Cannes Film Festival 2025: Showers, wind, soaked seats... Brigitte Bardot stronger than the rain

When the first drops of rain began to fall, before the screening had even begun, the producer of the documentary "Bardot", Nicolas Bary, who was introducing the team to the audience, admitted in dismay: "I have to tell you that we had so much trouble on this film, so let it rain, it had to end like this." Trouble? This project by director Alain Berliner, announced a long time ago, was first planned for television, then cinema, after several production twists and turns.

Every evening, the Cinéma de la Plage on the Croisette is the relaxing spot of the Cannes Film Festival , with its deckchairs by the water and night falling over the Mediterranean. The duo Madame Monsieur, who contributed to the film's soundtrack, has just played two BB covers on stage in front of the giant screen. The open-air "room" is sold out.

The producers had access to the icon of "And God Created Woman." She agreed to be filmed at home , appearing only briefly from behind, but it is her voice today that punctuates most of the film's sequences off-camera. Her life unfolds, without scoops but in a conducive atmosphere, on the Croisette, to the siren of Saint-Tropez. Environmental activist Paul Watson , a friend of BB, did not want to go on stage but appears in the documentary and sat among the audience. On screen, other witnesses parade, such as Hugo Clément, also committed to the environment and animal rights, or the stylist Stella McCartney, for whom "she is totally cool," this star who dressed as she wanted, was a feminist and animal rights activist when TV comedians sniggered at her early struggles.

Except that the drops are pitter-pattering, more and more. The ranks are thinning. Some find refuge under a side tent where deckchairs are arranged. And the evening is organized, under cover, for these fifteen clever people. After an hour, security arrives: "This is a technical room, there are broken deckchairs, you can't stay here, and besides, it's not raining. Go sit back down on the deckchairs in front of the screen," says an officer. "You're kind, but I won't move. We're not bothering anyone. And the deckchairs are soaked," retorts a woman in a calm, unanswerable tone.

Still, we'll have to leave. Instead of sitting on the waterlogged fabrics, which form small puddles, some people remain standing on the sand. This is also forbidden. "You must sit down or exit on the other side of the barriers," another officer asserts. Strange, because no one is really bothering anyone in the almost deserted area, in clusters, with each rinse. The evening is sinking. The rule is the rule, and spectators who had anticipated this are holding camp under their umbrellas.

On screen, close-ups of the actress in her resplendent youth tear through the night and tame the rain, which eventually stops. Now, it's the wind that picks up. The screen's canvas ripples. On screen, Bardot's voice acknowledges that she goes a bit too far when she gets angry and ends up in court for racist remarks. "I always end up apologizing," she says in the film about her outbursts, which she can do nothing about. At 11:15 p.m., the end credits roll and applause crackles. Hey, there were quite a few rain-resistants hiding in the night after all. Bardot's evening didn't end in a complete mess. Oh no, she's a vegetarian.

Released in September.