And God Created Woman: The 90th Anniversary of Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot has no "Oscar," nor is she overly laden with other prestigious film awards. But, to be frank, she doesn't really need them. It's enough that she was considered a true sex symbol of the 1950s and 60s. On 28 September, she turned 90. The Gaze invites you to recall the iconic roles and films of the most famous French blonde of the 20th century.
Unlike many stars of her era, Brigitte Bardot was born into an affluent family, received a good education, attended ballet school, and was free to choose any prestigious profession. However, one of Europe's most beautiful women confessed that in her youth, she was considered "an ugly duckling." She wore glasses, had braces on her teeth, and hunched over due to her height.
Her passion for dance and ballet led young Bardot to consider a theatrical career. However, fate intervened: in the late 1940s, Brigitte participated in a fashion show at her mother's shop. During the catwalk, she caught the eye of an editor from a fashion magazine who published her photograph. This led to an invitation from Elle magazine to shoot for the cover of the May issue.
Hélène Gordon-Lazareff, the founder and editor of Elle, saw in young Bardot "the model woman of the future," and she wasn't wrong. After several photoshoots in French glossies, Bardot was noticed by Roger Vadim, who was then working as an assistant to director Marc Allégret. He persuaded his colleague to invite the girl for screen tests. Bardot's strict parents were against it, believing that cinema was vulgar and the acting profession improper. However, Brigitte Bardot's grandfather defended his granddaughter and convinced her parents to let her try her hand at acting.
During two decades in show business, Bardot appeared in 48 films, recorded around 80 songs, participated in numerous music programmes, and had romantic connections with the most prominent cultural figures of that period, from Roger Vadim to Serge Gainsbourg. In 1970, three years before ending her film career, Brigitte Bardot became the first model for the bust of Marianne, the official symbol of France. Then she abruptly cut ties with her former life and dedicated herself to animal rights advocacy – and no matter how tempting the offers to briefly return to the big screen were, she never changed her mind.
In 1973, her final two films were released: If Don Juan Were a Woman and The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot. The events of the latter unfolded in medieval France, and the shooting took place in a small town. During a break between scenes, Bardot bought a goat named Nicolette from a local peasant woman to save her from being slaughtered. When she brought the goat to the hotel, it caused a scandal. This incident became the final straw that influenced Bardot's decision to end her career and devote herself to animal rights.
"I was fed up with all this acting; I realised I was a prisoner, alienated from genuine life values. My profession always seemed to me to be worthless, unnecessary, insignificant, and worthy of ridicule. I had only one life, and I had to live it my way!" the actress wrote in her autobiography.
Today, Brigitte Bardot is primarily an active animal rights advocate and the head of the international animal welfare organisation "The Brigitte Bardot Foundation" (FBB), which she founded in the 1980s. But let us not forget that she gained her influence and societal weight as an animal rights advocate partly thanks to the characters she portrayed in films, without whom neither French nor world cinema would be complete.
"...And God Created Woman," 1956
This Franco-Italian melodrama by Roger Vadim made Brigitte Bardot scandalously famous. The film centres around a love polygon involving a young provincial beauty and various men – an egotist, a romantic, and a cynic. Juliette, a former orphanage resident, lives with her guardians in the resort town of Saint-Tropez and works in a newspaper shop. Due to her beauty and free spirit, she has a reputation as a promiscuous girl and rebels against the narrow-minded and hypocritical local community. However, the men of Saint-Tropez, from an elderly millionaire to a romantic youth, are captivated by young Juliette, who faces a challenging choice.
"Contempt," 1963
A film by the legendary father of the "New Wave," Jean-Luc Godard, based on the novel of the same name by Alberto Moravia. Against the backdrop of the picturesque landscapes of the island of Capri, a story unfolds about talent and craftsmanship, compromise with one's conscience, and betrayal of love. A film crew consisting of Americans and Europeans gathers to shoot a new film based on Homer's Odyssey. The director wants to create a profound work, but the producer hires a washed-up screenwriter to quickly pen a primitive blockbuster. The screenwriter takes on the job for money and even allows the producer to start courting his beautiful wife, leading to a tragic outcome for all involved.
"Spirits of the Dead," 1968
This Franco-Italian film anthology consists of three novellas inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, directed by three outstanding European filmmakers: Roger Vadim, Louis Malle, and Federico Fellini. The genius Nino Rota composed the score. Besides the renowned directors, the film featured a star-studded cast, including Jane and Peter Fonda, Terence Stamp, Alain Delon, and Brigitte Bardot. The latter two starred in the second novella, William Wilson, about a cruel and capricious man confronted by his conscience in the form of a doppelgänger who exposes his evil deeds. Instead of mending his ways, the villain decides to kill his double.