Contempt is the type of film that can create that feeling between itself and the audience watching. It is a strange mix of cinematic magic and unrealistic psychobabble. Jean-Luc Godard is one of the greatest of all directors and perhaps the most successful of the French New Wave, one of the most important occurrences in film history. He had already hit success with his ground-breaking Breathless and his personal My Life to Live. Here, he is at his most experimental, even more so than in The Little Soldier. From the opening shot of a camera tracking an actor down towards where the narrative camera is, there is no doubt this is a unique picture.

We then get multiple scenes involving the strangest nude scenes ever recorded. This film stars Bridgette Bardot, one of the most beautiful and captivating women ever to be in a movie, and Godard intentionally films her almost completely without a sense of eroticism or sexiness. She, like everything else here, is objectified, pushed away and gives us a chance to consider other films we have seen.

This is a rare gift to film lovers, a story that cannot be judged on standard grounds because it is not a standard film. Godard, I believe, is showing the absolute boundaries of the cinema, daring to go farther than nearly anyone before or after him. For most, it will totally polarize them and perhaps turn them off to Godard or even foreign films completely. But, that should not be the case. True, this is a head-scratcher, but you cannot expect normalcy from a director like Godard. Here, along with most of his other work, he proved that the director, if given freedom, can change the look and feel of a film to an unlimited amount of options and opportunities. Roger Ebert said that Godard never made another movie like this because he realized he couldn't. I think he didn't because he realized cinema hasn't reached those limits yet; and perhaps never will.

I must first point out that I don't particularly like Godard's films, so this makes my reviews a bit biased. Of course, those who think he is a genius are biased as well, so the reader of this review will just need to find out for themselves if he's a genius or a highly overrated and pretentious director. After seeing films such as Alphaville and Prenom Carmen, I am definitely a believer that he is the latter.

There is a germ of an excellent film here in the plot. There are parallel stories occurring--the Odyssey being re-made and a writer who treats his beloved wife with indifference. Although I read a review that could not understand why the wife so quickly went from loving to hating him, I could see this, so my only average review is not due to this. Instead, it is the stupidity of the camera work. Godard was proud that he was NOT like old-school directors (who, for example, tried to artistically frame their work) and would let the camera wander off-track or slide back and forth instead of the usual shots. Many consider this great, but I just think it's annoying. It's amazing that such beautiful locations and Technicolor are practically wasted due to deliberately sloppy camera techniques. Given a different director with different sensibilities, this would have been a much better film. Interestingly enough, the great director Fritz Lang is a major character in the movie and he plays himself. Too bad Lang did not direct this as well. Oh, and Jack Palance is in the movie as well playing a jerk of a producer. I hope producers really aren't like him in real life! FYI--there is a decent amount of nudity in the movie. While not super-explicit, parents are advised against letting kids see this. You certainly do get to see a bunch of shots of Ms. Bardot's exquisite butt, so Bardot fans should make this a must-see.

I should also add that the musical score was wonderful, but it was, at times, poorly integrated--being way too loud and intrusive.

Director Fritz Lang (himself) is filming the Odyssey. Sleazy American producer Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance) is angry at Lang's overly artistic vision and hires writer Paul Javal (Michel Piccoli) to rework the script. The playboy Prokosch takes Paul's wife Camille (Brigitte Bardot) on a ride. Paul and Camille struggle with their troubled relationship.

Jack Palance plays the most interesting character. I like the first act as he gets in between the couple and even the constant translation. I'm less interested in the fighting couple. It's a stylized breakdown of a marriage and not really my taste. It might be all kinds of hidden artistic fun being had but all I got is Bardot's bare bottom. The style keeps the couple at a distance. I never really got involved in their troubles.