She participated in various musical shows and recorded many popular songs in the 1960s and 1970s, mostly in collaboration with Serge Gainsbourg, Bob Zagury and Sacha Distel, including "Harley Davidson", "Je Me Donne A Qui Me Plait", "Bubble gum", "Contact", "Je Reviendrais Toujours Vers Toi", "L'Appareil A Sous", "La Madrague", "On Demenage", "Sidonie", "Tu Veux, Ou Tu Veux Pas?", "Le Soleil De Ma Vie" (the cover of Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life") and notorious "Je t'aime… moi non plus".
In 1952, she appeared on screen for the first time in Le Trou Normand. That same year, at age 18, she married director Roger Vadim, with whom she had been romantically involved for several years.
Although the European film industry was then in the ascendant, her personal rise was remarkable: she has been one of the few European actresses to receive mass media attention in the United States. She and Marilyn Monroe were the icons of female sexuality in the 1950s and 1960s and whenever she made public appearances in the United States the media hordes covered her every move.
Her films of the early and mid 1950s were lightweight romantic dramas, some of them historical, in which she was cast as ingénue or siren, often with an element of undress. She played bit parts in three English-language films, the British comedy Doctor at Sea (1955), Helen of Troy (1954), in which she was understudy for the title-role but only appears as Helen's handmaid, and Act of Love (1954) with Kirk Douglas. Her French-language films were dubbed for international release. "She is every man's idea of the girl he'd like to meet in Paris" said the film-critic Ivon Addams in 1955.
Vadim was not content with this light fare. The New Wave of French and Italian art directors and their stars were riding high internationally and he felt Bardot was being undersold. Looking for something more like an art-film to push her as a serious actress, he showcased her in And God Created Woman (1956) with Jean-Louis Trintignant.
The film, about an amoral teenager in a respectable small-town setting, was a big international success. She may have had an affair with her co-star Trintignant, but this was more likely a pre-release publicity gimmick. The film is often wrongly described as her first film (it was her seventeenth) and to have launched her overnight, but it did help move her towards the cinematic mainstream.
It also ruled out a transition to Hollywood, where she was thought too risqué to handle. The Doris Day era was in still in full swing and even Jane Russell in The French Line (1953) had been thought to be going too far by showing her midriff. Erotica like Bardot's Cette sacrée gamine (That Crazy Kid, 1955) was considered fine at the box-office as long as it was clearly labelled "European". Bardot's limited English and strong accent, while beguiling to the ears of men, did not suit rapid-fire Hollywood scripts. In any event, staying in Europe benefited her image when the 1960s began to swing and Hollywood slipped into the background for a while, and Bardot was voted honorary sex-goddess of the decade.
Divorced from Vadim in 1957, she married actor Jacques Charrier (1959-62), by whom in 1960 she had her only child, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier from whom she is estranged. She once referred to her only child as "a tumour". The marriage was preyed on by the paparazzi and there were clashes over the direction of Bardot's career. Her films became more substantial, but this brought a heavy pressure of dual celebrity as she sought critical acclaim while remaining to most of the world a glamour model.
Vie privée (1960), directed by Louis Malle has more than an element of autobiography in it. The scene in which, returning to her flat, Bardot's character is harangued in the lift by a middle-aged cleaning-lady calling her a tramp and a tart was based on an actual incident, and is a resonant image of celebrity in the mid-20th century.
Soon after, Bardot withdrew to the seclusion of Southern France and is now known to have attempted suicide, but as the sexual revolution of the early 1960s gathered momentum her lifestyle began to seem more like the norm and the pressure lifted. Through the sixties, she was happy to appear in glossy star-vehicles like Viva Maria (1969), to dabble in pop music and to play the role of glamour model and icon. In 1965 she appeared as herself in the Hollywood production Dear Brigitte starring Jimmy Stewart.
Her other husbands were German millionaire playboy Gunter Sachs (1966-69), and French right-wing politician, Bernard d'Ormale (1992-present). She has also had reputed relationships with many men including singers Serge Gainsbourg and Sacha Distel. In the late 1950s, she shared an exchange she considered “croiser de deux sillages” with writer John Gilmore, then an actor in France for a New Wave film to have starred Jean Seberg. Gilmore told Paris Match, “I felt a beautiful warmth with Bardot but found it difficult to discuss things to any depth whatsoever”.
