Contempt (Movie Review)

Contempt (1963)

Classic Movies

5/5

     Your probably more familiar with movies that sexually exploit women for the purpose of increasing the fan service and attracting the male gaze for the sole, erotic pleasure of seeing her backside. There was, however, one film that challenged this and that movie was called “Contempt”, a film directed by the legendary French New Wave filmmaker Jean- Luc Godard. 

     The story is about a male writer rising to fame in the film industry by working alongside his idol Fritz Lang on the production of Homer’s "Odyssey". One way of viewing “Contempt” is to compare the relationship between the director Paul and his wife Camille to the Greek hero Odysseus and his wife Penelope. Odysseus has to return from his long journey and fight the suitors that stand in his way of his beloved Penelope. Similarly, Penelope and Camille are both disappointed in their aloof partners and it is isn't long before that feeling changes into contempt.

     In Contempt, the sexually frustrated male must find a way to maintain a stable life by balancing his sexuality and creativity. Godard casts Brigitte Bardot, the sex symbol of the 60’s in France, to challenge us if the same type of sexual exploitation that the male gaze is attracted to is either a good or bad influence on the creative, cultural imagination of the international filmmaker. 

     The most intriguing part of “Contempt” lies in the central conflict: the control that the male gaze has over women in the film industry, and how men are entitled to an authoritative position which dictates all how women should be depicted on screen. This, unfortunately, results in targeting men with movies that degrade and humiliate women.

     A scene that comments on the industry is when director Fritz Lang, film producer Prokosche, Paul and Camille are sitting in the screening room and they are watching the rough shots of the Odyssey from pre-production that show Greek statues in place of the actors. The Greek statues might present the case that it wasn’t the Gods who created men but it was men’s creation of the Gods that represents their power of entitlement and control over sexualizing women since antiquity. In all of it’s convolution this really is a beautiful  scene but I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of it and there is still so much more beneath its exterior. 

     As the movie progresses, we see Fritz Lang growing more and more resentful towards Prokosche and his changes to the script. He makes a comment about his job position, “the producer is like a dictator that makes all the decisions you can’t object to.”  What makes this scene interesting is that Lang is a famous German director that was famous for his silent films in the 30’s prior to World War II. Some famous titles of his include “Metropolis”, “M” and “Nosferatu”. The American producer is completely oblivious of Lang's experience working under the Nazi's in the 30's and how this changed after World War II.

     Referring back to that scene  of the screening room---as Prokosche is about to hand him a check after the screening, Lang says: “Back in the day, the Nazi’s use to take out a pistol for a check.” I felt that this conversation between an American and German filmmaker not only reflects on how far we’ve come in our relations with Germany since the second World War, but also in that Germany is no longer enslaved to producing movies for other people based on strict political demands by the victims at war.