Pretty Baby - Brooke Shields [DVD] [1978]

Based on a true story documented at the time this evocation of a time and placewas rightfully lauded. Louis Malle may be many things but a pornogapher he is not andneither are his cast and crew. Carradine, Sarandon, pornographers... really ???This movie (based on the photographic book of the story ) could very well havedegenerated into something squalid - but under this directors control we have a beautiful historic picture told with care and consideration.The few seconds of nudity are just that - and devoid of any sexual content. The childs total absorbtion of her environment is perfectly told by her casual use. It's suprising people aren't more up in arms over carradine's age difference - eventually I expect someone will wet themselves when they realisethey can whinge about something extra like the 'un-pretty babies' they seem to be.The british censor James Ferman was annoyed he was forced to cut the film (subsequently restored) . Ferman was renowned for fairness and control - if it was good enough for him it'sok by me.For what it's worth this page gives the same runtime as IMDB but the Bluray special edition lists it as 108 minutes. For a film so daftly attacked it may be worth getting that right so everybody knows at least the basics of what they are talking about.

Heard that this was a classic. Very well acted by the main character Brook Shields. The movies story line is, questionable. Unfortunately I’m sure this was probably riff back in the day. And the movie certainly hammers home how men are, sleazy 🙄🤣 some parts were…em, difficult to watch to be fare. There’s parts the contain some light nudity and it is based in a brothel 🤷🏻‍♂️ The child element is obviously the main focal point in the movie. Which make some parts difficult to watch. But as long as you remind yourself it’s a movie and a form of art. And they do have her wearing hidden cloths, to leave the illusion of nudity without actually being nude, so they did give Brook some form of modesty. But still a good period piece. Wonder how close to the truth this movie is 🤔 scary to think 🙈 not sure I’d watch it twice. But if old movies and brothels are your thing it’s a must 🤗

As with all Louis Malle's films, subtlety is the keynote to this portrayal of a New Orleans brothel in the early years of the 20th century, and of the lives of one prostitute and her 12-year-old daughter in particular. The performances by Susan Sarandon and Brooke Shields are very natural and hugely impressive, as is the tenor of Malle's direction, which fills in the sense of place with great immediacy. You really feel you are there in this large house for real, the authenticity of it is there in front of you. It is very far from most period recreations in films, and somehow the time difference melts away, even though we can see that the mores were different at that time. The ensemble scenes in the brothel are seamlessly handled, and many of the stills could have inspired a painting by Toulouse-Lautrec or Sickert. Child prostitution seems not to have been so shocking then as it is now, but it is useful to show the shift in attitudes to this as to many other things, in order to give more context to our own time. Malle does this in other films as well, always suggesting how the underlying dynamics in human interaction are the same even if they are dressed up differently. The photographer (Keith Carradine) who falls in love with the young girl is not presented in a moralising way, rather it is left for us to feel the awkwardness of his infatuation, or to feel whatever we feel. In fact it is quite hard not to feel sorry for him, and to see in him a certain purity, really, which had made him so reserved for much of the film. The moment where he realises that he needs to sacrifice his own happiness is a moving one, and means that Malle has been as provocative as ever by, in effect, showing us a sympathetic pedophile, while showing precisely why this is not a good arrangement for the girl, and that she should be with her mother, going to school etc. This lack of hysteria is based in an acceptance of ambiguity at the heart of things and a sense of beauty in life as well, and it gives you a profound sense of truth in the film's closing moments.

Fairly dull drama about prostitution in the 30s.Nothing exceptional in it.

all good

Beautifully fimed and well acted with star performances from Susan Saranden and the very young Brooke Shields this film is a real treasure.Pretty Baby tells the storey of a prostitute and her teenage daughter living in an open New Orleans Brothel in the second decade of the twentieth century delicately, without crudity or malice. It pulls no punches without being in the least pornographic and handles the sale of a young girl's virginity - under age by today's values - with an honesty that would perhaps be difficult to achieve today pre-occupied as it is with concerns of the politically correct.This is not a tale of the exploitation of the actresses or the characters in the storey, because they clearly have control of their own destinies. It is a right of passage with an ending that speaks of a future surprisingly full of hope.Sweet it certainly is, but nostalgia and the integrity of the production allow us to believe in a gentler past without the influence of drugs, organised crime and the desire to legislate for every aspect of the human condition.

it was good video

Muchas gracias!

