Brigitte Bardot – Christian Sauvé

Le mépris [Contempt] (1963)

ByChristian Sauvé 2019-07-202023-03-19 Movie Review

(On Cable TV, July 2019) There are a few things colliding in Le Mépris. Writer-director Jean-Luc Godard shows us what happens when a marriage crashes into a film production, comparing the nitty-gritty of making a movie and the heightened melodrama of a suddenly disintegrating relationship. The film stars Brigitte Bardot in of her most dramatically challenging roles, as her picture-perfect sex-appeal bolsters her role as a woman who realizes that her husband is trying to sell her to a film producer in an attempt to get more money. Cue the titular but no less furious contempt. The anti-romantic plot thread is perhaps best exemplified by a very long sequence midway through the film in which the married couple argues in measured terms throughout their apartment—the kind of sequence that makes film students think about the use of space and character separation. The other subplot, about the multilingual production of a movie based on The Odyssey, is far droller: Featuring no less than Fritz Lang in an amusing role as the film director, it also stars a young Jack Palance as a hard-driving film producer who may or may not be interested in Bardot’s character. The banter here is far funnier than expected, what with a poor translator trying her best efforts to bring together a cast and crew speaking four languages, Lang arguing about the meaning of The Odyssey, and metatextual glimpses at a movie production. The blend of two tones and styles is provocative, especially when they literally involve a car crash at the climax, resolving a few plot threads in far too convenient a manner. Much of Le mépris is interesting; much of it is long—ultimately, it’s up to the viewer to pick and choose their favourite parts.

Movie Review

Et Dieu … créa la femme [And God Created Woman] (1956)

ByChristian Sauvé 2019-04-092023-03-19 Movie Review

(On Cable TV, April 2019) I’m not sure who first made the point or where it was done, but there are plenty of historical “movie superstars,” especially actresses known for their sex-appeal, that are not associated with any great movie. They have a substantial body of work (if you’ll pardon the expression), but they won’t turn up in a modern look at their era’s most fondly-remembered movies because little of what they did stands the test of time. They’re famous for being famous, rather than specific roles. Insofar as I can gather, Brigitte Bardot is one of these stars—lauded as a sex kitten, famous for her opposition to baby seal hunting (well, at least in Canada), but not exactly known for any high-profile memorable roles. Aside from Le Mépris, the only exception I can find is that she starred in Et Dieu … créa la femme. But in a feat of circular logic, Et Dieu … créa la femme is known nowadays only because it was Bardot’s international breakthrough role. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that the film is a showcase for her because there’s so little else going on. A coastal small-town romantic drama, this is a film built around Bardot, with a character showcased for her beauty and lack of inhibition. Tame by today’s standard but provocative by French mid-1950s standards and positively scandalous for late Production Code-era America, it’s a film that still has the power to make viewers understand what the fuss about Bardot was about. There is a bit of charm in the way the seaside French town is portrayed, in Bardot’s character’s carefree behaviour and in the colourful cinematography. Otherwise, though, Et Dieu … créa la femme is Bardot’s film: the dramatic structure would be meaningless without her presence, and she manages to overcome her own limited acting talents through sheer magnetism. Which brings us back to the symbiotic loop: she’s now usually known for the film that’s known because of her. (Random, non-Bardot thought: Seeing this film’s seaside setting got me thinking about how many French films take place alongside the sea, and what’s the place of the coast in the French imagination. To be investigated.)