Bardot (Netflix series, 2023)
Bardot is a six-part drama series about legendary French actress Brigitte Bardot and her meteoric rise to fame during the first ten years of her illustrious career.
The series was written by the mother and son duo of Daniele and Christopher Thompson, who previously collaborated on well-known French films like La Reine Margot (1994) and La Buche (1999).
Bardot is played by Argentinian actress Julia de Nunez, who does a fine job impersonating the star, without ever quite capturing the spark that made her so unique. But that would have been a close to impossible task for any actress.
Meanwhile, Jean-Paul Belmondo’s grandson Victor plays filmmaker Roger Vadim, who made And God Created Woman (1956), while Noham Edje plays famous actor Jean-Louis Trintignant.
The problem of the series is that it’s a fair approximation of a bygone era, but made in a very different time. Bardot may have been a feminist all along, but it is worth remembering that she was presented as a sex symbol first, and was basically seen as France’s answer to Marilyn Monroe.
Historic revisionism, however, is part of any biographical drama, and as such the feminist angle that the Thompsons use is a worthwhile one, especially when it comes down to showing the sexism and patriarchal rule that she was up against in 1950’s France.
Bardot is also worth it for the lovely cinematography, a lot of fine French actors and the consummate professionalism of the series as a whole.
Note: Bardot was originally shown on France 2. It is now on Netflix in various countries.