A Very Private Affair

There are few films at the BFI Southbank in the second half of March so here is another classic film at Cine Lumiere. This one features Brigitte Bardot and Marcello Mastroianni. A dazzling poem of sumptuous, shimmering images, A Very Private Affair (Vie privée) was long considered one of the most beautiful colour films ever made, with its unique impressionist texture and luminosity together with its astonishing camera movements. Louis Malle did not want to make a documentary about Brigitte Bardot, but a film. He said, “Explaining the Bardot myth… is the business of sociologists, not storytellers”.

• In the film, Jill, a young woman from Geneva, arrives in Paris and quickly becomes a dancer, actress, and sex symbol. She is adored but also hounded day and night by photographers and fans. She has no privacy…
  A Very Private Affair (Vie privée) was invisible for almost thirty years and restored in 2023.
• Special Screening
  The screening on 23 March will be preceded by a talk by Professor Ginette Vincendeau (King’s College), author of Brigitte Bardot (BFI, 2019) and of the forthcoming BFI Classic on Godard’s Le Mépris, who will reflect on the controversial legacy of the iconoclastic star in the era of ‘cancel culture’.
• Director(s): Louis Malle
• Cast: Brigitte Bardot, Marcello Mastroianni, Nicolas Bataille, Dirk Sanders
• Original title: Vie privée
• Country, year: France/Italy | 1962
• Duration: 104 mins
• Language: French with English subtitles
• Cert.: 12
• More information: 4K Restoration

We will meet briefly before the film starts and then go for a snack/drink after the film (if attendees wish).
David (07887 683171 / 07393 195241)