While any spoilers below are presented in vague generalities, one might appreciate this review more after viewing the film.
It is preciously rare to see raw human truths portrayed in a work of art -this film succeeds. Brigitte Bardot plays the young orphan Juliette trying to come to terms with the power and curse of being a beautiful woman. She wants to have fun, she wants to be loved, but few are able to see past her beautiful body and irreverent behavior. One man tries to buy her love and another uses raw male sexual appeal. Both men fail to completely win her affection primarily because of their own inability to admit how completely they love and desire her. A third, most unlikely man, wins her affection by treating her with kindness and love, rescuing her when the world turn against her and defending her honor even against his own mother. When she betrays him, he responds physically, expressing outrage, and than offers forgiveness. It is at the moment of his physical expression of outrage that he wins her love completely. This film expresses the profundity of feminine attractiveness and provides a glimpse at the answer to the Freudian question, `what do women want?'. Expressing the answer in words risks oversimplification; however, one might say that women want the freedom to express their femininity and sexuality within the confines of a loving, supportive and respectful relationship.
It is preciously rare to see raw human truths portrayed in a work of art -this film succeeds. Brigitte Bardot plays the young orphan Juliette trying to come to terms with the power and curse of being a beautiful woman. She wants to have fun, she wants to be loved, but few are able to see past her beautiful body and irreverent behavior. One man tries to buy her love and another uses raw male sexual appeal. Both men fail to completely win her affection primarily because of their own inability to admit how completely they love and desire her. A third, most unlikely man, wins her affection by treating her with kindness and love, rescuing her when the world turn against her and defending her honor even against his own mother. When she betrays him, he responds physically, expressing outrage, and than offers forgiveness. It is at the moment of his physical expression of outrage that he wins her love completely. This film expresses the profundity of feminine attractiveness and provides a glimpse at the answer to the Freudian question, `what do women want?'. Expressing the answer in words risks oversimplification; however, one might say that women want the freedom to express their femininity and sexuality within the confines of a loving, supportive and respectful relationship.