...And God Created Woman (1957)

....and GOD CREATED WOMAN is a very frivolous drama, through which permeates a fresh erotic and tragic story of young people. An eighteen-year orphan girl is the object of desire of many men in a small fishing town. Her provocative behavior is scandalous for most citizens. However, the real problems arise when she marries a naive young man who is crazy about her...It is a very interesting conflict between a frivolous dialogue and tragic story in this film. Scenery is full of "freshness" considering the sun, the sea, the heat and a naked girl, but atmosphere is gloomy and depressing. Mr. Vadim has made a film in which the protagonists are in a kind of conflict with themselves, among themselves and with nature. As a result of that appears a wild and irrational girl that breaks certain social taboos.Brigitte Bardot as Juliette Hardy is somehow amoral girl. „She is brave enough to do what she wants when she wants." I think everyone will enjoy her nakedness. Bardot moves herself in a fashion that fully accentuates her charms. However, those who have enjoyed her acting are probably rare. A young, beautiful and pretty actress has become a sex symbol.Curd Jürgens as Éric Carradin is an old businessman and cunning fox, who is experienced enough to not put his life into the hands of one wild girl. Jean-Louis Trintignant as Michel Tardieu is Juliette's husband. He was deeply depressed and fascinated with his playful wife at the same time. Christian Marquand as Antoine Tardieus is an older brother and a real playboy in a small town. His guilt was so ironic.This is a circus of the film, but I enjoyed the beautiful images of St. Tropez and the lovely Brigitte.

Miss Bardot plays the role of innocent waif with a certain--well, innocence, that few modern actresses could pull off so well. Come to think of it, few actresses of any age could pull off. It is not just innocence, it is playful innocence. And at age 21 or 22 when she made this, Miss Bardot was young and innocent and playful.She, of course, marries the wrong brother to spite the one who actually wants her; she falls for the older man (played by Curt Jurgens) who wants to buy land for a casino in St. Tropez, but disguises his intention by pretending to build yet another ship building company. And this older man, who seems to want nothing more than to have her for a play-pal, ends up being structural to her life with her husband.She cheats on husband, unexpected denouement of reinforced love, of re-committed love, of under-appreciated love for that husband.I didn't find the movie shallow, trite, or obvious. And by the standards of 1956--even by those standards it was fairly tame for anyone who was used to visiting nudist camps. "Playboy" had just made an appearance about two years previous, and even by that standard, it was tame. It was a time before people confused sex with porn. The Legion of Decency condemned the film for the nudity, but certainly by modern standards, it is hardly shocking. (Shocking that there was a time that the Legion of Decency even existed, much less listened to.)

'Et Dieu ... crea la femme' (= French for 'And God created woman') is the film that catapulted Brigitte Bardot to world fame.Originally issued in France, 'Dieu' didn't do much. Thereafter it was sold to the USA, where - to everyone's surprise - it hit like an atomic bomb. Attracting packed houses all over the place, getting businessmen to marvel at BB's most seductive performance ever.Now, more than fifty years later, 'Et Dieu ... crea la femme' may be qualified as a mediocre but entertaining French fifties-film. With nice coloring and a consistent story.Its immortality, however, is guaranteed by Brigitte Bardot as the orphan-girl Juliette. Her message is simple: Paradise is just around the corner. Transferred to you in a truly devastating way, never equaled before or since.

Set in the gorgeous seaside town of St. Tropez, French New Wave director Roger Vadim's retelling of the Garden of Eden bears watching (and rewatching). Monsieur Carradine (a German—Curd Jürgens) is an older gentleman who flirts with Juliette (the beautiful Brigitte Bardot, a French Audrey Hepburn). His goal: to build a casino. Hers?—well, we're not quite sure. To live a carefree life. Here comes the heart of the film—what is her motive? What makes her happiest? Is it pursuing or being pursued? How innocent is Juliette—and how deeply can we look into her character? Juliette is a naïve but driven. She must be aware of her stunning beauty. She bikes around town barefoot, and holds a steady but boring job as a bookseller. Eighteen, she lives with a foster family on the condition that she holds down her job and behaves. A spontaneous, young girl, Juliette has trouble sitting down or doing anything steadily. But she takes care of a rabbit (thoughtfully named Socrates). She decides to release Socrates into nature, but when he scampers off she has a change of heart and runs right after him. While she moves from one man to another in the space of an hour, she resents overhearing Antoine's (Christian Marquand's) flippant one-night-stand remark. Yet Juliette—who in no ambiguity represents the forbidden fruit, perhaps temptation itself—ends up hitched with Antoine's brother, Michel (Jean-Louis Trintignant). But when Bardot takes off on a sailboat and the engine catches fire (symbolizing Bardot's nascent marriage going up in smoke), Antoine rescues and drags Bardot ashore. They make love on the beach (off-screen, of course). But is Bardot sheepishly immature or an adulteress? The crux of the plot is that Carradine wants to build a casino. He has acquired all the land except for a property on the water. Enter the Tardieu clan. The mother is a stubborn widow who wants to keep the family business—shipbuilding—intact. Antoine is a pragmatist, and thinks now is the time to cash in. And the other two brothers—Christian, the younger; Michel, the middle—are indifferent. But the plot is thin. The real attraction here is the hypnotic presence of Bardot.It is a mystery how this film passed the French censors in 1956. While mild by today's standards, the film does tastefully leave most of Bardot's bits up to the imagination. But audiences' reaction? Think Elvis' pelvis.So Bardot is a thrill to watch on screen. A must-watch scene towards the end (be prepared: the film drags on) is with Juliette, intoxicated, dancing uncontrollably to an Afro-Cuban big band in the basement of a local watering hole. Wild, dynamic camera work. This film is also superb just for the breathtaking, unspoiled landscape scenes of the Cote d'Azur.If the film is a retelling of the Garden of Eden, then we are left to assume man has come from Bardot's rib. In fact, all of the energy and spirit of … And God Created Woman radiates from her youthful vibrancy. The writers of the Cahiers du Cinéma were "knocked out" by it, and the film's dazzling quality is not lost over time. A must watch for New Wave enthusiasts or those looking for an early 400 Blows inspiration.