77 And God Created Woman

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Martha
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77 And God Created Woman

#1 Post by Martha » Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:19 pm

And God Created Woman

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The astounding success of Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman revolutionized the foreign film market and turned Brigitte Bardot into an international star. Bardot stars as Juliette, an 18-year-old orphan whose unbridled appetite for pleasure shakes up all of St. Tropez; her sweet but naïve husband Michel (Jean-Louis Trintignant) endures beatings, insults, and mambo in his attempts to tame her wild ways. Criterion presents this milestone of cinematic naughtiness in a stunning new 16x9 Eastmancolor transfer, supervised by the late director.

Special Features

-New widescreen digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Roger Vadim and enhanced for 16×9 televisions
-U.S. theatrical trailer
-Restoration demonstration
-New and improved English subtitle translation

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

#2 Post by Matt » Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:19 pm

Mondo Digital review:

A film so iconic most people don't even remember it has a plot, And God Created Woman (Et Dieu créa la femme) introduced the world to Brigitte Bardot, gave Roger Vadim his first break as a director, smashed down censorship barriers in the United States, and blurred the line between the arthouse and the grindhouse. So, is the film itself any good? Yes, but probably not in the way most viewers would now expect. Rescued from a hellish life in an orphanage by a stern moralistic couple, young Juliette Hardy (Brigitte Bardot) spends her days working in a bookshop in St. Tropez and her nights partying with the locals. She spurns the advances of millionaire shipyard owner Mr. Carradine (Curd/Curt Jürgens, the villain from The Spy Who Loved Me), hoping instead to leave town with the handsome Antoine Tardieu (Christian Marquand, who later directed Candy and had sex with ice cubes in The Other Side of Midnight). Unfortunately Antoine regards her as nothing more than a one night stand and takes off alone. Antoine's kinder, weaker brother, Michel (Jean-Louis Trintignant), takes pity on the young beauty and, against the advice of his family and the townspeople, marries Juliette. Domestic life proves to be a problem when Mr. Carradine buys out the Tardieu shipyards, with Antoine returning home to assume duties as a chief of operations. Now saddled with three men longing to possess her, Juliette begins to crumble.

While the late Vadim earned a reputation as a womanizer and a materialist, it's interesting to note that this film remained progressive even after countless imitations. Most American directors would have probably gunned Juliette down in a hail of bullets for her transgressions (see Russ Meyer's Lorna for a good comparison), but Vadim is squarely on the side of his heroine. None of the men really deserve her, and the final scene leaves interpretations completely open about the characters' future happiness. Despite their wealth and prestige, businessmen like Carradine and Antoine fail to comprehend Juliette or the entire female gender for that matter; their remarks that she "destroys men" are quite ironic indeed. Of course all of these considerations take a back seat to Bardot herself, more of a force than a character. While the film contains no actual nudity per se, apart from the legendary opening profile shot of Bardot's derriere and a few gauzy skin shots behind curtains, the film conveys a powerful atmosphere of sensuality from the opening frames. Bardot's hair becomes wilder and more disheveled as the film progresses, and she provides some unforgettable iconic images along the way. Look no further than the haunting beach scene between Bardot and Marquand, in which she revives him from nearly drowning with a single provocative gesture of her foot. For such a high profile film, And God Created Woman has had a disastrous history on home video. The first VHS version from Vestron was the familiar English dubbed version, with sloppy panning and scanning which demolished the scope photography. Vadim's camera often sets up actors at opposing ends of the frame, and every inch is necessary to appreciate even the simplest dialogue scene. While the familiar Vadim visual flourishes only break out during the powerful Mambo finale, this is a film to be viewed in widescreen or not at all. The problem was only slightly remedied by a British VHS release, in French with English subtitles and partially letterboxed at 1.85:1. Fortunately those versions are obsolete thanks to Criterion's amazing restoration job, which is perfectly letterboxed and boasts an astounding palette of colours. The St. Tropez waters now glow a luminous aquamarine, and Bardot's red dress is saturated a pure, noise-free crimson. The optional English subtitles restore some surprising profanity to the dialogue and fly by quickly at times, so get ready to speed read. Also included is the surprisingly dull American trailer and a restoration demonstration. (Note: Vadim remade this film less successfully in 1986 with Rebecca De Mornay, turning the female lead into a more emancipated former criminal who longs to be a pop star! Pioneer's US R1 DVD is much better than one might expect, and contrary to the packaging, it's letterboxed at 1.85:1, 16:9 enhanced, and contains the full unrated version.)

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colinr0380
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#3 Post by colinr0380 » Sat Aug 11, 2007 7:17 pm

A video essay from the Shooting Down Pictures blog.

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blindside8zao
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:31 pm
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#4 Post by blindside8zao » Tue Aug 14, 2007 1:20 am

I watched this for the first time tonight. Was wondering if the still that is used for the DVD menu and also the insert is from a missing scene or if it was just a production photo? It's racier than any other part of the movie.

The dance scene at the end is definetly the greatest part of the movie.

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colinr0380
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#5 Post by colinr0380 » Tue Oct 09, 2007 4:07 pm


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blindside8zao
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#6 Post by blindside8zao » Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:17 pm

no one has an answer to my question? Did I just completely miss the scene?

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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#7 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Wed Oct 10, 2007 4:13 pm

Alas, I can't help with the menu still question, but I have one myself. Is Jean-Louis Trintignant any good in this film?

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Feego
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Re: 77 And God Created Woman

#8 Post by Feego » Tue May 03, 2016 11:21 am

So, almost 9 years of inactivity in this thread? To be honest, I can see why. Having just watched this film for the first time, I found it to be a largely underwhelming experience. For all of the controversy it stirred up, the salacious qualities now seem much-ado about nothing. The opening scene, with the iconic image of Brigitte Bardot lying naked in front of the clothesline, is justifiably famous, and her sexy banter with Curd Jurgens is fun. But little afterwards lives up to this naughty intro. Vadim instead treats the rest of the story with such a deadly dull seriousness that it's difficult to tell exactly whose side he's on. The plot, such as it is, basically involves Juliette (Bardot) as woman/wild animal being systematically destroyed by three men who lust after her but don't know how to control her. Or is she destroying them? The men certainly believe she is to blame for everything that goes wrong in their lives. This film could easily be taken as a satirical look at the social pressures put on women to be both chaste and sex objects, to be adventurous but to have no desires of their own. But other viewers' observations of the film being almost a peep show are right on the money as well. Whatever vibrancy Juliette has as a character seemingly has less to do with the script or Vadim's direction than with the force that is Bardot. She imbues her character with a depth and emotional intelligence that the movie unfortunately never explores. Vadim seems content to treat her as the object his male characters want her to be.

To answer Jean-Luc Garbo's (9-year-old) question above, Jean-Louis Trintignant is not bad, but he doesn't stand out either. He and the rest of the men play one-note assholes. He's the least unlikeable of the bunch, but the film doesn't demand much from any of them.

I'll point out one other moment, aside from the opening, that I really liked. After Bardot and Trintignant's wedding, they forego joining the family for the wedding feast to get a head-start on consummating their marriage. After finishing, Bardot brazenly walks downstairs in only a robe, silently announcing to the waiting family what they've been up to. She serves two plates and slinks back upstairs, a small triumph against her judgmental in-laws.
Last edited by Feego on Tue May 03, 2016 2:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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domino harvey
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Re: 77 And God Created Woman

#9 Post by domino harvey » Tue May 03, 2016 11:45 am

It is one of those films that was important more for the influence it had on a generation of filmmakers more than its function as a film apart from it

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