Brigitte Bardot: The Life, the Legend, the Movies

by Ginette Vincendeau

When Brigitte Bardot appeared in Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman in 1957, her beauty set the world alight. But Bardot was more than just a sex symbol: she was a daring actress who worked with some of cinema's most-revered directors, including Jean-Luc Godard and Louis Malle. Film critic Ginette Vincendeau delves into Bardot's career and life, including her four marriages, her decision to "get out elegantly" and retire at a young age, and most notably, her unforgettable performances in Le Mépris, Les Femmes, and Les Pétroleuses. In addition to stunning photos of Bardot in her iconic roles, this visual biography includes 15 facsimiles of posters and other documents.

96 pages, Hardcover

Published October 21, 2014

About the author

Ginette Vincendeau is a French-born British-based academic who is a Professor of Film Studies at King's College London.[1]

Vincendeau was educated at the Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris III, gaining a degree in English and at the University of East Anglia, where she completed a doctorate in Film Studies. Before assuming her post at King's, Vincendeau was Professor of Film Studies at Warwick University.

A regular contributor to Sight & Sound magazine, she is the editor of The Encyclopedia of European Cinema (Cassell/BFI, 1995) and biographer of director Jean-Pierre Melville.[2]

Ginette Vincendeau’s research interests are in French cinema, especially popular genres (thriller, film noir, heritage, comedy) and stars, as well as European cinema. She is also interested in issues of film history, national identity, trans-national cinema and women's cinema. She is currently completing a book on the cinematic representation of the South of France, writing a book on Brigitte Bardot and co-editing a book on Jean Renoir.

Reviews

[Kenneth Starcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book on the shelf in Barnes & Noble, and I just had to have it! My wonderful fiancee ended up buying it for me for my birthday, and I read it in three days. It has a cushioned hard cover, has the dimensions of a coffee table book, and has a lot of pockets inside with plenty of goodies, like mini-posters, script sheets, and other memorabilia. As for the text itself, it is little more than a bare bones look at her life and career. It lacks true depth and detail. For example, it touches on the fact that she tried killing herself at least twice, but it doesn't say how. It's still a brisk read and a great shelf piece, especially for a Bardot fan, like myself.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very high level summary of BB’s life to date, primarily focused on her movie career. If any thing, this book created the desire to explore more detailed biographies of her through the culturally explosive period of the late 50s and 60s, if not BB’s autobiography (apparently she has penned a few volumes over the years). The book itself is well done containing unique if not candid photos of the cutest (ok, she was only the most disarmingly gorgeous and sexy, MM was the cutest) woman whom ever graced the silver screen, in addition to pull out reproductions of her movie posters and other memorabilia. Her fame and influence has stretched half a well over half a century and is incomparable, save perhaps for MM (whom I believe met each other in the toilet powdering their noses for their audience with the Queen!) and it is a worthwhile read to get a of glimpse of why.

[Lisa Zacks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, amazing, amazing! A treasure for any Brigitte Bardot enthusiast. I ordered this book from Amazon and it came with with posters and other fun letters and postcards. The images are beautiful and the text is informative. There aren't many biographies on Bardot, so if you're looking for something that is both informative AND beautiful, this is it!

[4JFJF3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not so much the life, a bit of the legend and definitely the movies. This book is like the wireframes to stick BB’s movies on so they make more sense in the grand scheme of things that was her career in the cinema world and in being a cultural icon.

The writing is not too enjoyable to my taste. It’s a bit dry-ish but it’s fairly short so it was bearable. The star of the book that is Brigitte was what got me reading on, but the writer seems to have a good grasp of her domain so that’s assuring. Gave me a better sense of her movie list despite IMDB.

I wanted to give it 3.5 but GR doesn’t do halfsies. I decided to give 4 instead because I feel like it.