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Pretty Baby | Year: 1978 Classification: Drama Directed: - Louis Malle Actors/Actresses: - Brooke Shields - Keith Carradine - Susan Sarandon Storyville, New Orleans. 1917. Storyville, New Orleans. 1917. Brooke Shields(Violet) is the daughter of prostitute Susan Sarandon(Haddy). The camera follows Violet around and shows the goings on within the New Orleans style brothel mansion through her eyes. She is a surprisingly strong central character and the brothel provides a fairly stable family environment which sometimes seems more like a boarding school than a bawdy house. The old Madam looks out for her girls and the girls look out for each other. Shields is friends with both the colored Jazz pianist, the voodoo fortune teller, the worldly photographer as well the other little kids. Her childhood seems charmed, rich. <BR>Louis Malle in his earlier classic Murmur of the Heart examined bourgeois norms and found them to be far from moral, and in this movie he is examing what most deem an amoral atmosphere and finding much there that is admirable. He is celebrating moral freedom within the rich and racially diverse culture of New Orleans and he is examining moral hypocrisy as all the patrons are the wealthy and "respectable". Malle sets up an equation that perhaps parodies the age old artist/patron relationship. The most obvious arts being patronised are the sensual arts but also the mansion is a social club with its own jazz pianist, paintings on the wall, and there is a general joie de vivre that is lacking in the normal world. The brothel is seen as a kind of timeless sanctuary of the better things in life. Birth and death are kept out of the main parlor to preserve this illusion. At the end as this world that Malle and Nykvist have so carefully put together comes apart the mood is one of regret that it can't keep going on. This is not a message film and Malle is a director who does not insist you see things any particular way. Certainly the young Brooke Shields appearing as she does is meant to shock and no one thinks little girls should grow up to be prostitutes but the other extreme of growing up in the narrow confines of puritanical mainstream America also has its limits. The former world is amoral but it is lively and awakens the imagination and senses, the latter world is moral but overly protective and stultifying.<BR>Malle leaves things unresolved and the photographer played by Kieth Carradine embodies the ambivalence best of all. Carradine is attracted to the prostitutes existence, and he seems at home with them(much in the same way an artist in the same period found himself at home in Paris)but he keeps his distance for awhile, treating them only as art objects. Once he steps over his own bounds though he becomes as morally questionable as the prostitutes themselves. At the end he is still divided as to what is the best life for young Violet. So among everything else in the movie you have this little allegory of the bohemian artist as well. Music throughout is by piano professor Jellyroll Morton who is thanked in a note at the end of the picture. Malle is a director who never made a bad picture, and never made an ordinary one as well. One of my all time favorite directors. Also recommended by Malle: Murmur of the Heart, Atlantic City, My Dinner w/Andre, Crackers, May Fools, Damage, Vanya on 42nd Street. Disturbing & Provocative The cinematography, acting, & artwork were second to none.Keith Carradine, Susan Sarandon, & Brooke Shields did an excellentjob portraying the other side of society that most of us do not deal with or even want to deal with. The forced sexualization of a 12 year old girl is, perhaps, a strong subject to tackle in a film. Not only is this girl sexually active, but, she is also a prostitute. Life is full of hardships for most people; however, it can be harder on a select few than most. That is what happens to Violet (Brooke), she is forced to interact on an adult level in an adult world never quite having a childhood. This movie left me feeling sad & overwhelmed. I wanted to change Violet's life for her, make it happy...somewhat normal. If you are looking for a movie that has a happy ending, look elsewhere. If you want an accurate portrayel on the hardships of growing up a young, beautiful girl in a prostitutes world, this is the movie for you. The message is hard & is not for those that are easily offended. I can see where this would be more popular in Europe than here given the subject matter. To sum it up: Brooke is (as usual) beautiful & stunning. The nudity did not bother me as much as the subject matter did, but, only to the extent that you wish her character would have the chance to enjoy the innocence that is so beautiful in children. I do recommend this to those that can see past the images displayed on the screen & can engrosse themselves in the story. NOTE: This movie is not for everyone, hence my 4 star rating. Fast forward review This is the ultimate for lolita sleaze fans, who not only own the film, but also jpg's, frame by frame, of the crucial scenes. When you take Blue Lagoon I into account, and the low likelyhood of this kind of nudity ever being tolerated again, that pretty much makes BS the all-time lolita star. OK, for the newbies, we got near full-frontal underage nudity here, and almost complete in the tub scene if you slow it down. The principal scene is the extended photography session, which includes both front and boo-tok nudity, but there are a couple of others worth having as well. The five stars is maybe a bit excessive for the nudity content alone, but it deserves sleaze respect for its iconic status. Absolutely UNBELIEVABLE!!! I was very happy when PRETTY BABY became available on DVD. Soon as I found that out, I quickly ordered it from amazon.com and it arrived in only a few days.I wish to comment on the following:QUALITY OF FILM TRANSFER TO DVD: Outstanding! Picture was very clear and sharp. Colors were lively and brilliant! No noticeable defects in even the least slightest degree.MUSICAL SCORE: Soundtrack was very beautifull and moving. It represented the time period very well. It definitely contributed to the athmosphere of the time period.SET DESIGN and WARDROBE: This movie reminded me of the motion picture TITANIC, in regards to the representation and superb accuracy of the time period depicted. Just like the musical score, the set design and costumes were very true to the finest detail.ACTING: All performers, to include the supporting cast, did a remarkable job of acting. My favorite actress was Violet played by Brook Shields. She had this thick sassy southern accent and was remarkable for such a young age. The photographer who later married her was also very convincing. STORY: And now for the meat and main part of my review....I also own the movies LOLITA (Both versions), and BEAU PERE---which I received from amazon.com in a timely manner. These movies were HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL. They were a subject of much social/moral criticism! During all of this extreme negative press concerning these young girl movies, I never heard anything mentioned about PRETTY BABY...So I guess PRETTY BABY just sneaked right in and surprised me........AND BOY DID IT DO THAT!!!!!I knew the movie would be about a pre-teen prostitute...But I never would expect what the censors let the movie get away with!!!!!(a) 11 year old Brook Shields posing nude, a full body shot of her laying on a couch, from head to toes!(b) Several scenes of her walking around the house fully nude.(c) Many close-up shots of her bare chest.(d) Highly XXX dialogue, such as the line where 11 year old Violet tells her customer that "I can feel the steam just coming thru my dress"(e) The absolutely unbelievable scene where Violet is teasing this 10 year old black boy about him being a virgin. She then later throws the boy to the ground and jumps on top of him. She continues to tease him while pulling down his pants. Just as she begins to engage in forced sex with him, this black maid enters the barn and scolds Violet and gives her this lecture on how wrong it is for a WHITE girl to breed with a BLACK person.I will save the other examples for you to discover and find out yourself! I do not want to ruin the surprise and SHOCK!In terms of controversey, moral standards, and censorship....this movie blows both versions of the movie LOLITA and BEAU PERE out of the water!!!I really thought the above mentioned movies were the only three mainstream movies out their that challenged the censorships with highly controversial young girl "lolita" content.....But I JUST FOUND OUT THEIR IS A "FOURTH ONE" OUT THEIR IN THE WILD CALLED "PRE Buy Pretty Baby at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Pretty Baby Search with the Priority Search Engine on Pretty Baby This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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