Understanding : Contempt : J L Godard
How to analysis a film.
You can always Google .
1. ) To find few case studies in to various research Journals where a chapter would be dedicated to it among other chapters, either alone or in combination with 3-more films on a specific theme.
01.Contempt_Le_Mepris_Revisited_Godard.( click here to download)
2.) as k questions what you have not understood , the way i asked questions to you. I am sure all of you are capable of making such questions. Don't be afraid of doing so.
02. It's Not Blood It's Red Color as Category Color( click here to download)
03. Speaking about godar.Interview Book.( click here to download)
3. Go to IMDB. on the right hand side there is section ....click on the external reviews, where you will find most of the links where there is Critical Analysis related to the film is linked. Open those Links and Cut and paste all the content in word file. Now start reading it. keep deleting which is just story. keep the point which you think some valuable.
this is the only way.
Details
• Full Cast and Crew
• Release Dates
• Official Sites
• Company Credits
• Filming & Production
• Technical Specs
________________________________________
Explore More
.....
External Reviews
4. Also try to find the script of the film so that, you can refer to the exact dialogues of the film.
04. Download the Script Of Contempt( click here to download)
5. Try to watch the film and keep taking screen shot at various section of the film so that you know what exactly you noticed and where.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Posted on 6th may 2020.between 8.30 and 9.00pm
Day 3- Questions & Answers for Download:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Q.1 Why you think Godard has used the idea of Narrating the credits rather than in a written way and ends with a quote from André Bazin "The cinema substitutes for our gaze a world more in harmony with our desires".
In each film, the director, actors, writers want to do something they haven't done before. the constant searching of new ideas and ways to show same things differently keep them engaged to cinema. we as humans are destined to avoid things which we see every day. we see credits in every films. but in how many we have actually focused on credits, on each name? for most of the people the answer would be none.
so it was a clever ( read Intelligent ) idea to say names because audience will focus on that surely as it was something new and from saving oneself from the grief that they didn't focus on things from the start. so in a way it drags the audience into the attention from the start, forgetting their mundane life and make them focus on what he wants to show in the film ahead.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A.) Basic answer would be to differentiate the movie from other films as usually we see credits coming up on screen to which we pay no attention as we focus more on what's happening in the scene. By speaking out the credits, we would remember names of key production members such as director, actors, cinematographer, editor etc.
B.) The shot and dialogue sets up the tone and premise of the movie which basically deals with the behind the scenes process which we as a viewer don't get to see. Hence, dialogue instead of credits immerses ourselves in the movie and we are able to grab the 'feel' of the film.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
1- The film is based on a movie being made. Here, to create an aura of film making along with the storytelling , the original cast has been narrated as a script or story is narrated.
Since it’s a film about a film , narrating credit list makes it more like a story telling , easy to connect with audience .
The quote is the crust of the whole movie , its gives the audience a perspective to watch the movie in a particular way.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When the wide tracking shot is turned onto the audience and making them realized of its presence shatters the fourth wall.Hence, by quoting Andre Bazin who has been a relevant contributor of ‘OLD CINEMA’, Godard brings up the relevance of REAL CINEMA and puts up a confrontation between the REAL CINEMA and MAINSTREAM CINEMA. His choice of angles of long take composition, documentary styling.
The Narrative credits in the film is to make audience aware of the production and that cinema is a constructive process unlike mainstream cinema tries to make it interactive medium by maintaining the fourth wall , hence mainly projects the written credits in the end so that the attention of the masses does not shatter the illusion of the film . Unlike, mainstream cinema Godard mentions the crew in the very opening shot of the film to break the illusion and question the active participation of the audience in the film.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Use of sound is extremely imp. In cinema ,It draws us into the movie without even coming to our attention. Mixmaster that he is, Godard is one of the best filmmakers making full use of the capacity of sound in cinema today. The first sound one hears is the sharp, piercing tone of 1,000 hertz frequency associated with announcements. The Image Book does have end credits, but the film goes on a little while longer afterward in a kind of fuge-like state in which Godard’s hackey, croaky, horse voice reverberates on the different channels of the theater’s speakers. I think reading them out loud creates a more personal experience for the audience and for him. Since in the movie there is no fixed narrative and we get no character to empathize with, hearing his voice makes it seem like he’s trying to connect with us directly.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
. The film’s opening feature a voice-over narrator reading the cast and crew credits. This opening resists the pact of fictional film, which strives for the importance of “building false reality in any movie.
.. ” Contempt showcases itself as a combination of dialectical strategies wherein cinema is the main medium.
