Investigation“Brigitte Bardot, in complete freedom” (6/6). On June 6, 1973, at age 38, the actress broke with a world of cinema where she felt “put forward as in a circus”. She returns, for “Le Monde”, to this rupture and explains her fight – pioneer – for the defense of animals.
On December 7, 1967, neither Brigitte Bardot, who went for the first time to the Elysée Palace, nor General de Gaulle, who received her, knew that they were at the top of their mountain. In front of them, the void. An abyss impossible to imagine a few months before the turmoil of May 68. If both do not understand what is at stake, if they waver, they do not fall. While no one dares to imagine that the party can end, the two most famous French personalities in the world, will choose to retire. Their way.
Asked, in 1964, about Europe 1, the actress would like to add: “There is one person I would like to meet, it’s de Gaulle. “ In Hollywood, during the promotional tour of Viva Maria! (1965), by Louis Malle, when asked if the general is her type of man, she spontaneously replies: “For politics, yes. “ Photographer Raymond Depardon, who revolves around this tandem in the early 1960s, sums it up: “For a novice photographer, there were two people who dominated everything at that time: General de Gaulle and Brigitte Bardot. “
“This young person is endowed with a simplicity of the best quality”, confides General de Gaulle.
The day before the reception at the Elysee Palace, the actress and her third husband, the German playboy Gunther Sachs, dine with Guy and Marie-Hélène de Rothschild, in the company of the couple Claude and Georges Pompidou. What is the protocol? How to dress ? The French star showered the Prime Minister with questions. Seduced, attentive, he advises her to do as she presents herself to him. “You are lovely”, he assures. That evening, the actress wears black pants and a black jacket with gilding and braid – a costume halfway between the tamer’s dress and the military uniform. The couturier and friend of Bardot, Jean Bouquin, drew his inspiration from the cover of the famous Beatles album, Sergeant Pepper’s, released a few months ago.
During the Arts and Letters evening, the President of the Republic receives the singers Luis Mariano and Barbara, the actors Jean-Paul Belmondo, Annie Girardot, Louis de Funès and Bourvil. But the star’s name is Bardot. No woman has yet dared to enter the Elysee Palace in pants. For an official reception, it is unthinkable. When the actress comes forward to greet the president, she throws at him: “Good evening, general. “ The President of the Republic stares at her then, struck by her garment with golden fringes, replies: “It is the case to say it, ma’am. “
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