Rating: 
Summary: simply beautiful....
Review: even though i like the entire godard's filmography i probably think this is my favorite movie made by the french director.starting by the music(in the italian version i ve heard the producer changed the arcs with a jazz soundtrack...i do love jazz,but i think arcs are so powerfull,i can't personally imagine this movie with something different...) and goin on.all the movies based on cinema are usually terrific(actually i can think just of 8 and a half(fellini),but i know there are many movies based on the same subject) and i think this parallelism with the ancient greece is simply intelligent,fascinating.the director,his girlfriend and the producer are at the same time ulysses,penelope and the "proci"....the producer and all what is involved with him.his relationship with the directors(lang and piccoli)and his will of being god."i know how they feel.."he sayd.and we do know godard and all the critics who used to work for th cahiers du cinema and later in life made up the "nouvelle vague" wished the director to be god in that moment,while workin....godard then deals with the landscape and the way to see it.the characters looking at the sea,opening up to the world of the possibility.and so on...
i usually don't write reviews i think this movie really deserves it though...
Rating: 
Summary: A Priceless Godard Film!
Review: First of all I want to note that I've only seen the subtitled version of this movie. Secondly, you have no idea how happy am I to see this movie on vhs. I must of searched a whole year for this movie. I couldn't even find a place to rent it! Finally, after searching all that time, I found it. And, am I glad I did. Jean-Luc Godard's "Contempt" has so many "back stage" stories to it, that hearing those stories might be just as entertaining as the movie itself lol. For example, it is said that the title of this movie was an inside joke. Jean-Luc Godard supposedly hated producer Joseph E. Levine ( if that name sounds familiar to you, it's because many know him as the man who produced Mel Brooks' "The Producers"). And, while shooting the movie, held Levine in "contempt" durning production. There's another interesting story that says Levine was very unpleased to hear that Godard, who was directing one of the most attractive French actresses at that time, Brigitte Bardot, didn't have any nude scenes! So Godard shot a nude scene, only he made sure it wasn't sexy at all! Just to spite Levine. Now, do these stories affect the film itself? Not at all. "Contempt" is a pretty amusing film. I really enjoyed watching this movie. They are some nice performances by Michel Piccoli (Paul Javal) and Jack Palance (His character is suppose to be Levine himself) and the great Fritz Lang plays himself. Now, for those who don't know, "Contempt" is about a young screenwriter, Paul Javal who is asked to write a screenplay for a new version of "The Odyssey". But the problem is , he doesn't seem to like the producer played by Palance, mostly because he's always hitting on his wife, played by Bardot. And if this isn't enough, the director (Lang) and the producer seem to be at war (hmmm, sound familiar?) about how the script should be written. I don't want to give too much of the film away. So, all I can say is, if your a Godard fan, you'll probably enjoy this movie. And, if your not a Godard fan, you'll probably enjoy this movie. Either way you win! lol. A priceless film by Godard.
Rating: 
Summary: nice colours.
Review: i don't know if the original print looked this colourful or if criterion just jacked it up a lot cuz they thought it would be funny but either way it looks very nice. b.b. looks nice too. the movie's good, yeah.
Rating:
Summary: One of Godard's best films--one of the best films, period
Review: I have no hesitation in saying that Contempt is one of the best films ever. I don't like to rank these things (too arbitrary and subjective) but if you are seriously interested in films, then you must see Contempt. It's one of Godard's more conventional films, but still has his trademark originality and moments that surprise with their unexpectedness. The whole film is heartbreaking. Truly beautiful and tragic. And it's a great film on the process of filmmaking itself (from the brilliant opening on).
Rating:
Summary: Brigitte Bardot at her voluptuous best: Godard's "8 1/2"
Review: I prefer this film to Fellini's 8 1/2 and there are some similarities. They were made at the same time and they were the first two post-modern films. In this one B.B. is given some good nude scenes we male fans crave in the context of a top notch 1963 work of art. Fritz Lang plays himself and when he mentions B.B. he's talking about Bertolt Brecht, not Brigitte Bardot who doesn't play herself (one of many in jokes). What I love here is the 1960s feel of the film, the melancholy soundtrack which is supposed to express B.B.s emotions, and masterful cinematography. The scenes are set up perfectly and in one we see B.B. in one room talking to Michel Piccoli in another...in the same shot. There is a modern feel to the film made in color set in Capri, and a feeling of freedom. The plot is that B.B. feels "contempt" for her husband because he lets Jack Palance come on to her, and it works with brilliant subtlety. The ending is kind of another in joke, as there's a bit of dialogue by Lang "death is not a resolution". In one scene the stars are all interacting against a background of current movie posters ("Psycho" among them). And Palance needs a translator from English to French, German, and Italian in the way of the beautiful Giorgia Moll. Lang speaks German, and everyone else Italian, a smorgasborg of languages. Some later Godard films don't really work well as they are too disjointed (Weekend, 2 or 3 Things...), but here it all comes together.
