sdxfc

A bet, an infidelity and a forbidden song: the wedding of Brigitte Bardot and Gunter Sachs

A bet, an infidelity and a forbidden song: the wedding of Brigitte Bardot and Gunter Sachs

Despite the complicated shooting, The Truth was a success and the beginning of more serious and more substantial roles alongside talented directors, such as Louis Malle or Jean-Luc Godard, with whom he shot El contempto, because the French nouvelle vague also she wanted BB She started dating the musician Sami Frey and later with the Brazilian Bob Zagury (together with whom she helped popularize the little town of Búzios in the world). The 60s were as kind as her 50s to her; far from remaining an erotic symbol of another era, the overwhelming modernity embraced her with passion; John Lennon, another icon across the English Channel, revered her and considered her the epitome of the perfect woman. ¡Viva María!, by Louis Malle, was a great international success and a good friendship with her partner Jeanne Moreau. And, after a brief flirtation with her dentist, she arrived in May '66 and with him, Gunter Sachs.

Barely a month had passed since they had met when Sachs and Brigitte had known each other for less than a month when they became engaged, and the wedding began to be arranged with Germanic alacrity. They boarded an Air France plane under the assumed names of Mr. Sahatz and Mrs. Bordat, bound for Los Angeles. They arrived in Las Vegas on July 13, 1966, aboard Ted Kennedy's private jet -a friend of the millionaire-, decorated with white roses. an express ceremony typical of the place that lasted less than ten minutes. She was wearing a straight, simple, miniskirt dress; He wore a three-button black blazer, white pants, and Gucci shoes with no socks. A video of Paris Match collected the ceremony and the subsequent walk of the newlyweds surrounded by neon casinos. She assured: “It is the most beautiful love story I have ever known. I live a true fairy tale. Gunter is a gentleman, a true prince charming: the last one."

Of course, she wasn't. Brigitte had already grown suspicious of Gunter's entourage, made up of other playboys and beautiful women, before they were married. From Los Angeles they flew to Papeete, for a paradisiacal honeymoon in Polynesia and Bora-Bora, marred by her injured foot swimming and the ubiquitous presence of paparazzi. From there they went to Acapulco, where, according to Barnett Singer's biography of the Bardot, she began to hear an ugly story about him marrying her to win a bet. But she was desperately in love with her husband, so she didn't do anything. They returned to Paris together, and there it became clear that a common existence was going to be difficult, if not impossible. Brigitte refused to move into Gunter's luxurious apartment on Avenue Foch; She felt that this was not her lifestyle and she was bothered by the signs and remains of the many women who had passed through there. She never had a key to the apartment. Even living in the same city, her ranges of action were different; she liked simple bistros, he liked high-end restaurants and big parties where you had to go dressed up. She wanted a quieter life, while he was used to always going on a roller coaster. This frenetic way of life was attractive, but also exhausting. The paparazzi photograph them walking a cheetah on a chain, dressed in fabulous clothes at the edge of a swimming pool, skiing in Gstaad with little Rolf or at costume parties with Salvador Dalí. Gunter could offer everything that money could buy, but that turned out not to be enough. Perhaps what Brigitte needed, and what he needed, too, was a loyal companion, and neither of them was in a position to be that to the other. Their jobs, their agendas and their ways of understanding life collided too much, once the initial mutual glow had faded.

Tags: