And God Created... Bardot

The Festival de Cannes celebrates itself as the world's most glamorous film festival. The genesis of the glamour is arguable, but there is no doubt that ever since Brigitte Bardot was photographed in that famous bikini on the beach in 1953, Cannes has become an international fusion of film and fashion, a place where movies and "la mode" spend 10 days together in the sun. The Festival, and Bardot herself, can both be labeled a mélange of French and American style, and both have been responsible for red carpet elegance and serious art.

Before Scarlett Johansson lost her innocent sensuality in translation, before Sharon Stone acted on her basic instincts, even before Madonna was touched for the very first time, Brigitte Bardot crossed the bridge between the seventh art and the seventh deadly sin. When she frolicked on the Riviera's beaches, the sex siren proved film could be fun and fashionable. One of only a few stars to truly cross borders and rise to fame in both France and America, the actress/model/singer/animal rights activist/right-wing political supporter has led a life unscripted.

Born Camille Javel in Paris on September 28, 1934, to conservative Roman Catholic parents, Bardot had, by age 15, already modeled for ELLE Magazine, and in 1952 was cast in Manina, la fille sans voile, whose American title became, appropriately enough, The Girl in the Bikini. She married director Roger Vadim at age 18 and spent the 1950s starring in a series of light, romantic dramas such as Sacha Guitry's Affairs in Versailles, Réné Claire's The Grand Maneuver and a small role in Anatole Litvak's An Act of Love with Kirk Douglas. 

Too Sexy for the States

Bardot's embodiment of innocent sexuality earned her an onscreen popularity, but her career truly took off when Vadim cast her in his 1956 erotic melodrama And God Created Woman. The movie, co-starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, was an international hit. Despite the unprecedented appeal of a foreign actress with American audiences, however, the bombshell's explosive sexuality seemed too much for Hollywood to handle. While sensuality, nudity and frivolous love affairs were already becoming the norm in France, the United States was still surfing a politically correct, conservative wave that made studio execs wary of casting the rising star in U.S. fare.

Although it was hard for a woman who inspired the term "sex kitten" to establish herself as a serious actress, Bardot made the rounds among the crème-de-la-crème of French auteurs  During the 1960s, the actress swept French cinemas with roles in films by legends that include Jean-Luc Godard, Louis Malle, Michel Deville and Henri-Georges Clouzot, and also starred opposite then-screen studs Jean-Pierre Cassel, Michel Piccoli, Alain Delon and Robert Hossein.

While Jean-Luc Godard cast the rising star in Contempt (the Nouvelle Vague director's foray into the world of big-budget, star-studded films), and Bardot received a BAFTA nomination for best foreign actress for Malle's Viva Maria! (opposite Jeanne Moreau) in 1965, Bardot continued to be generally excluded from artistic acclaim and prize-giving ceremonies, as the public found it hard to erase their impression of Bardot as simply "the girl in the bikini."

Film, Fame, Controversy and Conviction

The actress, herself, seemed to find a similar discontent with her pin-up girl image and invested herself in a musical career. In 1967, Gallic chanteur Serge Gainsbourg made Bardot his muse, writing a series of famous tunes for her, including "Harley Davidson," "Bonnie & Clyde" and "Je t'aime...moi non plus." Bardot recorded several pop albums and hit singles, and her voice became a welcome escort to her physical appeal. In addition to being immortalized in photographic portraiture, Bardot's image was borrowed by Andy Warhol for a pop art rendition of the purring Parisian, and sculptor Alain Gourdon is said to have used Bardot as a model for his bust of French national emblem "Marianne" in 1970. "A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you," Bardot once said.

Life in the limelight proved nearly fatal for the star - she attempted suicide on her 26th birthday while filming Clouzot's The Truth. The film was a box-office success in France, but Bardot continued to battle her inner demons behind the scenes.  In Louis Malle's A Very Private Affair, Bardot played a mirror image of herself: a movie star who discovers the high price of fame as her private life is increasingly upset by persistent fans who won't leave her alone. The scene in which Bardot's character is berated in an elevator by a middle-aged maid calling her a tramp and a tart was based on a real incident, and has become symbolic of the consequences of the pressures of stardom. In her private life, Bardot struggled with overwhelming media attention, and in 1973, after appearing in more than 50 films, recording a series of musical albums and cementing herself as the sexual fantasy of men across the globe, she exchanged animal print for animal rights and retired to the South of France.

In 1986, the veritable "sex goddess despite herself" established the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals, and raised money to fund the foundation by auctioning off her personal belongings. "I gave my beauty and my youth to men. I am going to give my wisdom and experience to animals," she announced to the world. Bardot has since been an instrumental figure in animal rights activism, and has been outspoken about her views on social and political issues. Although criticized for her support of French extreme right-wing candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen and accused of anti-Muslim, anti-homosexual sentiment, Bardot has been working hard to change her reputation as a controversial sex kitten to that of a respected advocate of feline (and other species) rights. Like many famous femmes today (see: Sophia Loren, Angelina Jolie), Bardot uses her notorious name to bring awareness to important issues.

And although not everyone is in agreement with her political beliefs, Bardot's impact onscreen and off is undeniable. As one of the first European stars to cross the pond and attain a level of fame typically reserved for homegrown American talent, the sex symbol, it can be argued, helped create a real market for foreign-language films in the States.

Time Magazine's description of Bardot summed her up as "the princess of pout, the countess of come hither. Brigitte Bardot exuded a carefree, naïve sexuality that brought a whole new audience to French films."

Bardot made French cinema seem not quite as foreign, and, thanks to her and the fashionistas who followed, the Cannes Film Festival remains just as much about what people are wearing en route to the theater as about what's screening at the Palais. The 1950s sex goddess brought both cinema and couture to the Croisette, and, as thousands of filmmakers, filmgoers and fashion victims descend on the Riviera every spring for the Cannes Film Festival, they should all thank God for creating a woman named Brigitte Bardot. Bikini optional.