Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Le Mepris Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 11, 2009

Jean-Luc Godard's "Le mépris" (1965) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. Amongst the special features on the disc are a short introduction by British writer and film producer Colin Maccabe, Antoine de Gaudemar's "Once Upon A Time There Was...Contempt", a conversation with Fritz Lang, the documentary "Contempt...tenderly" and more. With optional English, German, Castellan, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish and Japanese subtitles. Region A/B.

Brigitte Bardot as the frustrated Camille Javal

Like most films Jean-Luc Godard directed, Le mépris is a fascinating character study, only this time around the key character is Cinema. Admittedly, the notable presence of French sex symbol Brigitte Bardot may encourage some viewers to seek a slightly different read of Le mépris, one where she is the focus of attention, but this would be a frustrating experience given that the events that are chronicled in are fairly uninteresting.

Le mépris has a complex, maddening construction. It effectively works on two different levels -- making a strong case for the ability of Cinema to create powerful illusions, and observing the mechanics of creating Cinema.

There are five protagonists. A powerful European director, Fritz Lang (playing himself), who has been hired to shoot an adaption of Homer’s epic, The Odyssey. A gifted playwright, Paul Javal (Michel Piccoli), who debates whether or not he could rewrite the script to the film. His beautiful wife, Camille Javal (Brigitte Bardot). A cocky American producer, Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance), who has financed the project. An experienced multilingual translator, Francesca Vanini (Giorgia Moll), who carefully observes and learns from the people around her. The experiences of each protagonist are used to highlight the creative hurdles Cinema must overcome before it becomes... Cinema. However, their individual stories are hardly of any interest.

The ideas, suggestions, and criticisms that give Le mépris its structure are communicated in French, German, Italian, and English. Even with Vanini present, the main protagonists routinely converse in different languages as well. Why? The idea is to stress that Cinema is a universal language, one that anyone could understand.

The ability of Cinema to create, erode, and destroy perceptions is also highlighted. For example, the sequences in which Lang views the raw footage with the Greek gods, which inspires an energetic statement that they are created by men, not vice versa, implies that myths and religions, like movie stars and films, exist because they welcome and encourage manipulation -- they can manipulate or be manipulated.

Oddly, sex, perhaps Cinema’s most powerful commodity, does not become a target. There are only a couple of short sequences where Godard's camera quickly studies Bardot’s naked body. Ironically, the combined footage was introduced only because the American financiers of Le mépris made it clear to Godard that they did not get what they paid for after they were presented a rough cut of it.

Cinematographer Raoul Coutard’s lensing is breathtaking and can gently soothe any frustration with the complex Godardian narrative. However, the violent finale quickly puts things back in a proper (Godardian) perspective.

Georges Delerue composed the haunting soundtrack after Le mépris was completed. Its main theme, an undescribably beautiful leitmotiv, is impossible to forget.

Le Mepris Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean-Luc Godard's Le mépris arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

This high-definition transfer is just a tiny bit weaker than the one the British distributors and French juggernaut Studio Canal delivered for Belle de jour. Once again, it appears that the two parties have used dated elements to bring the film to Blu-ray. As a result, there are some minor inconsistencies with the presentation which I am going to address in a minute.

First, however, the good news - there are no traces of serious filtering. As a result, the grain structure of Le mépris is very much intact. From the provocative close-ups of Bardot's naked body in the very beginning of the film to the intoxicatingly beautiful panoramic vistas from the Isle of Capri, Le mépris looks gorgeous. Edge-enhancement and macroblocking are not a serious issue of concern. I did see some thick lining popping up here and there, but this isn't something that would detract from your viewing experience.

Now, the film's color-scheme is where most of the issues with this transfer appear. Because Le mépris has not been thoroughly restored (like Godard's Pierrot le fou), there are some random color pulsations that you would notice. Reds, yellows, greens and blues are the ones that are affected the most by them. Finally, unlike the R1 DVD Criterion released some time ago, this Blu-ray transfer retains the film's correct color scheme.

Aside from a few minor specks popping up here and there, Le mépris looks solid. There are no serious debris, scratches, or warps to report in this review.

To sum it all up, despite the few minor reservations I have with the transfer, I think that this is a solid release that outperforms every single DVD release that I have seen of Le mépris. And just so it is perfectly clear to those who share the opinion that this should be obvious, the high-definition transfer gives the film an entirely new look, one with pleasing depth and detail that I have not previously witnessed.

Note: This disc has been coded for Regions A and B. Therefore, you must have a native Region A or B, or Region-Free, PS3 or SA in order to access its content. Please note that if you reside in a Region-C territory, and have only a native Region-C PS3 or SA, you won't be able to access the disc's content. Additionally, you could set the disc's main menu in one of the following languages: English (Australian specs), Danish, German, Spanish, French, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, English (UK specs), English (USA specs), and Japanese. Please note that if you select to set up the menu with the USA specs, the default language track would be the English one. Therefore, you need to manually select the original French audio track).

Le Mepris Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are four audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: 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. I opted for the original French audio track.

The French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is solid. It reveals a lot more depth and clarity than I could hear on my R2 DVD (courtesy of Momentum Pictures) or R1 DVD (courtesy of Criterion). The dialog is crisp, clear and extremely easy to follow). Georges Delerue's haunting soundtrack sounds particularly impressive, perhaps a lot stronger than I expected it would. There are a couple of scenes where I detected a bit of mild background noise, but overall I have absolutely no reservations with the French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track whatsoever.

I did a few random comparisons with the Spanish dub, which I assumed contained the alternative music score by Piero Piccioni. As far as I could tell, however, this isn't it - this is a basic dubbed only version of the film. Also, there is a lot more background noise on it that will surely annoy those of you who choose to ignore the original French track.

Please note that Optimum Home Entertainment have provided optional English, German, Castellan, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish and Japanese subtitles for the main feature. They are excellent - not too big, not too small. When turned on, the subtitles appear inside the image frame.

Le Mepris Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are in 480/60i. Therefore, they are perfectly playable on all Region-A PS3s and SAs.

Introduction - British writer and film producer Colin Maccabe delivers a short introduction for Godard's film where he highlights its strengths. (6 min).

Once Upon A Time There Was...Contempt - a co-production between FOLAMOUR, Ina, TCM and France 5, directed by Antoine de Gaudemar, focusing on the history of Godard's film. Indeed, this is an incredibly informative film in which the French director recalls how Le mepris came to exist,, what it meant to him, etc. Fantastic! In French, with English subtitles. (53 min).

Contempt...tenderly - a co-production between Studio Canal, Point du Jour, and CineCinema. French writer Alain Bergala, author of "Godard au travail, les annees 60", talks about the French director's legacy how Alberto Moravia's novel inspired Le mepris. In French, with English subtitles. (32 min).

The dinosaurs and the baby - a dialogue in eight parts between Fritz Lang and Jean-Luc Godard with extracts from M and Le mepris. In French, with English subtitles. (B&W, 61 min).

Conversation with Fritz Lang - a short interview with the German director. In German, with English subtitles. (B&W, 15 min).

Tralier - In French, with English subtitles. (3 min).

BD-Live functionality -

Booklet - a 20-page illustrated booklet with information about the film.

Le Mepris Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The most sensual of Jean-Luc Godard's films, Le mépris, has now arrived on Blu-ray. Folks, this is easily the best this wonderful film has ever looked. I must also point out that the supplemental features on the disc are absolutely terrific. I cannot think of a single reason why you would not want to have Le mépris in your collections. Recommended.