Based on the novel Il disprezzo by Albert Moravia, Les Mepris (Contempt) is the story of a playwright who is asked by an American producer to help in doing re-writes for an adaptation of Homer‘s The Odyssey that is being directed by Fritz Lang while his personal life starts to unravel. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard and screenplay by Godard and Moravia, the film is an exploration of a man dealing with his situation as his attempts to be involved in a film has him noticing that his own marriage is starting to mirror aspects of the story he is trying to tell. Starring Michel Piccoli, Brigitte Bardot, Jack Palance, Giorgia Moll, and Fritz Lang as himself. Les Mepris is a rich yet provocative film from Jean-Luc Godard.
The film explores a playwright’s life falling apart when he accepts a job to do re-writes for an adaptation of The Odyssey for director Fritz Lang. In need of the money so he can buy a new flat for himself and his wife Camille (Brigitte Bardot), Paul Javal (Michel Piccoli) notices that his marriage is unraveling due to the presence of American producer Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance) who is battling Lang over artistic differences as Prokosch wants something that is more commercial. While Paul deals with trying to create a script that can satisfy both men, his marriage to Camille starts to break down as the film explores how art can play into someone’s personal life where Paul’s struggle starts to mirror some of the aspects of The Odyssey. The film’s screenplay doesn’t really have much of a plot as its first act is about Paul arriving to Italy to meet with Prokosch and Lang where he wonders how to tell the story. The film’s second half explores this slow breakdown between Paul and Camille as it leads to a third act where resentments and desperations start to unfold as all of the converge at the island of Capri.
Jean-Luc Godard’s direction is very mesmerizing as he presents the film on Cinemascope to create something that has the look and feel of a Hollywood film but with aesthetics that are more keen to Godard’s own sensibilities. Notably as Godard creates a film that plays into some of the trouble of what goes on in film productions. Even as Godard would infuse elements of styles such as long and elaborate tracking and dolly shots to play into the Paul meeting with Prokosch about making the film as well as his disintegrating marriage unfolding inside their apartment. Some of it involves these gazing long shots that showcases a marriage disintegrating slowly in this long sequence that is the film’s second act where Camille questions about their marriage as there’s attempts to reconcile which heightens the drama. The film’s third act set in Rome and the island of Capri showcase Lang’s vision of how he wants to tell The Odyssey which starts to mirror Paul’s own disintegrating marriage.
One aspect of Godard’s direction that is very notable is the way he showcases Camille as she’s occasionally presented nude where she is this object of affection for Paul as well Proskosch who is smitten by her as he plays a part into the marriage’s disintegration. It would come ahead in this third act where cinema and realism collide as it showcases Paul’s frustrations with everything in his life including his own marriage. Even as he questions the decisions he has made as an artist and how it has affected his own relationship where Paul would ask Camille what to do as she revealed that any decision he would make would have consequences. Overall, Godard crafts a very engaging and intoxicating film about a writer being compromised in his life as an artist and as a man.
Cinematographer Raoul Coutard does brilliant work with the film‘s very colorful cinematography to capture some of the film‘s naturalistic look of some of the locations as well as some of the interiors and its use of filters for some of its stylistic moments. Editor Agnes Guillemot does amazing work in creating a style that is mostly straightforward with the exception of some of montages that plays into Paul‘s own reflection of his disintegrating marriage. The sound work of William Sivel is terrific for some of the sound effects that occur in the film within a film as well as a scene where the characters watch a theater performance. The film’s music by Georges Delerue is fantastic as it features a somber orchestral piece that plays into Paul and Camille’s own breakdown of their marriage.
The film’s cast includes cameos from Godard and cinematographer Raoul Coutard as Lang’s crew members plus Linda Veras as a siren for the film that is being made and Giorgia Moll in a superb role as Prokosch’s assistant/lover Francesca who deals with Prokosch’s cruelty as well as befriending Paul and Fritz Lang. Fritz Lang is excellent as himself as he plays a director wanting to create something that is arty but also true to Homer’s story as he befriends Paul where they discuss the story and interpret their own ideas about the story. Jack Palance is amazing as Jeremy Prokosch as this American producer who is also a playboy as he tries to take control of the production and woo Camille.
Brigitte Bardot is fantastic as Camille as this beautiful woman who finds herself in the presence of Prokosch as she begins to question her husband’s love for her. Finally, there’s Michele Piccoli in a brilliant performance as Paul as this playwright who tries to do what is right as he finds himself compromised as he wonders how it has affected his marriage and wondered if he can do anything to save it and himself.
