Starring Brigitte Bardot, The Truth—or “La Verité”, to use its original French title—was a cinematic tour de force. Telling the story of a small-town Frenchwoman who moves to Paris, becomes embroiled in a steamy love affair, and ends up accused of the murder of her lover, the movie was given an X rating when it was released in America in 1960. But as dramatic and as scandalous as the movie’s on-screen events are, the movie’s production was just as extraordinary.
The Truth took two years to develop for the big screen and six months to shoot. During that time, Bardot embarked on an equally steamy love affair with her co-star Sami Frey, which resulted in her marriage to her husband Jacques Charrier breaking down. That—alongside the immensely arduous role she had taken on—led to her attempting suicide two months before the film’s release.
At least part of the reason the movie was so grueling for Bardot, however, was due to its director, Henri-Georges Clouzot.
Clouzot was well known in French cinema for his uncompromising perfectionism, cruel treatment of his actors, and his desire for absolute authenticity on screen. He arguably took that realism a step too far in La Verité, when he had Bardot plied with alcohol and take a handful of genuine sleeping pills to prepare for shooting a scene in which her character attempts to kill herself. Reportedly, Bardot was unaware the pills were real and had to have her stomach pumped after the scene was over.
When the pair later clashed over Clouzot’s treatment of her, the director reportedly snapped “I don’t need amateurs, I need an actress!”—to which Bardot replied, “And I need a director, not a psychopath!”