Le Mepris

Some Directors love a challenge. Moved by a piece of elusively sublime literature, they cannot resist the temptation to try to capture something of the essence of the piece on celluloid. Sometimes this fails (like Cronenberg's brave attempt at 'Crash' or 'Naked Lunch') but occasionally it comes off. This is most certainly the case with Godard's 'Le Mepris' ("Contempt") which is based on Alberto Moravia's "Il Disprezzo". Moravia is a wonderful writer who somehow manages to capture the very essence of love and desire often at its most achingly melancholic. Not an easy 'essence' to translate.

With 'Le Mepris', the combination of cast (did Bardot ever look more moodily beautiful?), the cinematography and the haunting score create a near perfect study of human relations, and the tragic breakdown of the deepest of these.

This Blu-ray edition from Optimum Studio Canal is first class. Beautifully presented in a 'book binder', packed with intelligent and useful extra features, as well as a printed booklet, it could be considered the definitive overview of one of Godard's most accessible and successful movies.
 

Most readers of this review will know that Godard started out as a film critic in 'Cahiers Du Cinema', dissecting and analysing Hollywood cinema with an intellectualism more commonly reserved at the time for studies of serious literature. In other words, he was part of an influential movement that elevated movie-making into an art form. Then, as part of the 'French New Wave' he was able to explore this obsession himself, though would often reveal his 'film-making' within the film itself. 'Le Mepris' is no exception, though the film is partially about film-making so it is never a device used to remove the viewer temporarily from the narrative, as in some of his later films.  

Perhaps most exciting for film hacks is the inclusion of Fritz Lang, playing himself in a surprisingly central role. (This was a particular thrill for me having just devoured the recent and brilliant Eureka release 'The Dr. Mabuse Box Set' reviewed on this site by David Beckett).  He has been hired to shoot an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey.

Apart from Lang there are really only four other individuals in the film of any importance.
Paul Javal (Michel Piccoli) who is a talented playwright who has been asked to re-write the screenplay for the film. Much of the film centres on his internal struggle about whether to do the writing or not. His heart is telling him not to whilst his pocket is telling him he must - in order to pay for his new flat and keep his beautiful but surly young wife happy (Brigitte Bardot). Jack Palance plays an arrogant and slightly unstable producer who is financing the project (and never lets anyone forget it) and finally, there is the ever cheerful translator, Francesca Vanini (Giorgia Moll) who translates literally all conversations between the unpleasant producer and the others, without ever showing signs of understanding the implications of what is being said.



It's a fantastic mix of personalities, from the laid back writer to the world-weary Fritz Lang, to the moody and demanding wife, who is also indescribably beautiful, to the fiercely autocratic producer and his translator and PA. Even the best soaps couldn't hope for a better set of characters through which to play out a story!

It's the ultimate European movie, delivering lines in French in the main, but also with sprinkles of English, German, Italian and English. No one will get through this movie without some subs.

As the narrative unfolds, with tensions rising between man and wife, and some strange, hurtful relationship developing between Palance's character and Bardot for some inexplicable reason, there is the feeling that everything is becoming unravelled. Lang's film is constantly being undermined by the Producer and looks set for disaster too.

There is little overt sexuality in the film, and ironically, what there is (a few shots of a naked Bardot on the bed, on a rug and swimming in the sea) were added by frustrated producers and backers of Godard's film, blurring the lines between his critique and the economic realities of his own film-making. They wanted something tangible to guarantee a return, mirroring at least one strand of the film itself.

The music, (Georges Delerue), with its simple haunting theme, adds a delicious air of melancholy to the film and it is used again and again during scenes between man and wife, clearly in love but unable to communicate.

 

PICTURE
As a relative newcomer to Blu-ray I think there is a danger that I may be over-impressed. This edition looks very good indeed, though not as visually stunning as some other releases I have seen. This may be, in part, to the soft grading favoured by Godard.

However, the wide aspect ratio coupled with a clearly defined image with very little sign of wear and tear does make this something of a treat.
 

AUDIO
You can choose from no less than four audio tracks, probably dictated by your language choice; French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.

However, the film uses audio in a curious way. When people leave a room their sound goes with them. When neither person is centre shot you still get the audio as if you have stayed centre stage and voices to the left and right are dissipated. When the action is in a bare walled apartment, expect a lively, trebly voice track. In other words, the film is miles away from the post-dubbed and foleyed epics we have got used to today, on both television and on film.

I have never seen the film on SD so have no idea how 'improved' the audio is on this edition. Whilst there may be little to shout about, there is nothing to complain about either.

EXTRAS
Introduction - Writer / Film producer Colin McCabe introduces a film that he obviously rates highly as, not only one of Godard's best, but one of the finest to come out of the so-called French New Wave (6 min).

Once Upon A Time There was...Contempt - This is a well researched and well produced documentary. Co-produced by FOLAMOUR, Ina, TCM and France 5, and directed by Antoine de Gaudemar this is an informative piece that adds much to the appreciation of the film but which must be watched after the film as it chock full of spoilers.  (55 min).

Contempt...tenderly - Alain Bergala, author of "Godard au travail, les annees 60", talks about the French Director and how Alberto Moravia's novel inspired Le Mepris. (30 min).

The Dinosaurs and the Baby - This is a conversation in eight parts between Fritz Lang and Jean-Luc Godard with extracts from M and Le Mepris. (B&W, 61 min).

Conversation with Fritz Lang - A very short interview with Herr Lang. What a treat!  (15 min).

Trailer -  (3 min).

Booklet - a 20-page illustrated booklet though I didn't receive one with the review disc.
 
OVERALL
'Le Mepris' is a monstrously good movie on just about every level. It looks great on this smartly packaged Blu-ray which is brimming with informative extras that are all well worth a watch. Fans of Bardot will swoon at some of the imagery here and she is perfectly cast as the brooding, pouting but complex wife of a talented writer. The fact that Fritz Lang is included, playing himself, adds another level of interest for anyone interested in film and Jack Palance plays the deranged Producer to perfection. Add to that a sumptuous score, beautiful cinematography and a compelling human drama and it ranks as one of cinema's finest. But you don't need me to tell you that. If this sounds like your bag, then you won't get a smarter edition than this.