Studiocanal has announced a brand new 4K restoration of Jean-Luc Godard‘s French New Wave classic, LE MÉPRIS, to celebrate the film’s landmark 60th anniversary.
Fresh from its inclusion in the Cannes Classic selection at this year’s festival, the film will be available to own on 4K Ultra HD (for the very first time), Blu-ray, DVD and Digital on 26 June 2023.
The film will also screen at BFI Southbank from 2 June 2023 as part of their Michel Piccoli season.
LE MÉPRIS stars Brigitte Bardot as Camille and Michel Piccoli as Paul, alongside Director Fritz Lang as himself, Jack Palance as Jeremy, and Giorgia Moll as Francesca.
Set around the extraordinary Villa Malaparte on Capri, LE MÉPRIS tells the tragic romance between Paul and his wife, Camille. Paul is enlisted the task of re-writing a film script. Whilst he becomes engrossed in writing, he appears oblivious to the film producer’s interest in his irresistibly beautiful wife, Camille. In turn, we witness the hurtful unfolding of Paul & Camille’s marriage.
LE MÉPRIS was restored by Studiocanal, with the support of the CNC. The image was scanned and restored in 4K at the HIVENTY laboratory. In order to optimize the 4K restoration, the original 35mm negative and the interpositive were used, as well as the reference print re-worked in 2002 by Mr. Raoul Coutard, Director of Photography on LE MÉPRIS. The restoration took 220 hours, allowing to compensate for the defects linked to the wear of time, such as deviations in colours and lighting. This new restoration will enable audiences to discover LE MÉPRIS as it was intended to be viewed.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Il était une fois… Le Mépris (52 mins) on the Blu-ray Ultra HD
An introduction by Colin MacCabe (6 mins) UHD
Paparazzi by Jacques Rozier (22 mins)
Le parti des choses by Jacques Rozier (10 mins)
