Time magazine described her as "the princess of pout, the countess of come hither. Brigitte Bardot exuded a carefree, naive sexuality that brought a whole new audience to French films."
    Bardot, who died Sunday at the age of 91, was catapulted to superstardom in 1956 with Et Dieu... créa la femme or ...And God Created Woman, directed by Roger Vadim. The film made her an international sex symbol, a fashion icon, and one of the most famous women in the world. 
    Bardot's path to securing the role that made her famous wasn't easy.
    During the early 1950s, Bardot was featured in Elle Magazine; the pictures caused a sensation and impressed the French filmmaker Marc Allegret, who instructed his assistant, Roger Vadim, to track Bardot down. 
    Bardot was a successful fashion model and a popular pin-up girl in Europe, but she wasn't a trained actress; consequently, she failed several screen tests. But Vadim understood Bardot's potential. He trained her in the art of performance and, in time, cast her in his debut film, which made Bardot an international sensation.

    In ...And God Created Woman, Bardot played an alluring and provocative young woman who embarks on a self-destructive affair with an older man. The film was by no means a cinematic masterpiece; it relied heavily on Bardot's sex appeal for its content and promotion.
 

    The film was well-received in Europe and in the U.S.
    However, its uninhibited depiction of sexuality caused it to be heavily censored in the U.S. to conform to the then-Hays Code censorship standards. The film was banned in some states and slammed in the media. 
    This success led Bardot to work with 'auteurs' of the new wave such as Henri-Georges Clouzot, Louis Malle, and Jean-Luc Godard.
    In La Vérité, or The Truth (1960), directed by Clouzot, Bardot’s character is on trial for the charge of murder of her lover. The case will determine whether she killed her lover in a crime of passion or in premeditation. This was a riveting drama, particularly noted for Bardot's sensational performance.
    Malle directed Bardot in Vie Privée, or Private Life (1961), in which she played a famous movie star who is hounded and objectified by hysterical fans and the ravenous media. This is a part very close to her reality at that time.  
    Godard directed Bardot in Le Mépris, or Contempt (1963), she plays Camille, the beautiful wife of Michel Piccoli’s troubled screenwriter. The film is my favorite of all Bardot's and Godard's films, which was based on Alberto Moravia’s 1954 novel Il disprezzo, about a struggling playwright whose marriage begins to fall apart during the troubled production of a film adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey. 
    The film is a retelling of The Odyssey, with the struggling screenwriter representing King Odysseus and the screenwriter's wife, Bardot, representing Penelope. The wealthy, arrogant, and money-minded producer played by Jack Palance represents Poseidon, the god of the sea and antagonist to Odysseus.
 

 
    The film examines the complex and deteriorating relationship between the screenwriter and his wife, and the hostility with the film's American producer. The legendary German director Fritz Lang plays a version of himself, i.e., a veteran filmmaker who sees cinema as a serious form of art, which leads to constant tussles with the film's producer, who only wants to reap profits. Godard succeeds in presenting both the epic and the intimate, which makes it essential viewing.
    Roger Vadim directed Bardot again in Le Repos du Guerrier or Love on a Pillow (1962), where Bardot has the opportunity to portray a complex, emotionally torn character who rescues a man from a suicide attempt. Unfortunately for Bardot's character, he turns out to be a sociopath who dominates and abuses her.
    In 1968, Bardot starred opposite Sir Sean Connery in the 'western' Shalako (1968); her chemistry with Sir Sean was spectacular, alas, the film was a passable affair. A few years later, in 1970, she appeared in another passable film, L'ours et la poupée or The Bear and the Doll. Bardot won acclaim for her comic talents in the film.
 

 
    Her final starring role was in, Don Juan ou Si Don Juan était une femme.. or Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman (1973), was about a modern-day Don Juan-styled woman, who prides herself in the destruction of men who have fallen for her charms, reveals to a priest the murder she has committed, and honestly details her past sexual encounters.
 


    "What I rejected the most during my life as an actress was the limelight," she wrote in her autobiography, "That intense focus ... ate at me from the inside."
    “It was never a great passion of mine,” she said of film acting and the fame it earned her, “... and it can be deadly sometimes. Marilyn (Monroe) perished because of it.”
    Bardot was also a fashion icon whose look has inspired several generations of buxom blonde models to be called "baby Bardots," such as German supermodels Claudia Schiffer and Anna Ewers; Dutch models Lara Stone and Doutzen Kroes, and English model Georgia Jagger.
    In 1969, her features were chosen to be the model for "Marianne," the national emblem of France and the official Gallic seal. Bardot's face appeared on statues, postage stamps, and even on coins.
    Bardot was ranked #49 in Empire (U.K.) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list which came out in October 1997.
    Parallel to her acting, Bardot was a successful singer, recording over 60 songs. She frequently collaborated with the celebrated Serge Gainsbourg. Gainsbourg wrote Harley Davidson overnight, and the video for the song was recorded it two days later. Gainsbourg also wrote hits such as Bonnie and Clyde and Contact for Bardot.
 

 

 

 

 

 
    Following her retirement from the silver screen, Bardot became an animal rights activist. Reflecting on the rationale behind her choice, she said, “I gave my beauty and my youth to men, and now I am giving my wisdom and experience, the best of me, to animals.”
    Bardot created the Fondation Brigitte Bardot, which advocates for animal rights and is particularly vociferous against the use of animals for amusement-based activities such as bull-fighting and hunting. Bardot's foundation has also taken in more than 12,000 animals and worked in 70 countries.
    Despite being known as a sex symbol and one whose on-screen persona signified sexual liberation and a challenge to traditional values, Bardot was a conservative.
    Bardot was brought up in a strict and very religious family; her career in showbiz was perhaps an act of rebellion against what she saw as repression back then. But when she abandoned the spotlight, she probably returned to her roots.
    Her right-leaning and conservative values are why some of her obituary articles seem a bit cold and even snide.
    Bardot became a vocal critic of unfettered immigration in France.
    In her book A Cry in the Silence, she warned of the Islamization of France and described Muslims as invaders and denounced Islamic ritual slaughter. On her website, she said that Muslims were destroying France by imposing their ways. 
    She opposed gay marriage and the LGBTQ+ pride movements. She was also critical of transgenderism.
    For these opinions, Bardot was convicted at least six times by French courts; the judges who convicted Bardot claimed she was inciting racial and religious hatred. 
    In 2017, Bardot threw her support behind conservative candidate Marine Le Pen. Her position also led to Bardot-inspired statues of Marianne being removed in several towns across France.
    In 2018, Bardot criticized the Me Too movement when it was at its peak. She claimed that most actresses protesting sexual harassment in the film industry were "hypocritical" and "ridiculous" because many played "the teases" with producers to land parts.
    To sum it up, Bardot was always a rebellious non-conformist with a cause.
    The existentialist Simone de Beauvoir hailed Bardot as an icon of "absolute freedom" who does not try to scandalize but merely follows her inclinations. 
    From her modelling career, to her films where she became a sex symbol, to her animal activism and political views, Bardot marched to the beat of her own drum.
    She did and said what she thought right; she seldom followed convention.
    For this, she will be remembered and celebrated, always.