Pretty Baby

Rating:
Summary: censorship warning
Review: If they gave Academy Awards for small moments, this film would deserve one for the scene in which Violet is being auctioned off, and the camera closes in on the eyes of the Black piano player, full of silent moral judgment. The print is not so lovely, with more glitches and defects than I've seen in years. Even worse, Paramount has chosen to censor the film, by reframing the scene where Violet is tossed out of Belloc's apartment. It's one thing to be locked out of your house, and quite another to be locked out naked. The impact (and irony and pathos) of the scene is lost along with the nudity. What's ridiculous, though, is that uncensored full-frame prints have been showing on DBS/cable for years. Why censor it now? Last one out of the barn lock the door? So we have a choice between uncensored pan & scan or cropped widescreen. After years of overpriced, underfeatured discs (how many times have they released 'better' versions of Star Trek films?), it looks like Paramount has found yet another way to reveal its failure to understand DVDs. A pity this film wasn't released by MGM.

Rating:
Summary: Get it for the mood and photography
Review: It is a look into a period of history that many would pretend never happened. Imagine, politicians portrayed as purchasers of 12 year old virgins! And truth be told, there is a censored scene where Violet is tossed out, and if one has the VHS copy, it will be clear. The cloth cover is apparent on the VHS, but the DVD is cut such that the bottom of the scene is above the cloth cover. There is a lushness to the photography, and a refreshing frankness about what the business is all about. This is a well crafted movie, but perhaps doesn't age all that well. The atmosphere of the times is well depicted and this is a movie that flows. Susan Sarandon plays her role expertly. Brooke Shields does an adequate job. With all the publicity of the times about her role, it is only a good role, not a great role. Fans of hers will want this DVD. Taking pictures in 1917 was not a simple process, and Keith Carradine plays a fine role of a probably neglected and lonely photographer. Perhaps the most telling phrase was when Violet tells Bellocq: "Who cares. No one buys your photographs anyway!" The depiction of the characters and the atmosphere of the time is a reason to buy this DVD. The true shame about this DVD is that, for all the time it took to release this as a DVD, there is nothing in the way of extras.

Rating:
Summary: I WOULD SAY ITS A SPECTACULAR MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Its a little slow, its a little boring but who cares? Its an amazing movie. If you ever wondered if Brooke Shields gets naked in this movie at 12 years old....SHE DOES...But thats not the point. The point is why they put the child nudity in the film. Its really a good movie under the crued surface. Really.

Rating:
Summary: A Thorough Verdict
Review: Many words have been wasted lambasting this film for lionizing of demonizing issues of childhood sexuality. I can see the reasons in both extremes. What is on-screen here is really very clearly a form of vicarious catharsis for would be pedophiles / ephebophiles. The nude images of the 12-year old Shields are not beautiful in the classic sense. Yes, she is a cute kid, but the effect left on the viewer regarding the treatment of the overt issue of child prostitution and the real issue of adult-child romantic love is completely concrete. The childs nudity is presented as uncomfortably as possible, in a stark light. It highlights how young a 12 year old can look and act. The drama that ensues about how volatile the growing personality of a young woman can be is accurate. It is cold warning to all who might be deluding themselves with a Lolita complex. Heed the warning. Young women, either for sale, or lusting freely on thier own accord are pastries best left in the oven until they are ready.
If this film retains any cultural significance at all, this should be the main reason.

Rating:
Summary: Brooke's first catwalk
Review: New Orleans...1916, a house of prostitution which raises young girls to become hookers as soon as they turn 12...and Violet (Brooke) wants to become one too. She is "falls in love" with a photographer & marries him. What else happens? Watch & find out.

Rating:
Summary: Storyville, New Orleans. 1917.
Review: 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.
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.
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.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Brooke
Review: The best part about this movie is Brooke Shields. Her beauty is obvious even at that age. She had some nude scenes. This is the type of film that perhaps can no longer be made in the climate that we live in. Susan Sarandon plays the part of Brooke's mother. Keith Carradine is also along for the ride as a not-so-successful photographer. I highly recommend this film to those who can appreciate the works of David Hamilton and Jock Sturges.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Brooke
Review: The best part about this movie is Brooke Shields. Her beauty is obvious even at that age. She had some nude scenes. This is the type of film that perhaps can no longer be made in the climate that we live in. Susan Sarandon plays the part of Brooke's mother. Keith Carradine is also along for the ride as a not-so-successful photographer. I highly recommend this film to those who can appreciate the works of David Hamilton and Jock Sturges.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing & Provocative
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing & Provocative
Review: 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.