"Any film with the incredibly hot, pre-PETA Bardot is worth a write-up."
That is what Maegan told me and hell's bells - I agree.
AFI is continuing their mind-bogglingly successful attempt to get you to go to Silver Spring more than once a year, with doing a one-week-only (starting today) screening of Godard's serenely perverse, infinitely quotable, and always fascinating "Contempt" (Le Mepris), based on Alberto Moravia's controversial novel of the same name, and produced by Carlo Ponti.
From the press release:
A rebel with a cause, Godard pursues an iconoclast's agenda, using the Franscope format (expertly controlled by cinematographer Raoul Coutard) to undermine the grandeur of widescreen melodramas. The story ostensibly concerns an innovative production of Homer's Odyssey and the struggle of a respected screenwriter (Michel Piccoli) to please a pugnacious producer (Jack Palance), a veteran director (Fritz Lang, essentially playing himself), and a petulant wife (Brigitte Bardot) who's grown tired of their turbulent relationship. It's all pretense, however, for Godard's mischievous (and yes, contemptuous) deconstruction of commercial Hollywood filmmaking, potently infused with film-buff in-jokes, astute observations about love, stardom, and artistry, and enough glossy style to suggest that Godard had mastered the craft he so willfully rejects. CONTEMPT is one of his most accessibly fascinating films.
— Jeff Shannon
The new print is supposedly as lushly Technicolored as your wildest dreams, that theatre is seriously the best place to see a movie in the whole of Mid-Atlantic and of course, Bardot is mind-numbingly hot. And in a towel/naked/frolicking a fair amount.
details, tickets and beyond here:
http://www.afi.com/silver/new/default.aspx
God loves a cheerful giver.
i'm a big fan of this film. and would recommend it to anyone who doesn't like godard. as it's a little easier to get down than some of his more 'godard-y' stuff.
at the same time, i'd say it's a little rough. like a grumpier version of 'day for night' that is frayed at the edges by too much handling from it's creator. and yeah 'mind numbingly' is a good word for it. some scenes you'll forget what they're talking about as you try to store every moment of bardot in your brain for later recall.
(psssst it's c-o-n-t-r-O-v-e-r-s-i-a-l)