In Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt, the filmmaking process, with all its profound turmoil, is presented as a statement on human struggle. It's the story of a scriptwriter (Michel Piccolo, then virtually unknown) striving to make sense of his life while working on a rewrite of Homer's The Odyssey, torn between a wily American producer (Jack Palance), a dedicated European director (the great German and Hollywood filmmaker Fritz Lang playing himself) and his disillusioned wife (Brigitte Bardot, then freshly notorious).

The film is also a portrait of an art form, decaying, its decadence the result of its own success. "Contempt is the story of this world," declares a voice over early in the film. So are – or should – all movies.

The 35mm copy of Contempt is recently made from a new internegative. Print courtesy of Tamasa Distribution.

5/2

(Sun)

2:30pm *

Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

* Post-screening talk with Bryan Chang