: Drama
Original Language: French (Canada)
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 18, 1963, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jun 30, 2023
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 20, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $247.8K
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Scope (2.35:1)