... The opening sequence concludes with a reading of André Bazin’s quote, “Cinema shows us a world that fits our desires.” In retrospect, it is the sentiment following this quote that offers the most complicated insight into the film’s design:
.... “Contempt is the story of that world,” says the narrator. After staging this interaction between viewer and film, Contempt cuts to a red-lit shot of Camille’s naked body.
..... At first glance, it seems as if Contempt is offering an ambivalent critique of “the desire” imbedded in cinematic gaze, but as it progresses, it becomes clear that the film is undergoing a much more complex process than initially appears. As Camille playfully asks her lover Paul (Michel Piccoli) if he likes various parts of her body, the camera roves up and down her bare legs, buttocks and back.
...... The lighting shifts color, from red to white to blue, possibly gesturing to a broader social critique as it does the French flag’s colours.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
To answer this question I will recall a quote " The ear is profound, the eye is frivolous, too easily satisfied"
According to me listings shows more impact than reading. And by narrating credits Goddard did an act of experiment.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
He may have also used written credit over the same shot but audience hardly pay attention to credits and what's behind the credits. And as the credit ends the camera pan's to the audience with the boom mic also moving towards us as if they are shooting us the audience/ the world. So for me using the quote and panning the camera/mic on world / audience, both the actions were used to signify the sentence "Contempt is the story of world" which came out of the Andre Bazin's saying.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The quote by Andre Bazin talks about cinema being in more harmony with our desires. But, in the very beginning Godard contradicts this statement by the way cast and crew credits are told. This infact adds an element of frustration rather than being in harmony with our desires. The long take of a woman walking while holding a paper and being filmed. But, neither we get to know what she was holding nor we got to know what was being filmed and as an icing to the element of frustration, the shot gets interrupted abruptly and cuts to the scene of bedroom.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Godard tried to emphasize on the fact that people can often misunderstood desires. The opening credits are not written out (like we expect) and whatever Vanini is reading is overlapped with the voice of the narrator so we cannot hear her words(even if we want to).Cinematographer turns around and focuses the camera on audience so we might never see what he had shot.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Many people didnot bother about different crafts involved in CINEMA. people use to skip titles. so he narrated credits rather than written way to say about people who had struggled to complete the movie.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Basically as a audience we prefer more to listen something rather than to read that one . So they used this technique in sake of their perspective. Basically listening something and reading has a great difference , as a filmmaker we prefer more about audience then what we have to do in general.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Gordard made films not only to entertain but to make people think and feel. He wanted the audience to be pulled into the narrative he presented and make them feel the emotions of the character he created. I believe he was always obsessed with the connection of human relations and film. In the opening shot of the film 'Contempt' he separates the line between film and reality by removing the credits written and narrates the credits. Not only he did that, In the distance, at the end of the dolly line a camera crew follows two actors as they slowly stroll toward the screen. As they approach they move out of the frame leaving the camera in the center. At that time the directors narrates the quote from Andre Bazin "the cinema substitutes for our gaze a world more in harmony with our desires", and as he says contempt is the world of that history. The camera pans and tilts down casting the audience of the movie.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It was a unique way of making the audience feel that they are watching a film. From those narrative credits we were focused on the camera not the scene it was shooting. He wants us to see the BTS. and after a few seconds the camera turns to its left side and comes to the eye level of the audience and it feels like it is recording the audience too.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I believe that this film relies heavily on subtext. Hence narrating the credits establishes that from the very beginning. It is a clear sign of emphasizing on the element which usually go slightly unnoticed in comparison with the other nuances of the film.
Narrating the credits breathes life into the characters and the entire team even if they are just mentioning their names and associated credits. Since this film broadly revolves around the filmmaking/shooting of another film, it conveys the importance of the art of filmmaking and overall importance rather than keeping just the actors as the prime focus.