Les Mepris is a remarkable film from Jean-Luc Godard. Armed with a great cast and dazzling visuals, the film is a compelling story about a man losing his grasp on his personal life and what he wants as an artist. It’s also a film that explores the world of Hollywood productions and how it can trouble European filmmakers wanting to instill their own vision. In the end, Les Mepris is a phenomenal film from Jean-Luc Godard.
Jean-Luc Godard Films: All the Boys Are Called Patrick - Charlotte et son Jules - Breathless - The Little Soldier - A Woman is a Woman - My Life to Live - The Carabineers - Band of Outsiders - A Married Woman - Alphaville - Pierrot Le Fou - Masculin Feminin - Made in U.S.A. - Two or Three Things I Know About Her - La Chinoise - Weekend - One Plus One (Sympathy for the Devil) - (Joy of Learning) - (British Sounds) - Tout va Bien - (Letter to Jane) - (One A.M.) - (Number Two) - (Here and Elsewhere) - (Every Man for Himself) - (Passion) - (First Name: Carmen) - Hail, Mary - (Soft and Hard) - (Detective) - (King Lear (1987 film)) - (Keep Your Right Up) - (Nouvelle Vague) - (Allemagne 90 neuf zero) - (JLG/JLG - Self-Portrait in December) - For Ever Mozart - (Historie(s) de Cinema) - (In Praise of Love) - (Notre musique) - (Film Socialisme) - (Adieu au Language) - (The Image Book)
© thevoid99 2014
Histoires extraordinaire (Spirits of the Dead) is an omnibus film from Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, and Roger Vadim that takes three different stories based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe. The three segments each explores the world of horror in many different ways as well as individuals who deal with their sins. The result is a truly fascinating and entertaining omnibus film from Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, and Roger Vadim on the works of Edgar Allen Poe.
Metzengerstein
Directed by Roger Vadim. Screenplay by Roger Vadim, Pascal Cousin, and Daniel Boulanger. Starring Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda. Cinematographer Claude Renoir. Editor Helene Plemiannikov. Production designer Jean Andre. Costume designer Jacques Fonteray. Music by Jean Prodromides.
The segment is about a countess who has inherited a renowned estate as she lives a life of debauchery and excess with no consequences. When she is rejected by her baron cousin who lives nearby, she seeks vengeance only to get a mysterious horse that she becomes attached to. It’s a piece that is filled with an array of beautiful imagery through Roger Vadim’s direction as well as sense of style in the way the clothes display that sense of decadence as well as the sense of guilt and melancholia that Countess Frederique Metzengerstein (Jane Fonda) would deal with over what she did to Baron Wilhem Berliftizing (Peter Fonda). Even as the mysterious horse in a tapestry the countess has might play into the fate that she would encounter with the horse she had just received where both Fonda siblings give fantastic performances where Jane speaks perfect French while Peter is more quiet as his lines are dubbed in French.
William Wilson
Directed by Louis Malle. Screenplay by Louis Malle, Clement Biddle Wood, and Daniel Boulanger. Starring Alain Delon and Brigitte Bardot. Cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli. Editors Franco Arcalli and Suzanne Baron. Production/costume designer Ghislain Uhry. Art director/costume designer Carlo Leva. Music by Diego Masson.
Louis Malle’s segment explores the life of a cruel young man (Alain Delon) who shares the same name of a doppelganger who would set the rights of what his counterpart has done. Yet, it has a narrative that is told in a reflective manner as Wilson confesses to a priest (Salvo Radone) about the rivalry he has with his doppelganger dating back to childhood where it would culminate in a game where Wilson tries to cheat a socialite named Giuseppina (Brigitte Bardot). It’s a very complex and eerie film about identity and such that features a brilliant Alain Delon that is complemented by Malle’s very intense and mesmerizing direction as well Bardot’s very charming and cool performance.
Toby Dammit
Directed by Federico Fellini. Screenplay by Federico Fellini and Bernardino Zapponi. Starring Terence Stamp. Cinematographer Giuseppe Rutunno. Editor Ruggero Mastroianni. Production/costume designer Piero Tosi. Art director Fabrizio Clerici. Visual effects by Joseph Nathanson. Music by Nino Rota.
The segment is about a washed-up Shakespearean actor who goes to Rome to accept an award and to star in a Catholic western as he starts to lose his mind following an encounter with a little girl who lost her ball. It’s a film that is filled with many of the visual traits of Federico Fellini as it’s all style where it’s playful but also gorgeous to look at thanks to Giuseppe Rutunno’s cinematography. The film also features a truly delightful score by Nino Rota that also features a truly magnificent sequence of the titular character driving all over Italy on a Ferrari as he’s played with such complexity by Terence Stamp who adds a melancholia and craziness to the character.
