CONTEMPT (LE MEPRIS) BY JEAN-LUC GODARD BEST FRENCH MOVIE

1. A powerful satire, Le Mepris (contempt godard) bubbles with symbolic connotations and emotional delusions, and a sense of elation which echoes through cinematic history.

2. This is probably the finest example of the "temperamental" genre of films! Le Mepris (contempt godard) is intense in every way, and the underlying tension never stops, despite a sometimes very misleading surface level quietness which eventually breaks into stretches of twists and turns.

3. The film truly examines what is flesh and blood, and in many ways what is real. Godard thought this could be performed only by Bardot, and for the most part, he was right.

4. Another theme you will note is that the coherence and chaos are falling apart and reuniting effortlessly, again and again within the structure of a film within a film. A superb production that highlights the innate falsehood of cinema as a whole.

5. The film's opening scene is presented as an unusual travesty of the cinema business with mild but eye catching nudity. Interestingly, this scene was shot after Godard considered the film finished, at the insistence of the American co-producers. You can watch the film just for that opening scene - Brigitte Bardot is sensuality personified.

6. While founded on Moravia's marvelous story of the gradual alienation between a husband and wife, Le Mepris (contempt godard) also draws deliberate parallels with aspects of Godard's own life.

7. Also to be noted - the film holds a powerful discussion of Dante - particularly of Canto XVI of Inferno, about Ulysses' last foreboding voyage beyond the Pillars of Hercules - and Friedrich Hderlin's poem, "Dichterberuf" ("The Poet's Vocation").

8. Brigitte Bardot is absolutely phenomenal in this film. Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni were both considered and discarded by Godard before Bardot was chosen for the role. And what a justice she did to that choice!

9. Make a note of a special sequence in the movie - Piccoli and Bardot wandering through their apartment alternately arguing and reconciling. Their arguments are ranging and vitriolic, and their body languages are simply immaculate. Godard filmed the scene as an extended series of tracking shots, in natural light and in near real-time.

10. Le Mepris (godard mepris) digs into its characters and reveals just what troubles Godard about Hollywood and conventional movie making - you have to watch the film to understand how deeply his messages are embedded in the film!

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Jean-Luc Godard (born 3 December 1930) is a French and Swiss filmmaker and one of the founding members of the Nouvelle Vague, or "French New Wave".

Godard was born to Franco-Swiss parents in Paris.

Early works

* 1954 Opation bon (Operation Concrete)
* 1955 Une femme coquette (A Coquettish Woman)
* 1957 "Charlotte et Vonique," ou "Tous les garns s'appellent Patrick" ( "All Boys Are Called Patrick")
* 1958 Une histoire d'eau (A Story of Water)
* 1958 Charlotte et son Jules (Charlotte and Her Boyfriend)

French New Wave (1959 - 1967)

* 1959 bout de souffle (Breathless)
* 1961 Une femme est une femme (A Woman Is a Woman)
* 1962 Vivre sa vie (To Live One's Life) - a.k.a. My Life to Live
* 1963 Le Petit soldat (The Little Soldier)
* 1963 Les Carabiniers (The Riflemen)
* 1963 Le Mepris (Godard mepris)
* 1964 Bande part (Band of Outsiders)
* 1964 Une femme mari, fragments d'un film tournen 1964 en noir et blanc (A Married Woman)
* 1965 Alphaville, une range aventure de Lemmy Caution (Alphaville: One of Lemmy Caution's Strange Cases)
* 1965 Pierrot le fou (Crazy Pete)
* 1966 Masculin Finin, 15 faits pris (Masculine Feminine: 15 Precise Facts)
* 1966 Made in U.S.A.
* 1966 2 ou 3 choses que je sais d'elle (2 or 3 Things I Know About Her)
* 1967 La Chinoise (The Chinese)
* 1967 Week End

Breathless is a 1960 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Godard's first feature-length film is among the inaugural films of the French New Wave and came straight into my list of top foreign films. It derived from a scenario by fellow New Wave director, Francois Truffaut, and the film was released the year after Truffaut's The 400 Blows and Alain Resnais's Hiroshima, Mon Amour.

