Contempt/Le Mépris (1963)

Contempt is the most successful work of our Director of the Week, Jean Luc Godard and stars the always beautiful Brigitte Bardot and Michael Piccoli. They play a married couple named Paul and Camille, who slowly see their relationship beginning to end.

Godard's work is a big influence of clothing label Alpha60(the name being a reference to his 1965 film Alphaville). You can kind of see it in the simplicity in the tailoring of the clothes and the predominantly grey/black colour scheme used. The Alphaville store on Flinders' Lane is instantly recognisable because of it's giant photo of Godard displayed on the back wall, a big tribute to the director.

Paul is a writer who is asked by producer Jeremy(Jack Pallance) to help rewrite some of the scenes of his upcoming movie, a retelling of the Odyssey directed by Fritz Lang(played so convincingly by Fritz Lang). It is here where Paul must choose either to maintain his artistic integrity or sell out for a nice amount of money. Meanwhile he finds his relationship with his wife rapidly deteriorating after she is left alone with Jeremy.

What is ironic about Contempt is that Godard himself was experiencing similar marital problems with his then wife Anna Karina, that character Paul was facing with Camille. We even see Camille put on a black wig, making her even look a little like Karina. Apparently this is something Godard did deliberately, as his life reflects his film, in the same way Paul's script mirror's his relationship with Camille and it's slow demise.

It's a clever film, Godard plays on reality, his characters are either based on real people, or in the case of Lang, they play themselves. It has a lot of film references mentioned without being too obvious, things like Howard Hawkes posters in the background at the studio or Bardot reading a book written by forgotten new wave director Luc Moullet. I enjoyed it but am happy to concede, Godard's style isn't for everyone.

Tomorrow is the final of the fashion series and I promise it's going to be a good one...

Director of the Week... Jean Luc Godard (1930-)

So continuing this week's fashion theme is a director who has influenced so many others including the team behind clothing label Alpha60 (but more on that later) & directors including Scorsese. Jean Luc Godard was a part of the Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave) movement in the 60s and has made over 90 films since then. At this time he was considered the most radical in his genre due to his very left-wing ideas in regard to politics and philosophy.

Godard's work is heavily inspired by both existentialism and marxism, whilst also referencing a deep knowledge of film history. He has worked with some of the most beautiful women in the world including Brigitte Bardot and Anna Karina (whom he married and subsequently divorced).

This year he received a much deserved honorary academy award for his enormous contribution to the film industry.