The film is about the sins and such of various individuals all told in very different places as the segments by Roger Vadim and Louis Malle are all period pieces that do play with Edgar Allen Poe’s story. In Metzengerstein, Vadim decided to make Poe’s story about a long-standing family feud be more complex as its protagonist would become a woman as she falls for her rival only to be upset by his rejection. In William Wilson, Malle sets his story in the 19th Century Austria where it plays into a man’s identity and the idea of a double where his double is man that is the exact opposite of the other man.
Both Vadim and Malle bring a sense of faithfulness to their respective stories yet it is Federico Fellini who does a whole lot more in his loose-adaptation of Never Bet the Devil Your Head where he sets in modern-day Italy as it’s all full of style to play up the troubled mind of an alcoholic actor as he’s doing interviews and attend a lavish party that has him realize how undeserving he is as he’s being paid a Ferrari to do a film. It’s Fellini’s segment that is the best of the three as well as one of his most outstanding works of his career.
Histoires extraordinaire is a marvelous omnibus film that chronicles the work of Edgar Allen Poe. Featuring some fantastic segments by Roger Vadim and Louis Malle that features excellent performances from Jane and Peter Fonda, Brigitte Bardot, and Alain Delon. The film also features a magnificent segment by Federico Fellini that is one of his great masterworks that includes an incredible performance by Terence Stamp. In the end, Histoires extraordinaire is a remarkable omnibus film from the trio of Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, and Roger Vadim.
Federico Fellini Films: (Variety Lights) - The White Sheik - (L’amore in Citta-Un’agenzia matrimoniale) - I Vitelloni - La Strada - Il bidone - Nights of Cabiria - La Dolce Vita - (Boccaccio ‘70-Le tentazoni del Dottor Antonio) - 8 1/2 - Juliet of the Spirits - (Fellini: A Director’s Notebook) - Fellini Satyricon - (I Clowns) - Roma - Amarcord - Casanova - Orchestra Rehearsal - City of Women - And the Ship Sails On - Ginger and Fred - (Intervista) - (The Voice of the Moon)
Louis Malle Films: (The Silent World) - (Elevator to the Gallows) - (The Lovers) - (Zazie dans la Metro) - (Vive le Tour) - (A Very Private Affair) - (The Fire Within) - (Viva Maria!) - (The Thief of Paris) - (Calcutta (1969 film)) - (Murmur of the Heart) - (Humain, trop humain) - (Lacombe, Lucien) - (Black Moon) - (Pretty Baby) - (Atlantic City (1980 film)) - (My Dinner with Andre) - (Crackers) - (Alamo Bay) - (God’s Country) - (And the Pursuit of Happiness) - (Au Revoir Le Enfants) - (May Fools) - (Damage) - (Vanya on 42nd Street)
Roger Vadim Films: (And God Created Woman) - (No Sun in Venice) - (The Night Heaven Fell) - (Les laisons dangereuses) - (Blood and Roses) - (Please, Not Now!) - (The Seven Deadly Sins) - (Love on a Pillow) - (Castle in Sweden) - (Vice and Virtue) - (Circle of Love) - (La Curee) - (Barbarella, Queen of the Galaxy) - (Pretty Maids All in a Row) - (Helle) - (Ciao! Manhattan) - (Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman) - (The Murdered Young Girl) - (Game of Seduction) - (Night Games) - (Hot Touch) - (Surprise Party) - (And God Created Woman (1988 film))
© thevoid99 2013
Based on Guy de Maupassant’s short stories The Signal and Paul’s Mistress, Masculin Feminin is the story about a young romantic idealist who chases after a budding pop star as he later gets involved in a complex relationship with two other women. Written for the screen and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, the film is look into the world of love during a tumultuous period in France where two people fall in love despite their different views on art and politics. Starring Jean-Pierre Leaud, Chantal Goya, Marlene Jobert, and Michel Debord. Masculin Feminin is a ravishing yet witty film from Jean-Luc Godard.
The film revolves around a man named Paul (Jean-Pierre Leaud) who meets and falls for a budding pop singer named Madeleine Zimmer (Chantal Goya) where they have a relationship during a period in France where Socialist activities and protest against America’s involvement with the Vietnam War comes into play. Paul would meet Madeleine’s roommates in the frigid Elisabeth (Marlene Jobert) and the more innocent Catherine-Isabelle (Catherine-Isabelle Duport) as the latter is courted by Paul’s friend Robert (Michel Debord) where they all go through many moments in the relationship as Paul deals with Madeleine’s burgeoning career as well as their differences.