She is recognised for popularising bikini swimwear in early films such as Manina (Woman without a Veil, 1952) and in her appearances at Cannes and in many photo shoots. She even sported an early version of the monokini from time to time. Though this was not considered extraordinary in France, it was considered nearly scandalous in the US. The fashions of the 1960s looked effortlessly right and spontaneous on her and she joined Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy, in becoming a subject for Andy Warhol paintings.
In 1970, the sculptor Alain Gourdon used Bardot as the model for a bust of Marianne, the French national emblem.
Mentions of Bardot in music
The first song to reference Brigitte Bardot was "Gimme' that Wine" by vocalese group Lambert, Hendricks and Ross on the Columbia label in 1960.
Indie singer Jordan Galland also has a song called "Brigitte Bardot". In 1966, Harry Belafonte recorded "Zombie Jamboree" which has an entire verse dedicated to Brigitte Bargot.
Bardot has also been referenced in many other songs, including "I Shall Be Free" (Bob Dylan), "We Didn't Start the Fire" (Billy Joel), "Message of Love" (The Pretenders), "I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself" (Elton John), "Warlocks" (Red Hot Chili Peppers), "You Went The Wrong Way, Old King Louie" (Allan Sherman), "You're My Favourite Star" (The Bellamy Brothers), "It's Not Enough" (The Who), "Contempt" (Silkworm), "Big Wedge" (Fish),"Brigitte Bardot" (Tom Zé), "Alegria, Alegria" (Caetano Veloso), "Loaded" (ZZ Top), "Brigitte Bardot" (Creature), "Bardot" (Marden Hill), "Shir Nevu'i Cosmi Aliz" (Yoni Rechter & Eli Mohar), "Smiles Like Richard Nixon" (The Bad Examples), "Bijou" (Stew), "Stratford-On-Guy" (Liz Phair), and "Brigitte Bardot T.N.T." (Pizzicato Five).
Paris
Brigitte Bardot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Deux jambes ou deux yeux
C'est toujours par deux
Qu'on cherche fortune
Mais blondes ou brunes
A Paris font mieux
Une égale deux
Et deux n'en font qu'une
Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris
Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris
Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris
Au clair de la lune
Deux cœurs capricieux
Font à qui mieux mieux
Maintes infortunes
On en invite une
Elles viennent à deux
On invite les deux
Il n'en vient aucune
Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris
Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris
Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris
J'en multiplie une
J'en multiplie deux
Ah comme c'est fâcheux
Qu'elles sont importunes
Dix fois cent fois une
C'est trop périlleux
Par pitié mon Dieu
Qu'il n'en reste aucune
Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris
Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris
Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris
N'ayez pas d'rancune
Vous serez heureux
Dites leur adieu
Car deux c'est trop d'une
La tête y'en n'a qu'une
Ah non y'en a deux
Pour les amoureux
Chacun sa chacune
Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris
Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris
Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris
The song "Ah! Les p'tites femmes" by Brigitte Bardot is a whimsical tribute to the women of Paris, centered around the idea that two is better than one but that sometimes, one is better than two. The song starts off by stating two options for a man seeking fortune: two legs or two eyes - implying that a man needs either a good pair of legs to work or a good pair of eyes to search for opportunity. The chorus then exclaims, "Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris" (Oh the little women of Paris), emphasizing that these women are the key to a man's success.
The next verse describes how two capricious hearts under the moonlight often lead to misfortune. Even when a man invites a woman out, she may bring a friend who, unfortunately, won't be interested in him. The chorus repeats, cementing the importance of these little women.
The final verse expresses frustration with having to deal with too many women. The singer muses that one alone is not enough, but two is too much for him to handle. He ultimately declares "each has their own," emphasizing that one woman is enough for him. The song finishes with the chorus, once again proclaiming the greatness of the women of Paris.
