Jean Luc Godard s Le Mepris - 1647 Words

Le Mà ©pris is a film distinct in Jean-Luc Godard’s career, for many reasons: amongst others, it was his first foray into a more big-budget, large scale production. Ironically – or perhaps purposefully - one of the overarching themes explored within Le Mà ©pris’ is maintaining artistic integrity, whilst attaining commercial success. Nowhere is this better explored than the famous middle sequence: their extended argument indoors. I aim to analyse this scene’s depiction as not only a simple argument between tumultuous lovers, but as it’s symbolic exploration of their decaying relationship as a whole, encompassing many of the overarching themes of ‘Le Mà ©pris’ – love, ennui, and of course, contempt. As soon as they step into their home, the door†¦show more content†¦Perhaps this is really a subversive way to express the emptiness consuming their relationship. Significant too at the beginning of this scene, is the way the camera follows Lucille and Paul. The majority of the time they are framed in shots alone, only in passing does the frame capture them both. Though they are inhabiting the same space, the choice to capture them separately is very deliberate, highlighting the isolation mounting within their relationship as they start to grow apart; tying into the existential theme that eventually, we all die alone. The vehicle of a failing relationship to depict this existential dread is an apt choice; nowhere more is isolation emphasized than in contrast of it’s antithesis: once romantic love, the communion of two souls. Paul seems engrossed with his letters, pacing around the apartment staring at them, never really lifting his eyes to properly meet his wife’s gaze. The letters are symbolic of his work – his priorities now lie there, and not his wife. For a second, Lucille seems to snap from a sullen mood to a more playful one, and perhaps in a bid to grasp her husband’s attention once more, she asks him to guess what she bought today. When he asks what, and does not get an immediate answer, he reacts with irritation instead ofShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Le Mepris957 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Le Mepris† (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963) is extensively layered with cinematic text, and different sociopolitical subliminal melding together artistically within a simple narrative which identifies the French new wave. To valorize an explicable argument, I must analyze the â€Å"Mise en Scene† in relation to another, and must correspond shots to another. The scene begins with a long take, Paul (Michel Picolli) and Camille (Brigitte Bardot) enters their barely furnished apartment. To create a cinematic self-consciousnessRead MoreQuentin Tarantino - Adventures in Postmodern Cinema4027 Words   |  17 Pagesnot something that is ‘real’ as such. Another example can be observed in the blatant display of selfreflexivity when Mia makes eye contact with the camera and â€Å"draws† a square with her finger. A parallel example in cinema can be found in Jean Luc Godard’s Le Mepris (1963), which is a Quentin Tarantino: Adventures in Contemporary Postmodern Cinema â€Å"film about films and about itself† (Page, 2005). This is also exemplified by Singing in the Rain (1952); Donald OConnors reverse engineering of the