It is also artistic in a way to narrate the credits rather than just display. It is certainly more grasping.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Godard has open the film with narrating the credits instead of written form so that to break the fourth wall between its audience and the illusion which he also showed by showing the shoot with secretary outside the studio and at the end of panned his camera to the audience as if breaking the fourth wall when there is a quote narrated on screen. Because by doing this he is making the audience aware that we are watching a film which involves different departments that forms the illusioned reality we experience in a form of film.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I think Godard try to diminish the line between the audience and cinema by using this sequence. it shows us that we are in parallel with the world of cinema and he included us in the story from the beginning and in the end of the scene when camera points at us it solidifies our relation with the film by making us a part of it and the quote of Andre Bazin contradicts as well as justify the plot of the film in which it can be the world one can desire or might not.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
What I feel, The Narration of Credit is a Contempt from Godard himself as if he is inviting the audience to read between the lines because Godard may have felt that audience always wants everything explicitly and dont want to give deeper thoughts so he is kind of inviting then in reverse way to com and think between the lines . We always Know Godard is known for breaking the rules and here I feel he has done the same thing by showing is contempt over the audience
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Maybe because he wanted the audience to have their complete visual attention on the initial scene( tracking shot ) and did not want it to be dismissed or spread by making them have to read the credits.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The intro used in the opening shot is like a preface that we have in novels. To set the right mood and deepen the interest of the audience in the narrative more.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Godard has used the idea of narrating the credits because he want to his work to be dialectical idea that is he want to question the formal system by reasoning in hiss way that is narrating the credits. He was acting by reversing the process by sound rather than using the lens which is the central part of the cinema, the lens,that create the story,the false story of our desires in our mind.
He end his narration be quoting Andre Bazin, "The cinema substitutes for our gaze a world more in harmony with our desires."This quote contradict in the movie as the character in the movie did not get what they desire of and deal with the real problem of misunderstanding and all the emotions of human that is greed, confusion,lie,love and so on.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
1. Godard has used the idea of narrating the credits than in a written way because instead of building the false reality as those of the other fictional movies , he made it very clear from the very first scene of the movie that this movie is particularly based on the method of how even contradicting ideas could finally lead to a logical conclusion. .
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The credits are narrated instead of writing it shows how unconventional the film is going to be.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Every film started with the credits written and some background music and some background clip goes on. Here Godard must have thought of doing something different than the usual. Then, the story of the film also revolves around the making of films. So by capturing one scene where a woman walking by and reading something is shown while it is shooted, so this basically shows how a scene is shooted and simultaneously the credits are being given. Viewer gets an idea of what the film is about at the beginning itself.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
the people tend to ignore or just don't read those many credits name ...
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The director have chosen to narrate the credits to make this a part of a filmic narration . As if the director says it's the story of Paul and camille whose life changes drastically when entered into the movie business . At the end the male voice over even confirms that cinema is itself the object of this shot "the cinema substitutes for our look a world which confirms to our desires " hence contempt is the story of this world .
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Godard is trying to convey that film involves the people who worked behind it. It is their contributions and ideas that has converted into the final film. So film as a whole depends on the crew. He says the name of the crew as a narrator in order to include it as a part in the film rather than keeping them out of the film with the conventional titles. This scene ends with the Quote of Andre Bazin while the camera is looking at the audience. As the camera substitutes the real world.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
According to me, Godard narrates the credits rather than in a written way to develop a psychological engagement with the audience. If the Godard has started the film with credits written and narrating the quote of Andre Bazim, in the end, it would have resulted in the fluctuation of consciousness of the audience. They might have missed the beginning trying to be comfortable with the voice.
But, while narrating the credits in the starting Godard immediately catch the attention of the audience and instantly made a connection with them. And at the end, he completed the quote of Andre Bazim by overlaying the suspense of the movie with the line
"Contempt is the story of that world". Making the audience curious about the story.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Q.2 Do you think the opening nude scene is erotic? Substitute your statement. Also wh
there it is filled with three different kind of lighting, RED,WHITE,BLUE.
The use of different lighting of primary color that is RED, WHITE ( pl note white is not primary colour - If the three colors of light can be mixed to produce white, they are called primary colors and the standard additive primary colors are red, green and blue.) , BLUE show that basic
foundation of any relationship or to have forever relationship being nude(open to each other)/
emotionally and mentally is much necessary. Also red and blue color means warm and cool
tone and white symbolizes peace. We can say it as be nude with someone who can handle you
both in happy and dull times and gives you peace.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
it suggests the change in the tone of upcoming events in these characters' life. first it starts with red, it suggests the upcoming danger. a sign for the upcoming events. that it won't seem danger at first but the events will make the base for what's gonna happen. then comes white light. clarity, steadiness, where most of the film happens. the change in characters and their life. then dark blue. suggests the end that gonna happen.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Red stands for passion or love, blue stands for calmness and white stands for peace.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I this Godard has used the idea of narrating the credits rather than in written way because - narration deeply clarified such credits.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The opening nude scenes is the base for the story , it's about how a husband wife is having a relation , their thinking and their character. It’s not erotic , it’s informative for those who wants to receive , the reality of the relation .
The 3 different lights are the various character shades of the girl , red ,white and blue being anger ,calmness and disgust respectively .
