The Mayan inflected steps of the modernist Casa Malaparte in a remote section of Capri were the location for the mounting despair of Paul (Michel Piccoli) as he realized his wife the prized Camille (Brigitte Bardot) was slipping away from him, the pawn in a very expensive game of Hollywood-in-Italy, Le Mepris (Contempt) Godard used the Casa as another actor in the film, its broad sun roof overlooking the Gulf of Salerno, its glass window framing the ménage a quatre, its crumbling orange walls standing in for the decaying marriage. The house had been commissioned by Malaparte from Libera, a well known architect of the time but largely finished with the help of a local stonemason. The interior furnishings are currently the subject of a show at Gagosian London but the house itself is now home to a foundation. Many architects have paid it homage but none more searingly than Godard who shot the final scenes of his memorable fabulistic film from the roof. See my story on Air Mail News for the behind the scenes of the film.