Pretty Baby

Had never seen the movie. Was made when I was about 12 or 13. Good movie! Brooke was a great actress at such a young age. I can see why there was so much controversy but it really wasnt that revealing.

It's missing at least 3 minutes of original footage, like when she's running away from the camera when Papa returns home with the AgNO3. Some of the things edited were cut just for the sake of cutting. I'm asking, "What were they thinking with that edit?" Didn't change the story any. Still worth every penny.

Bought this to see the controversy, it seemed innocuous enough, although the tragic idea of a child in such a place is actually pretty horrific. Life is like that, sometimes and some places, sadly. With today's world, this movie is totally vanilla in comarison. The idea of an older individual preying on minors is pretty known to be awful, really, as the minors are generally just used as objects of gratification, so perhaps there's some kind of message here. Not sure this movie is positive or negative on societal issues, or just a portrayal, and not sure this movie takes advantage of youth and salaciousness. Didn't finish, but perhaps someday just to see what it's message might be. This movie left me feeling that parents should be very protective of their children, never allow them to be in compromising situations (should be obvious!) that lovely little ones are very vulnerable to predators, and no minor should ever be taken advantage of, period, etc. Whether Hollywood was capitalizing on youth, beauty, forbidden fruit stuff, can't say... but this movie was not as terrible as some were reporting. Not sure we will even finish this movie... but whether there's abuse here I'm not sure, just a portrayal of things we should all be aware of and work towards alleviating completely.

The only thing that made this movie popular was that Brooke Shields was in it. It is written as a portrayal of early New Orleans brothel houses, and supposedly is fairly historically accurate. There WERE underaged prostitutes at the time. The male figure (photographer) could have benefited from some acting classes. The seedy bad guys are TOO seedy (maybe accurate, IDK).

I had forgotten how beautiful this movie looks until I saw the new (2022) Imprint edition, which is region free. The photography is often stunning, especially in the candle and gas-lit interiors. The transfer is exceptional; it's wonderful to finally see this film in HD. It is uncut, though matted (I saw it in 4:3 when it first ran in theaters, back in the day when theaters could run either matted or unmatted prints. I also saw The Wild Bunch in 4:3 , which should have been illegal). I suspect that Malle intended it to be full-screen, reflecting the imagery of that era's photography. Imprint (AKA Via Vision) imports are expensive in the U.S., but the bundle packs they put out monthly reduce the cost considerably. They ship from Australia about a week before the release date. And these aren't bundle packs loaded with filler - the selection is impeccable. Highly recommended.

I have seen recent controversy about Ms. Shields posing for a photos as a young 10 year old for a photographer named Mr. Gross, for the parent company of "Playboy". They did not appear in that magazine but in a sub magazine they made. They mentioned this movie in one of the articles. Where was I, under a rock when this came out? Out of disbelief I watched the movie. The movie was poorly filmed and edited, poor acting and most of all, they couldn't tell the story without showing a 12 year old girl in the nude. I don't know how this was not labeled as child porn and it's release restricted. Although Ms. Shields was the innocent in being placed in this position and did an amazing job acting out scenes about a subject matter she should know nothing about, I can't help but think under our current laws and escalating child trafficking problems this movie should be heavily censored or just plain retired. I have been left with nothing but a deep sense of sadness at it's conclusion.

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.

it was good video

Muchas gracias!

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.

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).