Et Dieu rappela la femme
FRANÇOIS-GUILLAUME LORRAIN has an in-depth article in the Le Point weekly.
Bardot has just died. Hadn't she already died a little? It's difficult to survive one's myth, even by remaining reclusive, except to resurface for outbursts that reeked of the far right. The "outrageous" sex symbol had become an indignant old woman. Sunset Boulevard in La Madrague [the name of BB's fisherman cottage]. For women, fame is the tunic of Nessus: the great stars—Garbo, Dietrich, Callas—ended up alone, hidden away, or committed suicide, Marilyn, Romy…
When did she begin to die? Perhaps as early as that day in 1958: after yet another Paris Match cover where she was seen on all fours or walking barefoot in minishorts, ogled by hundreds of onlookers in front of the Vachon haberdashery in Saint-Tropez. There she was! Accessible. Because she was the first accessible star in the age of mass culture and mass media. She looked almost like everyone else, or at least like a pretty girl from a wealthy neighborhood. The metal shutter was lowered, the police were called, and she was whisked away amidst insults: trash, slut…
Check out a couple of short videos on Brigitte Bardot's life and career.
Le Point also presents the icon BB's five unforgettable films with as many trailers. Incidentally, as a kid I watched Viva Maria! on television, expecting the revolutionary movie in Central America to be nothing more than a fun politics-free Western-type action romp (American trailer: Viva Fun! Viva Love! Via Suspense! Viva Striptease! Viva Adventure! Viva Don't Miss It!), and was severely disillusioned when one Maria character in the Louis Malle movie — none other than Bardot herself — shouted "private property is theft!" (Later, the other Maria — Moreau, as can be seen in the French trailer — mocks U.S. anti-communism: No, of course "We have no intention of attacking the United States.") Still, that had nothing to do with my not being as attracted to BB as to Raquel Welch.
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