Brigitte Bardot's Greatest Films That Changed Cinema Forever

French actress and singer Brigitte Bardot stopped acting nearly five decades ago, yet she remains one of cinema's most enduring icons. Her influence can be felt throughout today's film industry. Known for her sex symbol status during the 1950s and '60s, Bardot appeared in acclaimed movies like Contempt and The Truth. She challenged expectations with each role, wielding her sexuality not merely for shock value but as a tool for feminist liberation.

In 1959, philosopher Simone de Beauvoir proclaimed Bardot as post-war France's first truly liberated woman. When offered the Legion of Honour in 1985, she declined the prestigious award. Reflecting on tragic figures like Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich, Bardot once observed: "The majority of great actresses met tragic ends. When I said goodbye to this job, to this life of opulence and glitter, images and adoration, the quest to be desired, I was saving my life."

Career-Defining Performances

Bardot's 1963 collaboration with Jean-Luc Godard in Contempt stands as her finest achievement. Based on Alberto Moravia's novel, this Technicolor masterpiece filmed in Rome and Capri offers a complex meditation on filmmaking itself. Despite tensions between director and star, their partnership produced a nouvelle vague classic. "It's common knowledge that [Godard] got on my nerves," Bardot recalled. "I thought he looked stupid wearing that hat all the time. We were always having to make up dialogue at the last minute. There was no plot. It was a real free-for-all. Not to mention the hordes of paparazzi following me about. But it turned into a great film, and so much the better."

Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1960 drama La Vérité showcased another career-best performance. Playing Dominique, a woman accused of murdering her lover, Bardot earned a David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film. "When it was a comedy, I was in a fun mood, perky. But a dramatic role just wiped me out," she explained. "When I was shooting The Truth, Clouzot was so good at persuading me that I was this loose woman, this tragic character, that I ended up believing it. I became Dominique. So much so, that a few months later I wanted to commit suicide myself."

Breakthrough and Iconic Roles

Roger Vadim's 1956 romantic drama And God Created Women launched Bardot into stardom overnight. The controversial film featured her as a sexually liberated 18-year-old challenging marriage conventions. American censors heavily edited the movie, with promotional materials declaring: "God Created Woman but the Devil created Brigitte Bardot!" Years later, Bardot praised co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant: "Actors always want to look young. Jean-Louis doesn't care. As a result, we're talking about him again. He's exceptional. Rare. I find that fantastic, that's all."

Louis Malle's 1965 adventure comedy Viva Maria! paired Bardot with Jeanne Moreau as revolutionary women in early 20th-century Latin America. The role earned Bardot a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Actress. Malle reflected on his leading ladies: "Jeanne Moreau holding out for the ideal of love, Brigitte Bardot seizing the day; one opting for wiliness and passivity, the other for forthrightness and risk. And then, too, the film offers you a space to reflect on political violence, so inconsequential in the movie and so bloody and incendiary outside."

Later Works and Legacy

Among Bardot's personal favorites was Michel Deville's 1970 comedy-drama The Bear and the Doll, where she played Felicia, a spirited woman pursuing a conservative musician. "The Truth, And God Created Woman and The Bear and the Doll" were the films she felt most connected to, citing Deville among her preferred directors alongside Vadim and Claude Autant-Lara.

Bardot's confident screen presence influenced countless female performers who discovered new paths to liberation through her example. Her work created a template that continues shaping cinema today, proving that her impact extends far beyond her era of active filmmaking.