Screenwriter Paul Javal's marriage to his wife Camille disintegrates during movie production as she spends time with the producer. Layered conflicts between art and business ensue.
It has a reputation as one of Godard’s key works, but there is an argument that it has not aged well. Still, its uningratiating deconstructions of cinema and sex make for a fierce watch.
The miracle here is that for all its use of irony and self-reflexive devices, Le Mepris still ends up with a considerable emotional punch.
It may be more than 50 years old but this still feels modern and playful in its love of cinema and as a portrait of a crumbling marriage. If you want to know the cinema of Godard, then this is a great place to start.
Brigitte Bardot reminds us what all the fuss was about, alongside Jack Palance and Michel Piccoli, in this restored version of Godard’s 1963 classic.
A timeless tale of the death of love, told amidst ruins, 1963’s Le Mépris (Contempt) is French New Wave pioneer Jean-Luc Godard’s most accessible work and one of his most personally revealing.
Le Mepris: How Jean-Luc Godard turned cash and chaos into beauty
General release. Check local listings for show times.