Paul Javal (Michel Piccoli) is a screenwriter working with director Fritz Lang (who plays himself) on an adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey. Jack Palance plays an American producer whose commercial concerns clash with Lang’s artistic vision, and Brigitte Bardot is Paul’s wife, who is falling out of love with her husband.
Their decaying marriage is the emotional core of the film, while the making of The Odyssey provides the space for Godard’s commentary on filmmaking, art, business, and life wonderings.
I love you totally, tenderly, tragically.
Paul Javal, in Le Mépris (1963)
As with most of my experiences with Godard and the french new wave, Le Mépris (1963) was not a smooth watch for me. Though I was expecting a film that is simultaneously aloof and too aware of itself, something about this one frustrated and bored me. The first culprit is undoubtedly the use of the translator. Because there are three different languages between the characters – english, french, and german – there’s literally a translator in every scene where they co-exist, repeating every line that is spoken. While I usually find the use of multiple languages in film interesting, this was frankly just exhausting.
I went in rather intrigued about Lang’s role and did not come out disappointed. His grounding presence was a compelling counterweight to the otherworldliness of Bardot and Piccoli; whilst Palance’s character felt vulgar and ordinary in a funny but disconcerting way. Bardot and Piccoli had an effortless allure that shines particularly bright when it’s just the two of them, but in the end it wasn’t enough for me.
I’ve noticed the more we doubt, the more we cling to a false lucidity, in hope of rationalizing what feelings have made murky.
— Camille Javal, in Le Mépris (1963)
Because the thing about these films, is that if you can’t get into them and feel them, if you can’t understand them, you’re left with two hours of characters saying things they seemingly don’t mean, mocking you with references you don’t get. When this happens, there’s very little to hold on to besides gorgeous imagery, an iconic score, and poetic dialogue. It’s an aesthetically pleasing experience, but not a very fulfilling one.
