|
Article Excerpt
Midway through Godard's Contempt, a weary Fritz Lang quotes to a wearier Michel Piccoli a few lines by Brecht:
Each morning, to earn my bread I go to the market where lies are sold And, hopefully, I get in line with the other sellers.
Brecht wrote the poem Hollywood while he was half-heartedly whoring through 1940s Tinseltown. Unlike his friend Lang, he failed to make a career in the industry. As for Godard, Contempt is the closest he got to the American films he once admired, although aside from the American producer Joseph Levine and his femme fatale Brigitte Bardot, the film does not quite qualify as studio fare. Even so, Godard had his misgivings--hence the quote, and a film drenched in allusions to whoredom and bad faith. Before begrudgingly adding the required Bardot T&A, the desperate director threatened to take his name off what was probably his best film. So, when Bardot asks, "What is it?" to Lang's recital, it's icily clear what he means by "A ballad by poor BB."
One wonders if Andrea Fraser thought of Brecht's poem and the poor Bardot-Brecht while "performing" her new video, Untitled (2003). Like the Godard film, the video at Friedrich...
|
|
More articles from Parachute: Contemporary Art Magazine
Dak'Art 2004: 6e Biennale de l'Art Africain Contemporain Dakar Senegal..., October 01, 2004
Rough for Ron (1959-2004)., October 01, 2004
Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.
Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication
name or publication date.
About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company
analysis or best practices in managing your organization,
Goliath can help you meet your business needs.
Our extensive business information databases empower business
professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible,
authoritative information they need to support their business
goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting,
company research or defining management best practices -
Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.
|
|