Overall, Bardot's lyrics can be interpreted as a lighthearted commentary on the complexities of love and how those complexities are amplified in communal living conditions. The song's message also ties into the cultural significance of Paris as a city of romance and freedom.
Line by Line Meaning
De deux choses l'une
When it comes to two things, there are only two options
Deux jambes ou deux yeux
Two legs or two eyes
C'est toujours par deux
It always comes in twos
Qu'on cherche fortune
To seek fortune
Mais blondes ou brunes
Blondes or brunettes
A Paris font mieux
In Paris they do best
Une égale deux
One equals two
Et deux n'en font qu'une
And two don't make one
Ah les petites femmes les petites femmes de Paris
Oh the little women, the little women of Paris
Au clair de la lune
In the moonlight
Deux cœurs capricieux
Two fickle hearts
Font à qui mieux mieux
Do their best to impress each other
Maintes infortunes
Numerous misfortunes
On en invite une
One is invited
Elles viennent à deux
They come as two
On invite les deux
Both are invited
Il n'en vient aucune
None of them show up
J'en multiplie une
I multiply one
J'en multiplie deux
I multiply two
Ah comme c'est fâcheux
Oh, how troublesome this is
Qu'elles sont importunes
How bothersome they are
Dix fois cent fois une
A hundred times ten times one
C'est trop périlleux
It's too dangerous
Par pitié mon Dieu
For God's sake
Qu'il n'en reste aucune
May none remain
N'ayez pas d'rancune
Don't hold any resentment
Vous serez heureux
You will be happy
Dites leur adieu
Say goodbye to them
Car deux c'est trop d'une
Because two is too much for one
La tête y'en n'a qu'une
There's only one head
Ah non y'en a deux
Oh no, there are two
Pour les amoureux
For lovers
Chacun sa chacune
Each has their own
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JEAN-CLAUDE CARRIERE, GEORGES DELERUE, LOUIS MALLE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@p.h.m.kletersteeg117
@@fetitadepeterra5319 Will enlighten you. My advetar has an IQ of 84. Average IQ of Romanians: 86. With 83 you are concidered to be too stupid to get in USA army.
Romanian schooling level is less than half compared to west europe.
The trust level in Holland is 8,7. That means that 87% of deals take place without contracts or so, as both parties are trust worthy.
In Romania that is 0,2.
In 2015 there were 2500 illegal Romanians in Amsterdam. Examined was how many lived from criminality; that was 1760. about 250 from street criminality. Rest in many cases IT schooled.
They could get a well paid job within one day; but then: Romanians are criminals for around 90%.
You were calling BB stupid because she had moral standards????
Of course, you are Romanian.
@target1529
Ein wunderbarer Film. Habe ihn als Jugendlicher 1967, mit meiner ganzen Klasse, in Prag am Wenzelsplatz gesehen. War echt begeistert! Solche Filme gibt es nicht mehr, nicht in dieser ausgezeichneten Qualität!
@marie-ctunnicliff513
I saw this film in the mid 60s, with an old flame of mine! Brilliant!
@lucieloiseur2778
Deux artistes françaises fantastiques....complémentaires deux femmes charmeuse et sensuelles et libres comme ils y en a plus !!
@gogoyubari366
Brigette was so beautiful!
@craighoward3934
Sacre Bleu !
@user-bn3gs8xx3f
Вот он шик старого Парижа - и две его фантастические звезды!!!❤🎉
@luclafor
Oh... The sixties! Quel bonheur! Merci pour tout, Brigitte Bardot et Jeanne Moreau! And Louis Malle!
@ciabattatom521
Both women were exquisitely beautiful. They dark-haired woman whose head pops up from the private booth was also lovely.
They spoke to me, even though I do not understand a word of Italian. I have no idea what was going on, but boy, was it going on!
(Oui, I am aware that they were speaking Swedish!)
@heinrichvon
I love this movie. I saw this once at a museum with an unsubtitled print, and the film was so visual and funny that the American audience (most of whom didn't speak French) were enchanted without understanding a word of the dialogue.
@toni50gjev
ja das waren noch filme -sehr schön