Pretty Baby

Great movie!
This movie always gets me! It’s very sad and has me thinking about it for like a week! Brooke Shields has always been an amazing actress despite all the animosity. Yes it’s awful that she was nude at that age and she had to kiss a grown man but like she said, things were different back then. This movie will definitely make you cry and think about things way differently.

Absolutely a great movie
Great movies, like great literature, are capable of evoking a definite atmosphere, that of the time and setting of the story, the plot of which, then, almost loses significance. The atmosphere in this case is that of New Orleans at the turn of last century – a slight anachronism here sets the story in 1917 to match the timing of the closure of Storyville, New Orleans’s red light district, located roughly between Rampart and Robeson, Iberville and St. Louis, of which nothing remains today. That atmosphere is well expressed by the music, especially that of the pianist in the movie, who is modeled after Jelly Roll Morton, a pioneer jazz pianist and composer, and plays his compositions. For the curious listener, I have listed here some of the works by Jelly Roll and when they get played in the movie:3:30 – 4:45, Winin’s Boy Blues #15:05 – 7:21, Tiger’s Rag, from the typical NO repertory, including the tiger’s roar24:35 – 25:00, Jelly Roll26:11 – 27:12, Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say #130:10 – 31:30, Winin’ Boy Blues #238:39 – 43:20, (composing of ) King Porter Stomp, in the background when the Susan Sarandon character poses half-naked for the photographer54:46 – 56:35, (Original Jelly Roll?) Blues, with clarinet and bass1:47:15 – 1:49:15 BluesWe can add to this the sweet, though perhaps already outdated by 1917, music played by the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra, with the nice Creole clarinet of Louis Cottrell, who used to play in the Preservation Hall.It is impossible to underestimate the importance of New Orleans in the world of culture, since it can be stated, as Jelly Roll Morton did, that it was for the musical world what Florence of the 14th and 15th century was for the visual arts. The fact that such culture flourished in whorehouses instead at the courts of princes is thus just a reflection of the cultural level of racist American society – which should be proud of its lupanars – which has prevented its own great culture to be accepted by its puritanical obsession, which led to the disaster of prohibition and the present overfilling of prisons for acts, such as possessing marijuana, which are not criminal in most of the civilized world.Beside the music, there are great moments in this movie. Brooke Shields, besides being pretty, has an interesting role, oscillating between her behavior as a future [prostitute] and that of an immature girl, with a lot of innocence – which incidentally is to be found among all those ladies certainly despised by the pseudo-moralistic mainstream, that same one which seems so popular these days in the US. The Madam looks like a true character, a worn out woman with distinguished manners who keeps up with absinthe and cocaine (not without some humor, as when she says: “there are only two things you can do in a rainy day, and I don’t like playing cards!”). And I am sure that the character of the distinguished photographer existed in reality, since I remember having seen an exhibition of pictures of such ladies taken in New Orleans at that time (in spite of the howling of some who wanted to label it degrading and censor it). Add to this the great photography, and the intelligence of Louis Malle, who has always used Jazz in a respectful way, as in “Elevator to the Gallows” with the music of Miles Davis and “Murmur of Heart” with that of Charlie Parker – the latter exploring an even more controversial subject than “Pretty Baby”, that of an incest with the mother, in a poetic way.The only reason I am not giving this movie five stars is because I would have loved to see more of the Jelly Roll Morton character. One has almost to strain his/her ear to listen to his composing of the masterpiece “King Porter Stomp” while the photographer tries to take pictures of Hattie (Susan Sarandon). Perhaps some viewers may prefer Sarandon’s naked tits over Morton’s playing, but that’s not my case!But on the whole this is a great movie and is to be recommended heartily to everybody, perhaps especially to Americans who generally know close to nothing of the great culture which has been created in the very places their society has systematically despised, by people which are still often considered as an inferior “race” (whatever that means).

“Pretty” Controversial…
At least it is today, with all the phobia about child nudity, modeling or sexual themes involving children. But the politics would ‘take forever’, and who is going to change your mind if this offends you? The story is well written and easy to follow;’The early 20th century and brothels’. This one just happens to have a young girl who is a prostitute. Seem that ‘pedophilic’ thoughts were more cultural and acceptable, rather than political.. up through the turn of the century, until ‘the Temperance’ movement affected alot of social ‘order’ and ‘morality’. Brooke, who I had the pleasure of meeting in 1983: (despite the media) is a well balanced, nice, sweet, wonderful woman. Her posing nude, and being nude ‘in the movie’ at age 11, hasn’t crippled her for life. People magazine in 1978 did an article about her – the ‘controversy’ about ‘child porn’…front cover.(gasp)again the politics, and religion of it all. but the movie was not degrading, nor inciting what we hear today about ‘child abuse’ or ‘harm’.. rather depictions, and documentary style (of the era) was painted into this movie, which for 1978 was no more shocking than Linda Blair vomiting all over a priest. like any cult favorite, you have to be a realist, and have an open mind about ‘all’ aspects of life; or you might think you have to start a political movement on behalf of eliminating more freedom of speech. There is no ‘sex’ in the movie; and ideally isn’t ‘pornographic’ to the extent that many write their congress-person about. (many want Anne Franks diary banned!!) So if you are not embarrassed to give Amazon your credit card number and address- for fear of being thought a child ‘molester’…and a seeing a child briefly nude doesnt ‘offend’ you, and you are a Brooke fan, …’loved her in her other movies and Tv as well, then collect this piece of history, before it disappears.

きれいです。

it was good video