Contempt (1963)

A screenwriter (Michel Piccoli) is hired by an arrogant American producer (Jack Palance) to punch up a script during filming, and his marriage to his disproportionately attractive wife (Brigitte Bardot) begins to deteriorate.

Director Fritz Lang plays director Fritz Lang. Real-life Lang’s directing career was already over, due mostly to failing eyesight. Here he is directing, interestingly enough, The Odyssey.

The film was a success for director Jean-Luc Godard, but for Bardot, one of the biggest stars at the time, it was a bit of a disappointment. Half of the million dollar budget went into her fee.

Husband and wife wander around their apartment while arguing. The scene goes on for thirty-four minutes and nothing sees to be communicated. This is the key to the film. A relationship goes from very solid to on the rocks, and the root cause is never uttered. It is left to the audience to decide. I have my theory, and it's not what's in the IMDb blurb.

Contempt is a very talky movie. Little action of consequence and the viewer is left to decide what it all meant. A second viewing may be in order, but I don’t feel compelled to do so. AMRU 3. It is, however, my favorite Jean-Luc Godard film so far.

Alphaville (1965)

A reporter arrives in Alphaville from the “Outer Countries”, looking for Professor Von Braun and asking a lot of questions. Slowly he learns the true nature of Alphaville and Alpha 60, even if little of it makes much sense to the viewer.

Ostensibly this is Film-Noir, but it reads like a parody of the genre. Our protagonist behaves like a jerk, slapping people, acting misogynistic, and getting into random violence and gun play. I know, but I mean inappropriately so. I sense the director (Jean-Luc Godard) is making a statement about the hard-boiled detective trope and American cinema in general, and it is not a favorable one. Every adherence to the genre felt like an exaggeration to point out its absurdity.

But calling it science fiction is a taller order. It is said to be set in a dystopian future where computers control everyone’s thoughts, but there was no attempt to camouflage present era Paris. 1960’s locations, cars, and other technology are plainly used. Again, I feel the intent of the director. While real sci-fi explores modern society using a fanciful story and out-of-this-world setting, here the director presents his story with nothing more than sci-fi lip service. It’s a dystopian future, and it is today. The Alpha 60 computer is the only technology presented, and it seemed out of place in the world presented.

The unpleasant voice of Alpha 60 was recorded by a man with his voice box removed due to cancer. But this is not by far the most unpleasant aspect. The nonsensical dialog gave it a pretentious air and the herky-jerky editing made it hard to follow the action, principally the fight scenes. And occasionally scenes go reverse negative, because that’s artsy.

I understand that seamful editing was a French New Wave thing, to call attention to the existence of the film. An Intention of Disbelief, if you will. And perhaps the noir genre was more than a little dated by 1965, and deserved criticism. But Alphaville is confoundingly respected in both genres, and I don’t believe it respects them.

The story is tedious and absurd, the edits abrupt and disjointed, the dialog utterly nonsensical, and the character behavior is ridiculous. This was all a conscious decision by the director, but that doesn’t make it an easier watch. If you think French cinema is pompous and pretentious, I present to you exhibit Alpha. AMRU 2.

“Yes, I am afraid of death. But for a humble secret agent, it's an everyday thing, like whiskey. And I've been drinking all my life.”

Breathless (1960)

Michel is a two bit criminal obsessed with American culture and an American woman. He commits rash crimes while trying to convince Patricia to run off with him to Rome.

This was Jean-Luc Godard's first feature length film and my first foray into the French New Wave, whatever that is. The story was written by Francois Truffaut, the other FNW giant. I understand they didn't get along.

Godard needed to shorten the film but didn't want to remove any scenes. So, he just chopped up the slower parts, giving a strange, disconnected feeling of reality to the story, lending itself to the revolution in movie making during this time.

Pretty Jean Seberg played Joan of Arc as a teen, appeared in The Mouse that Roared, and seemed to be a rising star. She apparently suffered from depression before taking kill-me pills at the age of 40.

I found Breathless likable and in many aspects interesting, but I fall short of love. Stylish, but there wasn't much story to latch onto. Clever editing will take you only so far. AMRU 3.5.