Rating:
Summary: Brigitte Bardot at her voluptuous best: Godard's "8 1/2"
Review: I prefer this film to Fellini's 8 1/2 and there are some similarities. They were made at the same time and they were the first two post-modern films. In this one B.B. is given some good nude scenes we male fans crave in the context of a top notch 1963 work of art. Fritz Lang plays himself and when he mentions B.B. he's talking about Bertolt Brecht, not Brigitte Bardot who doesn't play herself (one of many in jokes). What I love here is the 1960s feel of the film, the melancholy soundtrack which is supposed to express B.B.s emotions, and masterful cinematography. The scenes are set up perfectly and in one we see B.B. in one room talking to Michel Piccoli in another...in the same shot. There is a modern feel to the film made in color set in Capri, and a feeling of freedom. The plot is that B.B. feels "contempt" for her husband because he lets Jack Palance come on to her, and it works with brilliant subtlety. The ending is kind of another in joke, as there's a bit of dialogue by Lang "death is not a resolution". In one scene the stars are all interacting against a background of current movie posters ("Psycho" among them). And Palance needs a translator from English to French, German, and Italian in the way of the beautiful Giorgia Moll. Lang speaks German, and everyone else Italian, a smorgasborg of languages. Some later Godard films don't really work well as they are too disjointed (Weekend, 2 or 3 Things...), but here it all comes together.
Rating:
Summary: Well made but not very entertaining
Review: I saw this movie way back in the mid 60's. I still remember it quite well - not because it was so good but because it was so unusual. I must say I didn't like it very much. The movie was mostly subtitled but parts of it was in English. It was very slow and had a lot of dialogue. This was only the second Bardot movie I had seen up to that time, the other one being the great little comedy, La (Une) Parisienne. The academic community almost universally believes this is a great movie. They have all kinds of interpretations of what this movie is about. They even believe this was Bardot's only good acting performance. Obviously these intellectual elitists never saw her in other fine dramatic performances, e.g., Love Is My Profession and Love on a Pillow. Bardot here is at the peak of her beauty. How Hollywood writers during that period could deny her beauty is simply incredible. As an art form, this movie would no doubt get high grades but if it is entertainment you are looking for, try something else. Note: 10/3/03 - Having just viewed this movie again (DVD), I have to say this version is far more coherent and likeable than the one I saw years ago. Evidently, there were a number of scenes cut from the original U.S. release. The Accident scene ended the original movie but this version continues with a final scene. I still think the movie at times plods along a little too much. The Apartment scene, one of the most important scenes in the movie, goes on for roughly 30 minutes. The movie does display more realism than most Hollywood fare. This is indeed a beautiful movie with a great music score but it does have its shortcomings. In light of this second viewing I have changed my rating of this movie to four stars.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best
Review: I'm a big fan of Godards'- his films are so enjoyable. I watched this one thinking it would be just as brilliant as his others, and while it's not the best thing he's ever done, it's nothing to be ashamed of.
It's a little slow, but the biggest problem is that the movie doesn't really like itself. It's in widescreen, but one of the characters says "[Cinemascope] wasn't meant for human beings. Just for snakes... and funerals. " Why did Godard do a big studio picture? It seems like he just resents it.
One of the biggest pleasures is seeing Fritz Lang playing himself. And Brigitte Bardot is beautiful as alway. But if you've just been hearing about Godard and want to see one of his movies, don't see this first- I'd go for "A Band of Outsiders", which I think is his best. If you've seen lots of his films already and want more, then you should see this. Just don't expect another masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: Make it Stop!!!!!
Review: If Jean-Luc Godard hated commercial film producers, why did he make a movie for them? To make some adolescent point about how he, The Brave Artist, would never be cowed by the vulgar likes of Carlo Ponti or Joseph Levine, I suppose. And to prove that he could get Brigitte Bardot as naked, or naked-er, than her ex-husband Roger Vadim. Somehow, though, I suspect that even Vadim would have done better by this material than Godard. After all, he has a good cast (Bardot included), good source material (a novel by Albert Moravia), and the services of Raoul Coutard, one of the best cinematographers in the history of film. And what to we get? About 90 minutes of mind-numbing agony as Godard plays film-school in-jokes and stretches scenes out to tedium mostly to prove that he won't truckle to commerical interests. But none of this adds up to real drama, either. As a result, any honest audience will have to admit that they've been cheated, too. And unlike Joe Levine, none of US owned the screen rights to THE CARPETBAGGERS . . .
Rating:
Summary: My second Godard film- more like a 4.5
Review: Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt is abstract at times, analystic at most, and full of the contemptuous vibes that deliver the film its title, and, indeed, consistently interesting entry in the Godard catalog of work. It examines a lead character in a bit of a sense like how Fellini examined a lead in 8 1/2, except that while in that he toyed and illuminated his fantasies about his struggles in filmmaking process, Godard slums in it, though with a carefully tuned attitude and style. He knows he's making an "art" film as much as he's making a "commercial" film, and that adds to its appeal. Like a good number of his films it's off putting at times, but the way the characters look into the film within the film, in this case the Odyssey, as well as they essentially do for this one, Goddard has made a fascinating hybrid on the workings of Hollywood. His lead is played by Michael Piccoli, who like Fellini's Mastorianni is the torn screenwriter, torn in this case in three directions- one by a commercial producer (Jack Palance) who wants the production to be epic but has many reservations about the craft; another by a legendary director (all the more so since Lang is playing himself) who is only interested in the art of it, like when he views slides and shots of old Greek statues and such, and Palance chucks the film around the room; the last by his wife, played by the beautiful (if slightly depressing) Bridget Bardot who has as many or more inner demons as her husband. Their conversation, which lasts a longish if hypnotic half an hour, gives Bardot her spotlight in the picture. Like an Odyssey of sorts the film becomes, lending itself to Godard's focus on the aspect of the idea of characters breaking down, and how the atmosphere he creates is one that can understandably make anyone crack. Contempt isn't a milestone for the filmmaker, but it's watchable as a second or third film to introduce the common viewer to Godard, and for film buffs it provides a wide, captivating glimpse of the film world for film buffs.
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