Master Rank #632

Contempt

1963

GCML Total7.6640% Greatness · 40% Engagement · 20% Ease

Directed by Jean-Luc Godard

CastBrigitte Bardot · Michel Piccoli · Jack Palance

France / ItalyFrenchDrama103 minNot Rated
Sight & SoundNarrative FeatureDeliberate pace
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

A screenwriter’s marriage begins to fracture while he works on a troubled film production.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

Screenwriter Paul Javal is hired by American producer Jeremy Prokosch to rewrite Fritz Lang's adaptation of the Odyssey. At Cinecittà and Capri, Paul's professional compromise and behavior toward wife Camille create a rupture he struggles to understand.

Why it belongs

Jean-Luc Godard makes a marriage fracture across color, architecture, cinema, and language, with Piccoli and Bardot isolated inside widescreen beauty.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Primary-color titles, the unfinished apartment, Cinecittà, Casa Malaparte, translation gaps, ancient statues, and Georges Delerue's theme transform distance architectural—Brigitte Bardot's Camille refuses the explanations Paul offers.

Major award wins

No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.

Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20

Continue the conversation

Double Feature