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I wouldn't find the opening scene erotic though not romantic because there seems to be a lack of chemistry between the couple (ex. Woman is naked whereas man is clothed, she finds an incessant need to ask him if he likes every single body part, asks him if she should get down on her knees). Basically it seems as if she's trying to scoop his perception of her and she needs his validation.
Erotic yes because of the use of the colour red which brings certain warmth to the scene and especially when it turns to white and the camera pans all over her while they are still talking, which is I feel the director making the audience decide how perfect she is or rather show it through the lens. The scene turns blue and takes a little cold turn especially because of the supportive dialogue between the two.
I feel this scene is used to create the premise of the chemistry between the 2 which is later during the film shown dwindling especially when he lets her drive off with the producer, possibly to get her to please him to get himself some work, the reality which is later unveiled in the film, basically the ending of their marriage due to the same reason.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The mood - Mood of both the actors didn't felt to be erotic or in a mood of making love. Neither the expression nor the actions indicated or acted to make a scene erotic.
They both seemed to be in a conversation where Camille was asking Paul some questions about her body. It felt to me as if Camille sensed something and felt Paul do not love her anymore.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Use of Three colors Red,White and Blue.
Using France's flag color. These three colors were used at many places in the film like the furniture of the apartment was in red and blue and walls were white , red car , chair colors,etc.
Red lights used while Camille was talking about her body part from legs to hand.
White color was used when she asked about her skin pores.
Blue was used when she asked about her face.
Paul answered Camille's every Question. Respectively, which (after watching and keeping in mind full movie) showed his true love towards her body.
In white light-
Paul felt her skin answered her question and Camille asked him about her face. Whole body of Camille was shown and been focused. I am still figuring out what it actually meant so I am taking it as separator between what's in red and What's in blue. ( Just like the white lamp who separated the two.)
In blue light-
Blue light enters when Paul start answering and saying I love you completely. But this answer seemed to me little fake and gave a feeling a distance as while answering first Paul started looking down and then Camille. No eye contact maintained between both of them.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The opening scene comes shortly after the idea of desire presented as Bazin's quote. The red filtered scene of a couple in an intimately comfortable setting in their private chambers is not overtly erotic. While eroticism usually has a gradually ascending frenzy of desire moving the audience with a similar pace, this scene was a rather simple and unembellished conversation between a couple wherein the husband admits to be 'totally, and tragically' in love with his wife- an inkling to what unfolds later in the movie.
The lighting Red, White and Blue are used as filters to depict the falsehood of everything that goes on the screen as unreal. The colour combination disables clearer view of the couples faces, but casts a rather suggestive glow on their form and positions.
This same colour combination reappears time and again suggestively in the film as the living spaces in Paul-Camille's apartment, the deck chairs on the Odyssey's set and the sofas in Prokosch's villa in Capri. The colour scheme is a covert dig at the same present in the National Flags of the two countries- America and France, depicted in the movie -which is also a layered hint at the vastly differing ways two countries view their film industries and their treatments which is shown in the story itself.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As the film proceeds, the producer Prokosch really wants to add some nudity and more desirable content in his film and that's what Godard points us at the commercial aspect of film making and that's what he did. He did a similar kind of thing by opening the film with a nude scene and many more nude scenes of camile. It was to slam the commercial film making strategies. There was no sense of eroticism or sexiness. She, like everything else here also being objectified.
About the use of different lights, first of all he wanted to dwell this in our heads from the very start that we are watching a film. Secondly in that scene they are just having their soft intimate conversation the use of lights were used to make the scene much more interesting and to keep the interest of the audience intact. Also when we proceed further we get to see that these were the main colours used in the film.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
what i think is Godard want to tell the story about the space between the colors(Camille and Paul) RED-Desire(Which Frequently Wore by Camille) WHITE-SPACE(In between the wanted Desire and unwanted Desire) BLUE-Unwanted Desire of Paul These colors also described in the Odysseus movie Statues what they want to make film in CONTEMPT
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Opening nudity scene is not that erotic if we show it in official way. By official way i mean to say by hiding it with some kind of signal or logo. Sometime the content demand nudity but if we show in starting only then we can have rest of the scenes without erotic scenes. By this way we can cover up the nudity part and we can excite audience for rest of the movie.
According to me Erotic scenes filled with RED, WHITE AND BLUE because they try to highlight and hide the nudity. It is also a signal for sex trafficking. I have seen in many movies like Love sex or dhokha. Its also a signal for audience below 18 years old. Director try to hide graphic images of body parts.
As I mentioned above about desire so Godard in the first scene itself presents that which all men desire, nudity... But he strips off the erotic-ness from it by making the actress say the name of each and every body part in the same tone of voice, including knees and breasts. The scene reminded me of a scene with the same purpose from a bangla film called Rajkahini.
