Subject
The scenes shown here are from the 1963 film “Le mépris” (Contempt) by Jean-Luc Godard, based on the 1954 novel “Il disprezzo” by Alberto Moravia. The clip, featuring a long dialogue between Brigitte Bardot and Michel Piccoli, is set at Casale di Santa Maria Nova, purchased by the Italian state on 12 April 2006 by from the wealthy American couple of Elena and Evan Ewan Kimble. The grounds with manor farmhouse are located at the fifth mile of the Appia Antica, near the Villa dei Quintili. The Kimbles were well-connected in the world of cinema, resulting in the use of their home as a set in several films, particularly in the 1960s.
The structure originated in the second century AD as a cistern serving in local water distribution, including to the Villa dei Quintili, and then in the Middle Ages was adapted with construction of a defensive tower. Between the 13th and 14th centuries the building was again modified as a manor farmhouse serving the substantial estates of an order of Olivetan Monks. These same monks, in the 16th century, continued with further masonry construction, including a small semicircular chapel. In the 1950s, then owner Count Iacopo Marcello commissioned architect Luigi Moretti for renovations of the building as a private residence. The interior scene of this excerpt takes place in a large hall now used by the Appia Antica Archaeological Park for staging of temporary photo exhibitions. The iron gate through which Bardot and Piccoli exit is the same one used today to access the site. Passing outside, we can appreciate the important changes taking place in the area since the time of filming. Behind the two actors we can also make out the masonry walls with the semicircular votive chapel, created by the monks.
Director
Jean-Luc Godard
Year
1963
