Contempt

This 1963 film, directed by Jean-Luc Godard, was a landmark film in the French New Wave (FIGURE 2.3). It broke new ground for American filmmakers who had been afraid to jumble their storytelling structure, as well as for Godard himself—who used this film as his first foray into more mainstream filmmaking. Yet, even though the techniques were groundbreaking in their day, there is still a clear and compelling logline for the film.

Figure 2.3. The famous shot, at the end of the opening credits sequence in Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt, of cinematographer Raoul Coutard pointing his camera at the audience.

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