The three colours reminds me of Kieslowski's three films so I think the colours signify France but also the colours of American flag which makes sence since both languages are used in film.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I don't find the opening nude scene to be erotic. It can be seen as two people expressing their emotions the way they know to. And the nudity adds more depth and rawness to the scene as we are seeing a private moment of the characters. And we feel more closer to them .
The different colours used in the scene can be seen as how the same visual can have several interpretations and layers to it even though in the actual sense it is the same thing that is happening.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The use of red, white and then blue filters help to de-eroticize her and make us realize that we are not watching real people but the characters themselves and that this is a mere movie and not a real life situation anyhow.
Moreover, the three colors used here are used frequently throughout the film and represent the three elements that you can see in the film, Red has been used to symbolize love and tolerance, blue has been used to represent coldness and separation and white to represent neutrality and at occasions emptiness too.
The same three colors are also the constituents of France's flag and Godard being an eminent personality of French new wave might have used these colors to represent the same.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The film’s opening feature a voice-over narrator reading the cast and crew credits. This opening resists the pact of fictional film, which strives for the importance of “building false reality in any movie.
After staging this interaction between viewer and film, Contempt cuts to a red-lit shot of Camille’s naked body...... At first glance, it seems as if Contempt is offering an ambivalent critique of “the desire” imbedded in cinematic gaze, but as it progresses, it becomes clear that the film is undergoing a much more complex process than initially appears. As Camille playfully asks her lover Paul (Michel Piccoli) if he likes various parts of her body, the camera roves up and down her bare legs, buttocks and back.
...... The lighting shifts color, from red to white to blue, possibly gesturing to a broader social critique as it does the French flag’s colours.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Yes, opening nude scene is erotic. He made scene erotic by words. Without any romantic act he made scene erotic by female dialogues. This scene shows Goddard feelings towards montage. While both the characters talking, camera moves towards down side of female naked body.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The film uses this narrative method, because I think it tries break out from the mainstream film ideology which tries to create a kind of alternative reality or tries to portray a more desirable world which Godard might have felt unrealistic about.
After watching the film, as I was reading a bit about the film I got to know that the opening nude scene was filmed after the filming of the movie ended. The producer of this film wanted to cast someone with a overly sensual body for creating an hyped attention. And I think Godard filmed this scene, as a mockery to how nudity was portrayed in most of mainstream American and French films before the new wave. The scene where, Bardot asks his lover that did he like her body parts or not, the camera moves up and down on the back of her body, and first red, then white and at last blue colur emerges thus creating a social critique on the mindsets of a heterosexual man, as the colour represent those on the French flag. He often used beautiful picturesque moments while portraying melancholic or difficult situations thus blowing apart the harmonious world in Bazin's quote.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Hindi commnet By a student........Click to read
XXXXXXXXX
The opening nude scene has been melo dramatized by changing filters during verbal sexual exchange in order to de-eroticize Camille so that we(And Levine the producer who initially wanted Godard to at least put an erotic scene of Brigitte Bardot) can't fully admire her nudity.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
But opening nude is not erotic as audience has that excitement to see things in a particular flow or a motion , and if it is shown ( in disruptive manner ) than it affects that excitement level and tends to decrease.
The reason it is filled from red , blue and white light as it symbolizes their French flag as if advertising Bardot rear end as of French national treasure.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Red is the colour of love, lust, passion hence it was the perfect colour to enhance the visual glory with. But using Blue and white gave it a triadic feeling where in Red was the most dominant where as the other two were slightly subtle and warm. Using Red throughout would have immensely personified eroticism however, changing the light meant changing the mood which became as an understanding that it was a passionate display of love rather than engaging in something like an intercourse. If the latter was true then maybe maintaining RED throughout would have made more sense.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The opening scene is not erotic because there was no build up for sex that happened in this scene in contrast to that Godard desexualises Camelie (in her dialogues, we can hear only the body parts but not see or experience them because there is no sexual act thus making her lifeless statue.)
Colour palates of red, white and blue are used because it symbolises the French and American flags. The production houses of these countries were involved in the production of this film and it was their “desire” to show such scenes in the film. These colors filter reality and separates its content from real life.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
the opening scene is not erotic because it shows and represent the sexual interest in the life between the character .Even the words enough bold to make this literature erotic .
