This is a rare foray into the world of biopics for Walter Presents, and it’s a real treat. ‘Bardot' is a drama based on the formative years of Brigitte Bardot, one of the most iconic personalities of the 1960s.
If you want to avoid all spoilers, stop reading this now.
The six-part series focuses on the period between 1949 and 1960 and therefore covers Brigitte between the ages of 15 and 26, from her first acting role through to the birth of her son, Nicholas – someone she once described as a “cancerous tumour”, stating that she would have preferred to have given birth to a little dog.
The opening episode reveals how Brigitte met the man who was to become her first husband, Roger Vadim. He wrote the script for the film, Les Lauriers Sont Coupés. Brigitte very much wanted to become an actress, against her conservative parents’ wishes. But encouraged by her grandfather, she auditioned for the role at the office of the director, Marc Allégret. She didn’t get the role, but the spark between Brigitte and Roger was lit and they started their affair. When her parents found out about the relationship – Brigitte was 15 and Roger was 21 at the time – they tried to ban the couple from seeing each other, her father threatening to shoot Roger if their relationship persisted. Brigitte’s reaction was to attempt to kill herself by putting her head in the gas oven.
Her parents reluctantly agreed that the relationship could continue on very strict terms until she reached 18, and then they would marry. On the eve of the wedding, Brigitte told her parents that they had continued seeing each other in the intervening years, and that their daughter was far from being the virgin bride they wished to portray to their friends.
There are some incredible performances in this series; most notably from the actor playing Brigitte, Julia de Nunez, a relatively unknown from Buenos Aires in Argentina. She very deservedly won a nomination for Best Performance in a TV Series at the French L’Association des Critiques de Series awards. She not only looks remarkably like Bardot herself, but has that raw, sensual quality that the young Brigitte displayed so naturally. Also of note is the performance of Géraldine Pailhas as her mother, Toty Bardot. Pailhas played alongside Gérard Depardieu in the 2016 French series, Marseilles, and does a remarkable job here as the overbearing mother who favoured Brigitte’s younger sister, Mijanou.
The story of Bardot is fascinating. From appearing on the cover of Elle in 1952 aged just 17, through to her life today as an animal rights activist, she has lived an extraordinary life. This series shines a spotlight on the early years and superbly portrays the woman who was a poster-girl for the sexual revolution of the 60s.
This is a fascinating and very watchable series.
Walter Presents: ‘Bardot' is available as a full boxset now on C4 Streaming.
