Review of ...And God Created Woman (1956) by Jacob G — 01 Apr 2014

The alluring visage of Brigitte Bardot, the free-spirited lady protagonist of ...And God Created Women, is enough to make the film thoroughly engaging.

Unfortunately, what should have been a total smash of a film is reigned in through the baggage of 2014 eyes. No longer are the views of women presented here something acceptable. And the casual way the film advocates these archaic views makes it all the more offensive. I guess there was a time when a casual women would be called all sorts of nasty words by men, and I guess it was expected that a woman's husband would sometimes need to get physical with her to "keep her in line", and perhaps seen through the shades of 1956 expectations, none of these things would feel out of line for the era.

But with it no longer being 1956 it's hard to just sit back and enjoy a film that so blatantly reinforces such a mindset. There is a film within ...And God Created Women. There is even a great film there. But it is couched in so much contempt that to modern eyes the whole thing gets stained.