Questo film nonostante gli anni non finisce mai di stupire, è un opera d'arte che è destinata a non tramontare mai, rappresenta un mondo che ormai non è che un ricordo lasciato sbiadire dalla memoria, ma che per certi versi ancora risuona da qualche parte nel mondo. Questo DVD è la versione tedesca ma fortunatamente per noi c'è anche il doppiaggio in italiano, arrivato in ottime condizioni e ben imballato, consegna super veloce, lo consiglio a tutti gli amanti dell'arte cinematografica ma lo sconsiglio vivamente ai perbenisti e ai puritani.

The media could not be loaded. 🎥 Ce film de Louis Malle est un pur chef d'œuvre du cinéma français car, bien que tourné aux Etats-Unis, le film respecte la temporalité française et le cadrage français et l'intelligence du cinéma français des années 70 (1978 très exactement). 🎥📽 Pour être rapide et concis, ce film est d'une subtilité infinie et d'une richesse époustouflante : un plan fixe muet peut vouloir dire tant de choses fortes, une simple réplique peut bousculer les certitudes, un regard peut avoir une signification extraordinaire ! 📽🎺 Les décors de la Nouvelle Orléans et de la maison close sont sublimes. On est face à une reconstitution historique prodigieuse. Alors, on ne s'ennuie pas une seconde ! C'est la magie de ce film français où chaque scène fait penser à un tableau d'Edouard Manet ! 🎺🔑 Quant au sujet du film, au-delà de toute polémique, il s'agit d'une page d'histoire que l'on ne peut pas effacer et qu'il est bon de montrer afin de ne pas l'oublier. Un analyste fin verra qu'il n'y a pas de complaisance ici, loin de là, mais un récit poignant avec toute sa part d'humanité : ses peines mais aussi ses joies. Louis Malle prouve une fois de plus qu'il est un réalisateur immense et un des plus dignes représentant de la culture française. 🔑🌎 L'impact de ce film a été planétaire, tant mieux. Pour seul exemple, et quel exemple, saviez-vous que la chanson "Pretty baby" de Blondie est une référence à ce film ? Debbie Harry revient d'ailleurs sur cette chanson dans son excellente autobiographie "Face it" (n'hésitez pas à lire mon commentaire sur ce livre) :https://www.amazon.fr/Face-lautobiographie-mémoires-licône-Blondie/dp/B08C9987BT🌈 Alors, oui, quelle que soit votre opinion, vous allez voir un excellent film français d'une finesse et d'une beauté absolues. Susan Sarandon est parfaite dans son rôle ambivalent et elle porte une grande partie du film sur ses épaules mais c'est surtout la caméra de Louis Malle qui est tout simplement fantastique en nous plongeant au cœur d'une Nouvelle Orléans peu connue qui a pourtant existé.🌹 La fin du film (que je ne dévoilerai pas) est sans doute la meilleure des conclusions à ce film et la meilleure des réponses à tout ce qui allait être dit sur ce film.☀️ Si vous aimez le grand cinéma français des années 70 dans tout ce qu'il a de plus magistral et de plus prenant alors le DVD de "La petite" ("Pretty Baby" en anglais) doit faire partie de votre DVDthèque.📀 INFO A SAVOIR : à ma connaissance, il n'existe pas de Blu-ray (et encore moins de 4K) de ce film et c'est bien dommage car les images sont sublimes. Donc, vous pouvez acheter le DVD sans crainte de vous dire ensuite "Ce film est trop beau, j'aurais mieux fait d'acheter le Blu-ray" car ce Blu-ray n'existe pas (hélas).

Loved to see this classic movie again..