Godard's Contempt: Essays From The London Consortium

Godard’s Contempt (Le Mépris) remains one of the most intriguing and critically discussed twentieth century films. An experimental film made with a Hollywood budget and a stellar cast, an adaptation of a famous novel which completely transforms the source material’s themes and concerns, and the climax of the Nouvelle Vague, which also signalled its collapse, Contempt contains all these paradoxes as well as being one of the most beautiful movies ever made.

The essays collected in Godard’s Contempt construct a framework for a renewed set of questions and analyses of Godard’s great modern classic. Drawing on work by young scholars from the London Consortium, the essays benefit from their wide range of disciplinary and cultural backgrounds. One of the most exciting recent experiments in graduate education, the Consortium is a partnership of five institutions the Architectural Association, Birkbeck, University of London, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, the Science Museum and the Tate. With an introduction by MacCabe and a post-script by Mulvey, the collection combines work from those most established of film critics with the very freshest and most varied voices.