Reviews of Pretty Baby
Displaying all 2 reviews
Omar Antonio Iturriaga
26May11
Pretty Baby is a period-piece set in the city of New Orleans, 1917. The primary setting is within a brothel of which we are introduced and later familiarized with all of the prostitutes, the manager and the servants. However, one of the prostitutes (Susan Sarandon) has a 12 year old daughter, Violet (Brooke Shields), whose innocence only attracts attention from any and all men. She is a curious little one and perhaps even a bit too mature for her age. She later gets auctioned off to the highest bidder after a somewhat “royal” celebration, for a woman’s purity can only be stolen once in her life. She later escapes the whorehouse after her mom marries and practically abandons her for a wealthy man of high class. Violet decides to marry the quiet and soft-spoken photographer, who takes pictures of all the ladies, whom she has grown quite fond of.
As you can see, this picture will hit quite a few cords with people not comfortable with the subject matter. Louis Malle, however, realizes this early on. He is making a sensitive film of an adolescent sprung forwards to adult life with or without her consent. She is born into the life, true, but she ultimately makes the decisions herself on prostitution and married life. We tend to forget that this character is merely 12 years old. She speaks like an adult and acts like an adult. It is only in certain scenes that we are shaken back into reality when she throws her immature temper tantrums. Several issues are brought forth in this picture. One wonders on the concept of childhood. What makes a child young? What makes an adult old? Is it experience, wisdom, or lack of those traits? What defines a person’s status? Are these just imaginary lines set forth by past generations? As I see it, Pretty Baby begins to suggest society’s misconception of children and adults, for most people only look at one’s years when considering their character, rather than their personality. The film builds itself up to suggest the crossing of this barrier. The defiance in which a child takes up an adult’s life. However, by the end of the work, we are left with what we came in with.
We are left to conclude that a child is still a child regardless of how beautiful or how grown up she may choose to appear. By the end of the film, the society in which she is forced to be an adult finally caves in. Her marriage is no longer existent and her prior family realizes her need for civility and maturity. It ends in a bitter sweet note. Do not count this film as a type of child pornography. Though it does have nudity, the subject of the film is not the film itself. Pretty Baby is a mere testament to the era of New Orleans in which prostitution was a common practice. It is not supporting, nor exploiting the matter, but rather observing it.
Thank you for reading,
Omar Antonio Iturriaga
- Currently 5.0/5 Stars.
Gino
7Jul10
I can’t say that Pretty Baby is Louis Malle’s best Film, but I was certainly entertained. Brooke Shields is a charming little actress and she played a great dynamic character, maturing from an immature adolescent to a married, growing young woman. I really respect her for being so young and willing to play the part she did- it shows she’s serious about her career. The visuals of the Film were really beautiful. The brothel, the clothes, the make-up- all the colors worked together to create a true work of art. Although Louis Malle wasn’t really breaking through any boundaries with this movie (yes, it’s American made, but it’s still early twentieth century in the French quarters of New Orleans, so he really wasn’t doing anything different), it was probably better that he stayed in his element. I really loved the raw matter of the Film, not only underaged sex, prostitution, etc. but love as well. Malle dared to explore the factors of age differences in relationships, sexual or otherwise. Overall, the Film could have been better, but it was at least enough to hold my attention.