‘I don’t give a hoot for women’s lib!’ Bardot to narrate story of her life
BrIGITTe BArDOT, whose sensual beauty captivated and scandalised the world, has lived as a recluse for decades, after giving up acting in 1973 when she was just 38, because she felt ‘crushed by celebrity’.
These days she lives with her dogs, cats, pigs, geese and a donkey in a cottage by a beach in Saint-Tropez, and is rarely seen.
however BB, as she is known to fans, will be coming out of seclusion at the age of 87 to narrate a definitive documentary about her life on and off screen — and her animal activism.
Titled simply Bardot, the film has been put together by Belgian Bafta-nominated director Alain Berliner and is being made by the British outfit Featuristic Films, in partnership with French Timpel Pictures. Bardot is collaborating fully in all aspects of the picture.
Julien Loeffler, of Featuristic Films, tells me it has taken two years to persuade the star to take part in the feature-length documentary. he said: ‘She will tell the story of her life, and will not hold anything back. It will be a very modern take on her life. Some of her causes have really been adopted by younger generations, who she continues to inspire.’
Bardot granted a phone interview to French Vogue in 2014 in which she said she never wanted to be a sex symbol, or an icon of sexual liberation.
She said: ‘That’s a load of absolute rubbish. I don’t know where they got that from. I don’t give a hoot for women’s lib. And they know where they can put it. As for sexual freedom, women didn’t wait for me to come along to liberate themselves. It’s a total misunderstanding! I never behaved scandalously. I was simply the person I wanted to be.’
She added of her famous dance scene in And God Created Woman in 1956: ‘We were at a party in Cannes, with (director roger) Vadim and producer raoul Lévy. All the people were uptight and I was dancing. They came up with idea of adapting that scene to that preposterous plot.’
Married four times, currently to Bernard d’Ormale, former adviser to far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, she still runs her foundation for the protection and welfare of animals.