Different color is use to represent the culture and country in the film , this reminds of the mediation the filter reality that's separate cinema from the life .The colour are symbolic rather than of nationalistic (the national colour of two of the country)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Partially erotic to slight extent. The actress was trying to seduce the man through her talks and also through her body language, the way she was moving her legs and lying naked. It shows she wants to get physical more than the man.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The color red,white,blue resemble the journey of love, as the couple is involved in romantic talks and and gestures. As how the town appears red and everything seems warm when a person starts falling in love. Later when both lovers are involved and the love is on it peak ..people feel bright,calm,spacious in the same world.
Towards at end how things change and it gets blue bcos either one partner leaves or love is lost somewhere in responsibilities of life etc and the love life gets dark. All love promises and commitments are moved aside and life seems blue no more the zeal of red or the brightness of white remains with the same person.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The first scene showing nudity, initial the nudity is not erotic but the interaction between them makes the scene erotic.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the starting scene the color plate changes from red to blue . The red colour signifies desire and blue colour signifies no desire.
Also the three colours can be a reference to the three different narrative that are strung together couple falling in love with a thematic background of film making and Greek mythology
The opening scene is erotic but it is telling about the characters ,about what the feel and their desires and love. In the opening scene, the light is red because the red is the color of desire, when the talk about their desire and love at that whole time the light is in red color. The white light aur the natural light take us to the detail of her body to give us the present time detailing and blue is comes when they started talking about their life and as the blue stands for the no-desires .
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At first, the scene looked erotic, but later as she started asking about her each body parts, we are thrown out from the erotic feel and started thinking in an objective way. We are forced to imagine the reflection in the mirror which is off-screen. The change in lights and camera movements played as a distraction for the viewers to keep looking at her in an erotic way.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The scene beautifully felt like a poem of romance. A poem of how a woman takes a test to see how much her man loves her or in other words depicting her definition of love.
Red lighting- The beginning of a scene starts with self-doubt,which lies deep inside every women's heart. The scene commences with Camille asking about what she'll do after going to her mom following with the series of question-related to her body parts, beginning from feet to thighs to the breast to the nipples. The scene depicts a woman's desire to be acknowledged and loved with the confirmation of the man she loved the most.
White Lighting- The lighting of the scene changes to white when it comes to the upper body parts, her shoulder, and her arms. Though she had a perfect body part she still has that self-doubt. All she wanted was to believe in the fact that her man loves her. It feels like she's in a midway of the path.
Blue Lighting- Soon the white lighting changes to blue. a color defining a saturation point. Where her question diverts towards the face or you can say the ultimate truth.
Camille asks Paul if he like her face, he replied yes. Then she asked all of it and he replied yes all of it. And here her trust confirm. She found her security in her husband who fully accepted her body.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The use of the lighting RED WHITE and BLUE in my vision symbolises and incapsulates the entire relationship of the couple from the red light being the romantic setup to the shocking white light to the cold contemptuous blue. The red light gives us the feel of the romance between the couple in the bringing or before the film altogether, the White light is like a sudden shock a feeling of something has happened but don't know what of what to do about it and the blue light symbolizes the cold and decaying future where we can hardly see their faces the darkness cover most of their faces and we can no longer see them the camera doest show us Camille's naked body any more stating that the lovemaking or sex between them is gone now or will never be the same as Paul tells her he loves her tragically tenderly totally he doesn't stand up to these claims as Camille thinks he is not able to protect her from jerry
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Opening scene where Brigitte Bardot the female lead of the movie was shown laying naked on the bed was not at all erotic.The opening scene was more like a satire on the then American movies which used to rely more on the nudity than the content and often lead to the fights between the producers and the directors where former has made it mandatory for the latter to shot a nude scene.
So, Goddard has very intelligently filled it with three different kinds of lighting i.e red,white and blue which are also the colors of French national flag,hence,showing that unlike the American movies French movie Contempt has the nudity but not the eroticism.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Godard have a tendency to break the rule thats why the colour red and blue showed in monochometic way but yellow showed in normal light and these colour combination follows the triadic colour scheme which i think balance life calm and stable life but lets analysis the colour one by one
First they showed in red with a sudden cut to aware the audiance that they are watching a film and paul and chemil were in the the bed naked with red light it showed the love, sexual feelings between them and saying the lovable words to each other. This red colour denotion was according to french culture . Colour meaning can change culture to culture
Then sudden light comes to normal and the majorly yellow was showed in the shot it means the wisdom of there family . And somewhere i think her body colour was some what yellowish and with her bloned hair i think director wanted to show the camile body as a gold beacause french culture denotes yellow as gold or welth.
And when she talked about her facs we eagerly wanted to see her face but again the light became dark blue and her face was not that clear which made me suspence and increased my feeling to watch her face and the blue colour is sighn of stability harmony and loyality.
