Crass American film producer Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance) is working on an adaption of Homer’s The Odyssey from German director Fritz Lang (playing a version of himself), but he disagrees with Lang’s interpretation of Homer’s work. He needs the film to be more of a commercial success, and so he hires French playwright Paul Javal (Michel Piccoli) to rewrite the movie. Paul’s wife Camille (Brigitte Bardot) joins him on the trip to Italy to work on the project. On the first day of the job, it quickly becomes obvious that Jeremy is attracted to Camille. When he offers her a ride back to his villa in his sports car, Camille looks to her husband to decline the offer, but he unexpectedly agrees, and even seems to purposely delay his own arrival at the villa, blaming a “traffic accident”. Camille is upset, feeling like her husband is trying to offer her up to his new boss. She starts to feel contempt for her husband, and tells him that she has fallen out of love with him. As the project continues, the tensions between the couple only get worse, and the contempt continues to grow. Camille also starts to suspect that her husband may be having an affair, and debates getting revenge.
I must admit that while I was familiar with his name, I had never actually seen any of Godard’s work before checking out this film. It is a very visually appealing film, with beautifully framed shots, some interesting architectural elements, and nice use of color. The performances were really well done, especially Bardot as this woman who has been seemingly scorned by her husband and looking to get revenge. That said, I found this story to be a bit too depressing for my taste—it kind of reminded me of Marriage Story, but even darker. If this was supposed to be more of a dark comedy, or some kind of satire of the movie business, then it was lost in translation for me. I’m also not generally a fan of more artsy films, and this movie contained many gratuitous shots that just seem to be there solely for artistic purposes rather than progressing the story or characters—such as long cutaways to stills of Greek statues on a blank background, or the numerous lingering shots of Bardot’s bare buttocks as she talks to her husband, just because. I wanted a little more to the story than this couple constantly arguing with one another.
Le Mépris (Contempt) arrives on 4K disc for the first time in the United States thanks to Lionsgate. The disc opens with the following note:
The film was restored and digitalized in 4K by StudioCanal from 2021 to 2023 at Hiventy with support from the CNC. In order to optimize the 4K restoration, the original 35mm negative and scenes from the interpositive were used along with the reference print reworked in 2002 by Mr. Raoul Coutard, the film’s director of photography. The previous digital versions showed a lack of detail in high and low light. Furthermore, the colors deviated from the director’s specifications. Thanks to documented information, the original contrasts, details and saturation were restored. The project was supervised by the StudioCanal team, Sophie Boyer and Jean-Pierre Bolget.
The 4K video presentation looks amazing, and a major improvement when compared to the previous HD release. Colors look rich and more natural, and there is an excellent level of detail throughout. It is a really stunning looking picture. The film is offered in both its original French soundtrack (though some portions have English dialogue), as well as with a full English dub. The additional footage that was added back in (as noted in the quote above) is only presented in French with English subtitles. However, when watching the English dub version, the switching between the languages is pretty seamless. That said, I had a couple of issues with the English subtitles on this release. First, the dubbed dialogue differs drastically from what is shown in the subtitles, so it can be confusing if you’re trying to use subtitles while listening to the English dub. Secondly, there are no subtitles provided for the English portions of the film, so there is really no solution for someone who needs the subtitles because they are hard of hearing. It would have been nice if there had also been some sort of closed captions option in addition to the English subtitles for the French audio.
Lionsgate’s previous 2010 Blu-ray release included a whole host of bonus material, but almost none of that has been ported over to this new 4K release. The only bonus feature on the disk is a 5-minute introduction by writer/film producer Colin MacCabe, who discusses some of the history of the film. I wish some of the other bonus material had been included as well, to get a better understanding on why this film is so highly regarded by many cinephiles. For those who want the legacy bonus material, Amazon does offer a bundle that includes the original Blu-ray release along with this new 4K release. That is definitely the version to buy if you don’t already own the Blu-ray!
The 4K disc comes packed in a standard 4K keepcase, along with instructions on how to redeem a digital copy of the film. At the time of this review, only a Vudu redemption option is offered, and since Vudu doesn’t currently offer the movie in UHD, the digital copy will only redeem in HD, and won’t upgrade later on. So folks may want to pester Vudu to add a UHD version or Lionsgate to offer an iTunes redemption option (where it is available in 4K).
What’s Included:
Film: (1:43:43)
-
4K Ultra HD:
- 2160p / Widescreen 2.35:1
- Dolby Vision / HDR10
- Audio: French 2.0 Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
- Subtitles: English
- Digital Copy (Not Movies Anywhere Compatible, Vudu Redeem Option)
Note: Until Vudu Offers the film in UHD, the digital copy will only redeem in HD, and won’t upgrade later, so best to hold off redemption.
Digital (code may not be valid after 9/26/2024):
Extras:
- Introduction by Colin MacCabe (5:31)
Writer/film producer Colin MacCabe provides a short introduction to the film, discussing some of the history and context of the movie, why this film was Godard’s most expensive and conventional, it’s self-referential nature, various versions of the script, the process of filmmaking, and more.
Final Thoughts:
Le Mépris (Contempt) is a beautiful looking film, but may be a bit too artsy for my taste. That said, I can understand why other folks may laud this film. Lionsgate’s 4K release looks and sounds great, and is a major improvement over the previous Blu-ray presentation. This is definitely a must own for fans of the film for the presentation alone. However, there are pretty much no bonus materials included, unless you purchase the bundle with the previous Blu-ray (which is advised). Also, a warning to the hard of hearing that there are no subtitles offered on the English portions of the film.
Le Mépris (Contempt) [4K UHD + Blu-ray]
(as of June 10, 2026 22:12 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Le Mépris (Contempt) [4K UHD]
(as of June 10, 2026 22:12 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