Contempt (French: Le Mepris) is a 1963 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. A must watch fr anyone who wants to explore the top 100 foreign films of all times.

Vagabond is a 1985 drama film directed by Agnes Varda, featuring Sandrine Bonnaire. It describes the story of a young woman, a vagabond, who is found frozen in a ditch.

Director: Agnès Varda, Cast: Sandrine Bonnaire, Setti Ramdane


Rocco and His Brothers is a 1960 Italian and French film directed by Luchino Visconti. Set in Milan, it tells the story of an immigrant family from the South and its disintegration in the society of the industrial North. A great saga that belongs to my list of best foreign films without reservation.

Shoot the Piano Player is a 1960 French film directed by Francois Truffaut, starring Charles Aznavour. Wow! This should be in any Top 100 Foreign Films list, no exception!

Director: François Truffaut, Cast: Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois


Diary of a Country Priest is a 1951 French film directed by Robert Bresson, and starring Claude Laydu. It was closely based on the novel of the same name by Georges Bernanos. It tells the story of a young, sickly priest, who has just arrived in his first parish, a village in northern France.

Belle de jour is a 1967 French film starring Catherine Deneuve as a woman who decides to spend her days as a prostitute while her husband is at work. A terrific creation, this will adorn any list of best foreign language films.
Director: Luis Buñuel, Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel


Mon Oncle is a 1958 film comedy by French filmmaker Jacques Tati. The first of Tati's films to be released in colour, Mon Oncle won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, a Special Prize at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film, receiving more honors than any of Tati's other cinematic works.

Contempt (French: Le Mepris) is a 1963 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. A must see for anyone who wants to explore the Top 100 Foreign Films of all times.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard, Cast: Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli


My Favorite Season is a 1993 French drama film directed by Andre Techine. The story concerns a matriarch Berthe (Marthe Villalonga) who goes to live with her daughter Emilie (Catherine Deneuve) and her family. It won the award for Best Foreign Language Films at the 1996 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards.

Breathless is a 1960 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Godard's first feature-length film is among the inaugural films of the French New Wave and came straight into my list of Top Foreign Films. It derived from a scenario by fellow New Wave director, Francois Truffaut, and the film was released the year after Truffaut's The 400 Blows and Alain Resnais's Hiroshima, Mon Amour.

The Butcher is a 1970 French drama / thriller film written and directed by Claude Chabrol. Helene is a confident, slightly naive young teacher who is adored by her pupils at the school where she works and lives. She meets the local butcher, Popaul, at a wedding ceremony, and they strike up a close but platonic relationship.

Beauty and the Beast is a 1946 French romantic fantasy film. The plot of Cocteau's film revolves around Belle's father who is sentenced to death for picking a rose from Beast's garden.

Director: Jean Cocteau, Cast: Jean Marais, Josette Day


The 400 Blows is a 1959 French film directed by Francois Truffaut. One of the defining films of the French New Wave, it displays many of the characteristic traits of the movement. The story revolves around Antoine Doinel, an ordinary adolescent in Paris, who is thought by his parents and teachers to be a trouble maker.

The Samurai is a 1967 French minimalist crime drama/thriller film directed by French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville. The film's protagonist Jef Costello is played by Alain Delon. You will find this film in any sensible best foreign movies list.


Forbidden Games is a 1952 French language film directed by Rene Clement and based on Francois Boyer's novel, Jeux interdits. It has a very unique place in my best foreign films list.

The Rules of the Game is a 1939 film directed by Jean Renoir about upper-class French society just before the start of World War II. The Rules of the Game is often cited as one of the best foreign language films in the history of cinema.

A Prophet is a 2009 French crime film directed by Jacques Audiard. The film won the Grand Prix at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. Audiard claims that the film aims at "creating icons, images for people who don't have images in movies, like the Arabs in France,"

Grand Illusion Grand Illusion is a 1937 war film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who are prisoners of war during World War I and are plotting an escape.