Don't Believe the Hype

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

They don't make great movies like this anymore. This movie is not for conservatives. It has a great plot ans terrific acting. Movie has been criticized for the underage nudity and sexual content. However, its a great movie and these types of relationships happened very common in the old days if you watch enough movies to understand. Young girl is forced to grow up in a hostel or prostitute house. She falls in love with an older man like the movie Lolita.

After seeing Eva Ionesco in Roman Polanski's 'The Tenant', and then digging a little deeper into the facts of her life, I remembered I had the DVD of 'Pretty Baby', which was partly inspired by her story, even if another story (that of photographer E.J. Bellocq and the prostitutes of Storyville, New Orleans) was obviously at least an equally big inspiration. Louis Malle begins the portrayal of this Storyville slowly and with care; we enter a whorehouse and get to know its inhabitants as human beings trying to get by in their day to day. The prostitutes, the pianist, the madam, the bouncer, the customers and... the children. It doesn't matter how careful you'll go about telling a story like this, it wíll have its impact. Then the story proceeds, and young Violet's initiation becomes a fact. Malle finds a balance between telling the facts as straight up as possible and showing a world that is filled with hopes, loves and other human follies and reveries against all odds.The nudity of Brooke Shields feels rather natural, but we all know that sort of thing doesn't fly anymore - and with good reason. The acting is pretty good, especially Keith Carradine's, but Shields' job is truly commendable. The story is just about satisfactory, but it sort of meanders without really digging deep into certain dramatic aspects - maybe that is actually the charm of it.A good 7 out of 10.

In 1917, in the red light district Storyville, New Orleans, the prostitute Hattie (Susan Sarandon) lives with her twelve year-old daughter Violet (Brooke Shields) in the fancy brothel of Madame Nell (Frances Faye), where she works. The photographer Ernest J. Bellocq (Keith Carradine) has an attraction to Hallie and Violet and he is an habitué of the whorehouse.One day, Madame Nell auctions Violet's virginity and the winner pays the fortune of US$ 400.00 to spend the night with the girl. Then Hattie marries a wealthy client and moves to Saint Louis, leaving Violet in the brothel alone. Violet decides to marry Bellocq and she moves to his house. Until the day that Hattie, who has overcome her past, comes to Bellocq's house with the intention to take Violet with her."Pretty Baby" is one of the boldest coming of age film, even thirty-four years after its release date. The story of a very young prostitute, apparently based on a true story, is supported by the beauty of the only promising Brooke Shields, great cast, magnificent cinematography and the talent of Louis Malle that keeps the film in the level of art and never vulgar. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): Not Available

This now infamous film, directed by Louis Malle, is without a doubt one that may shock and disturb many who view it. Even more so now than by the 1978 social standards when it was released. However, those who will not succumb to the possible knee-jerk and reactionary "puritanical outrage" that some of the imagery might invoke and can understand how it significantly contributes to the story itself, will come to witness an interesting and beautifully toned glimpse into the final days of legal prostitution within the red light district of pre 1920s New Orleans.A young Brooke Shields delivers a convincing, yet subtle and sincere performance as Violet, the underage prostitute whom the story centers around. Keith Carradine's loose portrayal of famed Louisiana photographer E. J. Bellocq (who was an actual photographer of the time that captured images of the prostitutes in this particular district) was an excellent incorporation into the storyline and adds a certain sense of credibility to the film, in relation to it being set within the particular era.The additional acting talents of Susan Sarandon and Antonio Fargas also do well in bringing this tale, based on the true accounts of a young New Orleans prostitute who worked in the actual Storyville district, to life.It's so authentic in it's "flavor" in fact that it won the "Technical Grand Prize" at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival.This sad and true to life film guides us through not only a more primitive time in American history; one when many children (not only those subject to lives of prostitution) failed to even have the option of any childhood at all, but through the eyes of innocence and all the love and beauty and memories that those eyes found even within what many would only see as the most unforgivable of environments for innocence, or even hope.It's through THOSE eyes one must look to see the true beauty and love that went into the crafting of this historically memorable film.