Contempt (1963)

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jean-luc godard's subversive foray into commercial filmmaking is a start-studded cinemascope epic. contempt (le mépris) stars michel piccoli as a screenwriter torn between the demands of a proud european director (played by legendary director fritz lang), a crude and arrogant american producer (jack palance), and his disillusioned wife, camille (brigitte bardot) as he attempts to doctor the script for a new film version of the odyssey. the criterion collection is proud to present this brilliant study of material breakdown, artistic compromise, and the cinematic process in a new special edition.

Legendary director Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt is a movie within a movie - on the surface, the film is about a director (Michel Piccoli) whose wife Camille (Brigitte Bardot) falls out of love with him while he is rewriting an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey for an American producer (Jack Palance). But underneath this tragic tale of a doomed romance lies Godard's true subject: the commercial film industry, which he shows his Contempt for in a directing performance that is slyly subversive, darkly comic and completely original.