Brigitte Bardot Tribute: Screening of ‘Vie Privée’ in Prades-le-Lez

A film screening dedicated to the memory of Brigitte Bardot, who died December 28th at the age of 91, is scheduled for Saturday, March 28th, at 2:30 PM in the Jacques Brel hall in Prades-le-Lez, France. The event will feature a showing of Louis Malle’s 1966 film, Vie privée (Private Life).

The film centers on Jill, a bourgeois Geneva native played by Bardot, who abandons a failed love affair to pursue a career as a model and then a film star in Paris. Vie privée explores the price of fame, depicting Jill’s increasing loss of privacy as she is relentlessly pursued by paparazzi and subjected to public scrutiny.

Marcel Payet, a member of the Prades-le-Lez Image Club, explained the selection of the film, stating, “She embodies a star, in her own role.” Payet further elaborated on the film’s resonance with Bardot’s life, noting, “Pursued by the public, sometimes adored and sometimes hated, BB wanted a life that is now forbidden to her. It was impossible to go out, walk, perform simple acts of daily life without being followed, photographed, harassed everywhere and constantly. She embodies a film star in her own role…”

The choice of Vie privée is described as a deliberate one, reflecting the pressures Bardot faced throughout her career and what Payet termed the “ransom of glory.”

Tickets for the screening are priced at €6 for general admission, €5 for reduced admission, and a 10-session subscription is available for €40. Contact Marcel at 06 14 94 53 39 or visit ciprades.jimdofree.com for more information.

Brigitte Bardot rose to prominence in the 1950s, becoming a global icon after starring in And God Created Woman in 1956, directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim. She continued to act in numerous films throughout the 1960s, including Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows (1969), and became a significant figure in French popular culture.

In recent years, Bardot became known for her controversial political views and animal rights activism. According to a Facebook post from Entertainment Tonight, she was also criticized for openly racist statements. She inspired many filmmakers, as noted by Superprof in a 2018 article, and received a BAFTA nomination for her role in Louis Malle’s Viva Maria! in 1965.