Le Mepris (Reaction)

Le Mepris is a film by Jean-Luc Godard in 1963. It stars Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, and Jack Palance.

I haven't watched the beginning of the movie but I think I understand what it was about and what it wants to portray. It was about the married life and relationship of the two major characters Camille and Paul.

I watched the part where all the characters were in a small movie house (or whatever you call it). They characters were talking in four different languages which were French, Italian, English, and German and I found it amazing yet confusing at the same time because of the accents that made it hard for me to understand what language where they speaking at the moment because it were mixed up.

Paul was a playwright and was hired to write a script for Homer's Odyssey, a film directed by Fritz Lang (who played himself in the movie) and produced by Jeremy Prokosch. Jeremy was a rich playboy that  later becomes Camille's lover. Camille and Paul went under a tough time in working with their relationship. Camille feels that she was unloved and that Paul was taking her for granted. When Camille and Paul got home after meeting with Fritz Lang and Jeremy Prokosch, they went home. They had a long conversation about their relationship that led to Camille's confrontation with Paul. Camille told Paul that she doesn't love him anymore and that they should separate but I think Camille still loves Paul though. It's just that she can't feel and see it from him. They had several fights and to make the story short, Camille left Paul for Jeremy. She left a note for Paul that says she could't be with him anymore. As for Camille, she thought that Jeremy can make her happier even though she still loves Paul very much. In the end, when Jeremy and Camille were about to run away, they met an accident. They bumped into a truck and that caused their death.

Honestly, I didn't like the ending because I think Camille doesn't deserve to die soon. Sure she left her husband for another guy but I think that was because she feels unloved and left alone and that was painful. Camille wants to be happy and to start over with Jeremy. The ending for me was upsetting but I liked the movie.

I made some research about Le Mepris. I have read that the film was related to the Greek Gods Ulysses, Penelope, and Poseidon. Each character represents them. Camille, Paul, and Jeremy were the representation of the Gods in Homer's Odyssey. I noticed that the pacing in Classical films were slow unlike the modern films the pacing of the scenes and characters are fast. The scenes here in Le Mepris takes for about 15 minutes I guess, especially the part were Camille and Paul had a confrontation. But I think that was Jean-Luc Godard's way of innovation and it was his style. To end this reaction/opinion/review, I want to say that the story was great. It was not something I expected but it made me feel interested to watch more classical or old films more often.