Recently, the "French New Wave Double Hero Film Retrospective" was held at Shenzhen Broadway Film Center, and I was fortunate to see two of them: "Exhausted" (1960) and "Contempt" (1963).
I have seen these two films more than ten years ago, and this time I rewatched them on the big screen. First, I fulfilled the wish of "seeing them on the big screen once in my lifetime", and second, I saw different feelings, especially "Contempt". ”, is not the same.
More than ten years ago, when I first entered the fandom, I didn’t watch many movies and had little life experience. "Contempt" is a movie about movies, and it's also a movie about marriage and love. When I watched "Contempt" back then, not to mention marriage, it was love, and my experience value was also pitiful, so I was basically indifferent to the part about marriage and love in the film. The most intuitive impression that the film left me at that time was only Brigitte Bardot's big ass.
Rewatching it now, the part of the film history in the film will make me reminisce, and more feelings come from Godard's insight and perspective on marriage and love.
After Godard "dictates" the film's cast, it's a "bed scene" between Paul (Michel Piccoli) and Camille (Brigitte Bardot). In my opinion, this is one of the greatest "sex scenes" in the history of cinema, truly erotic without being lewd. And the dialogue between the two is also exquisite, with hypocrisy to witness the deep affection. This is a happy beginning, but it also heralds the arrival of tragedy.
As a romantic film, "Contempt" actually only tells the story that happened in four days.
The above scene took place on the first night.
The next day, screenwriter Paul met with producer Prokosius and director Fritz Lang to discuss the creation of the film "The Odyssey." Prokosius people rely on money and power, domineering, domineering, and domineering. In order to get a high screenwriter's remuneration, Paul followed the lead of Prokosius.
After discussing the issue of creation, Paul introduced his glamorous wife to Prokosius.
Prokosius did not shy away from friends, and invited Camille to his house for coffee in a very simple and rude way.
Camille is deeply in love with Paul, so she hopes that Paul can help her refuse this invitation like a dignified man.
Although Paul murmured in his heart, in order to keep his job as a screenwriter, not only did he not refuse, but he also "pushed" his wife and asked her to take a Proko repair car to his house, but he even took a taxi to go there.
Paul arrived half an hour or an hour later than Camille and Prokosio, and this time gap became a problem for Paul.
Perhaps in order to gain psychological balance, at Prokosius' house, Paul told a joke to Prokosius' female assistant and touched her butt.
In just half a day, Paul made two fatal mistakes, laying down his dignity and messing with flowers. For women, these are two unforgivable mistakes, and the "contempt" from Camille begins from there.
At Camille's insistence, Paul and Camille returned to the apartment ahead of schedule.
In the apartment, they have a seemingly boring, dry conversation about love and not love. In the end, this conversation is nothing more than questioning and repetition, extremely boring, but they are so real in our lives that they sting every lover or couple.
Although Camille is disappointed with Paul, she still tries to save their marriage or love at this time. She repeatedly gives Paul a chance to make a decision, but Paul blocks it all back.
In the evening, Paul and Camille met again with Prokosius and Fritz Lang, and after watching a very Godard stage performance, they discussed going to Prokosius' villa for a vacation.
Paul's ambiguous attitude finally pushed his relationship with Camille to a cliff.
And so, there's another boring, dry conversation in the apartment that ends with Camille establishing her "contempt" for Paul.
On the fourth day, they came to Prokosius' villa by the sea.
On the boat, Prokosius again blatantly sent out an ambiguous invitation to Camille, and Paul actually "pushed" Camille again.
In desperation, Camille deliberately kisses Prokosius in Paul's sight.
This scene finally made Paul wake up, but it was too late.
Paul decided to quit his job as a screenwriter and take Camille away, but Camille was already dead, and her "contempt" for Paul was irreversible.
After leaving the farewell letter, Camille got into Proko's car and headed to Rome.
On the way, Camille confided in her heart that she had no intention of dating the rich man Prokosius, she just wanted to go back to being a typist-since her husband had no dignity at all, she could only keep her last dignity .
However, a traffic accident happened "just in time" and both Camille and Prokossi were killed.
Paul, who lost his family as a dog, sadly left the crew after learning of their deaths.
Such a love story can of course be told in a very popular way, but I definitely prefer Godard's so cold and hard way of telling it, it made me feel like a man, and saw my own weakness and incompetence.
Paul is cowardly, and his erection of suspicion is another dark side of his personality. It can be said that as a man, his strength and weakness are just the opposite.
In front of Camille, Paul may have been sturdy, but in just four days, he lost his armor and lost his armor. When he wanted to regain his dignity, he was disqualified from Camille.
Financially, Camille is attached to Paul, but her personality is independent.
Aside from that deliberate kiss, she and Prokosius should be clean by the end of the story.
She had the capital to let herself go, but she chose not to leave until she had to give up - she gave Paul too many opportunities.
After losing her reliable husband, she still did not take shortcuts, but reluctantly went back.
Camille, is a stark example of self-emancipation in the emancipation of women in the sixties.
In "Contempt," Camille "contempts" Paul and Godard "contempts" men.
In addition to the gender, Godard also "contempt" the rules of the Hollywood game ("Contempt" has funds from Hollywood) - holding the sexy ace of Brigitte Bardot, Godard always let her still hold the lute half-covered On the surface, only the lines are exposed, not the points.
Godard is also "contemptuous" of Hollywood's tried-and-true routines. In the film, Paul's gun appears again and again, and the audience can easily think that he will use this gun to kill Camille or commit suicide, but Godard let Camille unload the bullet from the gun, and Paul is completely "misfired"-is this Another metaphor?
View more about Contempt reviews