I think it showed these harmony and loyality between them but again director fooled us to maintain the suspence and complexity that camile is loyal and stable with paul. But it was wrong.
All these colour one by one showed everything balanced and positive things between there happy marriage life.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The scene is beautiful, talking about her mother and her body and I feel it is neither erotic nor so-called romantic. What I loved about the scene is that Camillia is naked and the conversation starts with her mother. The scene flows beautifully as she asks him about all her body parts and it becomes blue when he confesses his love. And when the red comes in, we don't see their faces but just the naked body, dipping for blood or something like that.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The opening scene is not Erotic but rather soft modernistic way of showing love and emotion between the 2 and how deep the feelings are for both . The woman is somehow emotionally down which the man is trying to solve with much affection . Though the Audience feel a sexual orientation as the camera rolls over the backside of the woman and slowly comes to the right but that feeling ultimately breaks when they see the 2 of them is talking much affectionately.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Red, white colours indicates French & American Flags combination and their nativity. Blue indicates their mood and their intention for physical involvement.. in a cool manner
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As in the beginning of the film, Godard mentioned Bazin and how cinema shows the world we wanna see. Therefore, the opening scene is CONFORMING TO OUR DESIRES. I would say the opening nude scene was meant to be erotic but has a layered meaning to it. The naked Camille, lying in bed with Paul is a voyeuristic act of looking at Bardot as “an object of sexual stimulation “. Unlike mainstream Hollywood which adds or compliments an erotic/nude scene with a content to layer the conscious effort of igniting curiosity in audience and objectifying women’s body Godard presents this scene as a kind of ironic voyeurism, a “subversive comment on the exploitation of the woman’s body in cinema”. The long-panned camera over Camille’s body, is a lament on objectifyingwomen and using sexual content to sell its story. It is clearly evident by the conversation which could takeplace in ay corner of the room, but it showed nakedness of the women and covering man’s body because the target audience does not wants to see it.
Even three different lights are used in this scene to highlight the body is not only as an artistic expression, but to make the audience aware that they are watching a film, and hence, question their role as an active participant in the film.Apart from this ,these colours are the colours of France’s national flag and hence depicts Camille as a french beauty as a message to not only subject women as entertainment purposes and also highlights the social issue of projection of women’s body as a sexual pleasure.
I think Godard has used the idea of narrating credits as a reminder that we are watching a film. The film 'Contempt' was about films within films. He wanted to create a sense of ambiguity about the real and reel.
And the film ends with the quote, "Cinema shows us a world that fits our desires". But the whole film was contradictory. The film didn't show us the world we desire. The characters are not perfect but very flawed like us. The marriage was not healthy. The wife left her husband. The screenwriter couldn't buy the flat. The director couldn't make the film he wanted to. And in the ending, when the producer and the Screenwriter's wife were on the road to their destination, Rome, they died.
The opening nude scene was not erotic. The actresses was an sex Symbol of that era. But somehow Godard managed to show her as a normal human being and not just as a sex symbol.
The scene was not erotic because it was a normal conversation scene where we can see the insecurity of the wife and how she tries to please her inner doubts and insecurities with her husband's answers. She wants her husband to appreciate her beauty, every part of her body.
The scene was filled with three colors. Red, the color of passion. Natural light.
And blue, the color of isolation and calmness.
The scene starts with the red color. We can see the couple and the naked woman. When we start to feel the passion, they start their conversation and then it becomes a natural scene in sunlight with no eroticism. And then with blue color, the scene gets filled with feeling of isolation and calmness.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The nude scene is not erotic but it acts as a peeping hole into the relation of two central characters. They are exposed to each other physically but their mental exposure is still not reached their desired level there is a sense of confirmation and a lie which they use to solidify their relation. it tends to a certain level of discomfort among the viewer and hence the eroticism is not paramount.
I think the colors gives a background of these 2 characters. First RED tells us that they are in love and it is shown with the use of physical intimacy between them and as the scene proceeds and their conversation grows WHITE color is used to signify a peace in their relationship that they are happy in their life there might be some issues but in overall sense they seem to be happy. and the color BLUE tells us that there might be some discomfort and melancholy that is present in the relation.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Q. 3. Why the Godard has shown the actual Cinematographer , Raoul Coutard , in the opening shot operating the camera in film, while he could have use any Dumy actor as cameraman!
##########
Rather than take a dummy actor, spend time and money teaching him to operate a camera for a mere 1 minute shot with no dialogue, he used his own DOP to fill in for the scene. That why it looks more realistic and time and money are saved of the hips and the producers. It is actually presence of mind shown by him.
