7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
A screenwriter finds his marriage falling apart as he attempts to start a film version of the "The Odyssey."
Starring: Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance, Fritz Lang, Giorgia MollDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 87% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
French: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
German: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English, German, Japanese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
New Wave auteur Jean Luc-Godard once famously declared that cinema is “truth twenty four times per second.” Then again, he also said that cinema is “the most beautiful fraud in the world.” So, which is it? Can it be both? Are the two assertions necessarily mutually exclusive? It seems that for Godard—perhaps the ultimate cineaste—the most important thing is that cinema simply is. The synthesis of both of his statements is that, like all art, cinema is essentially a grand illusion staged around a kernel of truth. Philosophically, it goes back to the differentiation between the real and the Platonic ideal—the disconnect between objects and ideas—and Godard’s films frequently engage in a kind of cinematic dialectic where opposing forces are indirectly represented by the characters or their conflicts. This is never more apparent than in Le mépris—the director’s sixth feature—which is not only structured around thematic oppositions, but is itself a contradiction: an art film posing as a big-budget commercial movie, or vice versa. Or, perhaps, both.
CinemaScope: Ideal for snakes, funerals, and showing both sides of the aisle.
Paul Javal: I like CinemaScope very much.
Fritz Lang: Oh, it wasn't meant for humans. Just for snakes…and funerals.
Le mépris arrives on Blu-ray in the U.S. with the same 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that
Studio Canal prepared for the film's high definition debut in France, Germany, and the U.K. While
the film hasn't received a full restorative overall—unlike Criterion's spectacular recent release of
Godard's Pierrot le fou—Le mépris is still a thing of beauty on Blu-ray, marred
only a by a few inconsistencies and some source elements that are less than pristine. Presented
in its glorious 2.35:1 original CinemaScope aspect ratio—clearly, Godard didn't feel confined to
snakes and funerals—Le mépris looks beautiful in motion and proves to be a substantial
upgrade from Criterion's 2002 DVD release. The bump in overall clarity is definitely appreciable,
with close-ups displaying cleaner textures and longer shots carrying a tighter, more detailed
appearance. Before the opening credits, a disclaimer pops up that reads, "The original cut of this
film contains scenes that are missing from the English version. We now present these scenes
with their original soundtrack and English subtitles." From the looks of it, these scenes were
sourced from entirely different elements than the rest of the film, having a softer, flatter, almost-
duped look that makes them stand out oddly. That said, there are only a few of these scenes—all
quite short—and I appreciate having a more complete cut of the film.
Of course, color is of utmost importance in Le mépris, and this transfer handles the film's
plentiful primary tones with ease. Saturation is right on target, contrast is strong, and the color
balance in general looks more natural than in the Criterion DVD. There are, however, some minor
color fluctuations from time to time, along with
the occasional pulse of contrast wavering. None of this is distracting, though, and there were very
few instances when my eyes were pulled from the experience of watching the film to notice some
technical anomaly. I did spot some minor telecine wobble—when the image appears to subtly
shake from side to side—but edge enhancement is absent, the film's grain structure is intact, and
aside from a brief spurt of small brown stains at the 46:42 mark and a few scattered white
specks, the print is in fairly good condition. Likewise, there are no compression-related issues to
report. Could the film look better? Probably—with a more intensive image overhaul—but I'm
more than pleased with the transfer Studio Canal has put together. Le mépris and
Bardot have never looked better.
Studio Canal wisely decided against trying to expand the film's original monaural soundtrack into a 5.1 mix, and have loaded up this disc with four DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks—in the original French, along with English, Spanish, and German dubs. Le mépris' multi-lingual dialogue is essential to the feel of the film, so if possible I'd recommend sticking with the original French mix, which preserves the English, German, and Italian that's also spoken by the characters. To put it simply, I have no real qualms about this track. Yes, to modern ears it can feel a bit brash at times— the weight is mostly on the mid-to-high end—but this is how the film has always sounded. Georges Delerue's aching score is powerful and detailed, though, and the dialogue is clean and nicely balanced. For those of you who aren't polyglots—myself included—the disc also includes English, German, Castellan, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish and Japanese subtitles, which, when turned on, appear inside the image in easy-to-read white lettering.
Introduction by Colin MacCabe (SD, 5:31)
Writer and producer Colin MacCabe gives a brief sketch of the film's production and explain how
Le mépris' large budget ties in to its relative conventionality compared to Godard's other
films.
Once Upon a Time There Was...Contempt (SD, 52:28)
Featuring fascinating interviews with the always frank Godard—who chain smokes cigars
throughout—Once Upon a Time is an enlightening history of Le mépris that
combines a documentary-style narrative with Godard's own thoughts about the film. This is
essential viewing for all Godard fans.
Contempt...Tenderly (SD, 31:31)
Though somewhat redundant considering the exhaustive nature of the previous documentary,
this making-of special features a few new insights by way of French writer Alain Bergala, who
discusses the often under-acknowledged influence of Alberto Moravia's novel on Godard's
film.
The Dinosaur and the Baby (SD, 1:00:57)
How often do you get to hear two titans of cinema chat about their work for an hour? Here, Fritz
Lang and Jean-Luc Godard—the dinosaur and the baby, respectively—discuss everything from
censorship and filmmaking philosophies to practical scene blocking techniques. Their eight-part
conversion is intercut with scenes from M and Le mépris. The highlight of the
bonus features, in my opinion.
Conversation with Fritz Lang (SD, 14:27)
Made on the set of Le mépris, this brief, vintage EPK-style featurette shows Fritz Lang
discussing the role of a film's producer, amongst other things, but he seems slightly annoyed by
the interviewer's often-obvious questions. More notably, get to see an alternate take of the scene
where Prokosch throws a film reel like a discus.
Booklet
Taking a cue from Criterion's classy inserts, Le mépris includes a full color 18-page
booklet with an essay by Ginette Vincendeau.
Trailer (SD, 2:32)
BD-Live Functionality
Le mépris is perhaps Godard's most conventional film, but within the commercial, big- budget construct he was forced to work within, he created a lasting piece of cinema that's as layered and intellectually stimulating as it is sensual. Sure, it's somewhat of a bummer that Criterion lost the rights to this and several other Studio Canal titles, but I'm just happy to see classic films being released on Blu-ray. And really, despite the lack of a true restorative visual overhaul, Studio Canal has done a fantastic job with this release, which looks and sounds great, and includes a truly excellent supply of supplementary materials. Highly recommended.
Une femme est une femme
1961
1965
À bout de souffle
1960
Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux / My Life to Live
1962
Il deserto rosso
1964
Une femme mariée: Suite de fragments d'un film tourné en 1964
1964
1967
Les quatre cents coups
1959
1960
L'année dernière à Marienbad
1961
1960
Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution
1965
Det sjunde inseglet
1957
1999
重慶森林 / Chung Hing sam lam
1994
晩春
1949
1961
Léon Morin, prêtre
1961
1975
Hamnstad
1948