At the invitation of a friend, last night I saw Godard's Contempt at the Castro. I went in knowing nothing about it. It's a 1963 wide-screen technicolor movie & superficially looks like a Hollywood movie of the era. The cast includes Bridgette Bardot, frequently nude, & Jack Palance. However, it keeps doing unconventional things, starting with the opening credits, which are read in voice-over while we watch the movie itself being filmed, the camera eventually turning toward the audience itself. So I guess it's really an avant-garde classic. The print looked great, which is especially important because of the use of primary colors in the design. I found myself paying a lot of attention to the movie's settings, but I was not much engaged by the characters or the plot. Even Godard seems pretty flippant about the plot, considering the arbitrary way he dispatches 2 of the main characters at the end. The most emotion I felt was in the middle section in the apartment, when I could identify with the frustration, annoyance & disdain of the writer's wife.
Immediately after the show, I rushed into the Muni Metro to catch a train to the Embarcadero for KFOG's beautiful fireworks show. Sadly it took 20 minutes to get out there, so it was well under way by the time I got there. Still fun, & the best show fireworks show in the City. I could not believe how massive the crowds were.
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