Le Mepris (aka Contempt) (1963)

A novelist (Michel Piccoli) is hired by a crass American film producer (Jack Palance) to rewrite the script of his production of Homer's THE ODYSSEY being directed by Fritz Lang (playing himself). This job unexpectedly causes a marital crisis when his young wife (Brigitte Bardot) inexplicably rejects him, telling him she no longer loves him and has only contempt for him. Adapted from Alberto Morovia's novel IL DISPREZZO, Jean Luc Godard's most accessible film is also one of his greatest. Using the relationship between Ulysses and Penelope in THE ODYSSEY to parallel the rift in Piccoli's and Bardot's marriage, Godard also manages to examine the rift between art and commercialism in film making as exemplified by Palance's vulgar American and Lang's cultured European. Raoul Coutard's use of the CinemaScope (called Franscope here) frame is stunning and one of the best uses of the wide screen I have ever seen. A lengthy argument between Bardot and Piccoli in their apartment (which constitutes a good portion of the film) is superbly composed and framed with objects and colors carefully placed and utilized. Georges Delerue composed the potent underscore. With Giorgia Moll as Palance's girl Friday.