Jean-Luc Godard’s screenplay plays up the idea of romance and sex during this period in France where the world is changing as Paul is a fan of classic music while Madeleine is more in tune with the pop music of the times. Yet, the two are fascinated by each other’s differences though it would eventually become too great for them to bear. While Paul would also connect with the more low-key yet observant Elisabeth and the more accessible Catherine-Isabelle, it has him going into a journey about his ideas of love. Madeleine would also go through a similar journey as she is unsure about the idea of sex as well as the use of obscene language where she tries to comprehend the idea of what it means to be a woman.
Godard’s direction definitely stylish as he aims for a very loose and free-wielding style that harkens to the idea of cinema verite. Shooting on location in various places in Paris as well as the streets where it is capturing a moment in time in which the French are going through these social changes. While it’s a film told in fifteen chapters, Godard places inter-titles in between the chapters filled with comments on the film and what was happening at the time as well as moments where Godard even makes comments about what the film is really about. Notably as there’s also a lot of cultural references ranging to ideas of Communism, Bob Dylan, and Charles de Gaulle to establish the tone of the times.
There’s also a film-within-a-film that is shown where the characters are watching it where Paul and Madeleine would have a different reaction about what they’re seeing. Even as it would play a key moment into the issues where Paul and Madeleine would have their relationship be played out in long takes where Godard just has the camera capturing every moment without needing to cut. Overall, Godard crafts a very mesmerizing yet provocative film about love and identity.
Cinematographer Willy Kurant does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to capture the vibrancy of Paris as well some of the places and movie theaters the characters go to. Editor Agnes Guillemot does fantastic work with the editing with the use of jump-cuts to create a sense of rhythm in the conversations as well in the moments of action. The sound work of Rene Levert is brilliant for not just the use of sound on location but also for moments where there no sounds to not reveal anything that is being heard. The film’s music by Jean-Jacques Debout is amazing for the pop songs that Chantal Goya sings to reflect not just the ideas of love but also serve as a disconnect in the realities of what is happening in France at the time.
The film’s cast is wonderful as it features cameo appearances from French pop singer Francoise Hardy as a woman accompanied by an American soldier and Brigitte Bardot as herself in a café scene. Other small appearances include Eva-Britt Strandberg and Birger Malmsten as actors appearing in the film that Paul and the women watch. Michel Debord is very good as Paul’s friend Robert who is fascinated by Paul’s new friends as he tries to court the very innocent Catherine-Isabelle who is coy with him. Catherine-Isabelle Duport is excellent as the innocent yet observant Catherine-Isabelle as a young woman who might be carrying feelings for Paul though she remains cagey about what she thinks. Marlene Jobert is terrific as Elisabeth as a woman who isn’t so keen on Paul yet is aware of the troubles he and Madeleine are having as she tries to help Paul deal with his situation.
Chantal Goya is amazing as Madeleine who is this budding pop singer that is hoping to make it in the world of pop music as she’s intrigued by Paul only to be unsure about her identity as a modern woman. Finally, there’s Jean-Pierre Leaud in a remarkable performance as Paul as a man that has this idea of love and sex while not in touch with the current trends of the time like pop music as he falls for Madeleine. The two together have a superb chemistry together to display their differences and their ideas about love and sex.
Masculin Feminin is a phenomenal film from Jean-Luc Godard. Armed with a great cast and a fun soundtrack, the film is definitely one of quintessential films of the French New Wave as well as one of Godard’s intriguing films during that beloved period from the 1960s. It’s also a film that explores the world of male and female identities as well as the idea of love in the 1960s. In the end, Masculin Feminin is a spectacular film from Jean-Luc Godard.
Jean-Luc Godard Films: All the Boys Are Called Patrick - Charlotte et son Jules - Breathless - The Little Soldier - A Woman is a Woman - My Life to Live - The Carabineers - Contempt - Band of Outsiders - A Married Woman - Alphaville - Pierrot Le Fou - Made in U.S.A. - Two or Three Things I Know About Her - La Chinoise - Weekend - One Plus One (Sympathy for the Devil) - (Joy of Learning) - (British Sounds) - Tout va Bien - (Letter to Jane) - (One A.M.) - (Number Two) - (Here and Elsewhere) - (Every Man for Himself) - (Passion) - (First Name: Carmen) - Hail, Mary - (Soft and Hard) - (Detective) - (King Lear (1987 film)) - (Keep Your Right Up) - (Nouvelle Vague) - (Allemagne 90 neuf zero) - (JLG/JLG - Self-Portrait in December) - For Ever Mozart - (Historie(s) de Cinema) - (In Praise of Love) - (Notre musique) - (Film Socialisme) - (Adieu au Language) - (The Image Book)
© thevoid99 2013