##########
I guess Godard has shown Real cinematographer in opening shot instead of dumy actor because he was narrating the credits and showing how things are done while shooting and 'contempt is the story of world' he mentions at last and Coutard pans camera to the audience/world who also shot contempt, So, for this a dumy character can be injustice to Coutard and who's better than the cameraman of the movie which is a story of world and credits are narrated. With dumy character the meaning of the opening would have changed.
##########
The entire idea of this film was to paint the parallels of reality and cinema and how one mirrors the other while showing its similarities and differences. The opening credit narration is seen with the cinematographer adjusting the light and finally focusing the camera onto the audience. Apart from an obeisance to the great cinematographer, Raoul Coutard, the idea is to bring and emphasize the sense of reality and falseness alike. The cinematographer is going to be a kind of storyteller in this real imitates reel imitates real journey.
##########
The reason could be to make it look more real and authentic.
It could also be the way of giving the cinematographer his due credit.
##########
The opening scene was a background to the factual information of the credits being narrated.
He must have wanted to stay true to that scene in particular where the real people were projected against the credits. Hence It was more justified to show Raoul Coutard. There's one interesting thing to note that Coutard turned the camera towards the screen towards the end of the credits which was a great cinematic touch. It added more presence and signified the 'beginning of the film'.
##########
It is a film within a film. Using a real cinematographer might be suggesting that it is not just a myth and it is real.
##########
in short he wants to describe the shot location with real technique how a camera man operates the camera, what is real work behind to shoot a certain scene, basically how cameraman acts behind the scene, he wants audience to know that he equally appreciate the real camera man by giving him credits for his work in the opening shot instead of using any dummy actor.
##########
Godard in his film is known for breaking the fourth wall and being in direct personal communication with his audience. So he used his own cinematographer to show us that "now we are recording you, I am showing you the desires of my characters but you are no different from them. You live in the same materialistic world. You are as vulnerable as them.
##########
the use of an actual cinematographer is used because maybe a real actor wont be able to accurately portray a cinematographer and somewhat take away the authenticity of the scene .
##########
By this Godard has shown the importance of the cinematographer in the world of cinema and how the role of the cinematographer becomes extremely important when the world shaped by our desires is to be substituted by the cinema and whatever audience is watching is watching through the eyes of the cinematographer.
##########
this film is about filmmaking and how it does question our notion of what cinema really is? Goddard is showing how this film is making by showing us the real people involved in the film, sets of the film, camera of the film. It provokes the idea that as we're watching the film we're watching the process of making this very film.
#########
Q. 4 . Why in the film "Contempt " American film Producer , Jeremy Prokosch takes out his " Tiny Book" and keep reading various quotes like the first time he did in the open area with the writer after holding lightly his tie and he says "To know that one does not know. is the gift of superior spirit............" and then again a couple of times he does the same. What the director wants to indicate by including such an act in the film.
The director wants to subtly show Jeremy attitude and body language. He is someone who thinks very highly of himself and has a superiority complex. By taking out his diary and talking of such heavy quotes, he is trying to show that he is very intellectual and rest of people are not as intelligent as him which is basically show off. That is why he does that couple of times in the movie. The director highlights his character's pretentiousness, snobbishness and his superiority complex.
##########
The book and its size Godard tried to show the place of printing culture in film making , how they are inter-related and quantitative use of printing media in films, which seemed to me convincing but on the other hand what i thought was the quotations read by prokosch reflected power , superiority and the way of saying quotations was also like he is the king of his kingdom which reflected in the character how prokosch felt of himself but opposite he was for others so the size of book to me reflected the personality of prokosch. Scenes where he read the quotations, for me there he tried overpower someone for eg- he was holding the tie of paul as if he is holding a dog's strap. So to me the size of book reflected his personality and quotes he read he never applied he just read the as a narrator of the story or as if he is priest reading bible to devotees.
##########
I think the book was like a part of his personality that he as a character used to keep his colleagues grounded. Ironically, the verses that he recited, were quite opposite to his own personality. However, the purpose of adding this book element could be that Godard wanted to give these mini-lessons as a filmmaker to the audience while also using it as an opportunity to comment upon how reality is so much different.
##########
He snobbishly read quotes from his red book whenever he felt that another character was overstepping him.
##########
Jeremy Pokrosch's character has been shown to be that of superfluous nature. He considers himself to be larger than life (when he refers to the Gods and says "I know exactly what they feel") and someone of great calibre, even though he is mistaken. XXXXXXXXXXX............The End..............
