Pretty Baby

*

Not to my liking

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 Blues, with clarinet and bass1:47:15 - 1:49:15 BluesWe can add to this the sweet, though perhaps already outdated by 1917, music played by the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra, with the nice Creole clarinet of Louis Cottrell, who used to play in the Preservation Hall.It is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).

Of course I'd seen it before, so I knew what to expect. It's an okay movie with a dark, underlying story that I find intriguing. But a certain scene has been cropped in such a way as to eliminate some of what was originally seen. I find that disappointing, not that it was important in itself, only that you can't trust what's being sold to you. When a movie is advertised as 'uncut', I don't expect to see cuts...even tiny ones. Just my opinion.

I was 8 when this movie came out. I watched it when HBO was free. I am a Brooke Shields fan. I always remembered this movie ran across it when I was looking for a movie. This movie is reality ! It does have the 70s no holds barg. Honestly I think it is a classic!

The movie was delivered in good condition and very fast, but I have second thoughts about buying because I bought it because I'm a big fan of Brooke Shields and Susan Sarandon, but the way the movie objectifies a 12 year old Shields was too gross for me to handle.

I know this movie is very taboo so it's not for the faint of heart but it's still a well produced movie and this DVD quality is great 👌

Interesting

Excelente pelicula , me encanto ver icona pelicula culto

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..

ルイ・マル監督の1978年公開作品で、渡米後初の作品。1917年のニューオーリンズを舞台に、娼館で産まれ、娼婦である母親と同様に、娼婦として成長していく12才の少女を描いた物語。ヒロインの少女を演じた、当時は子役のブルック・シールズが、とにかく美しい映画。他人に～きかれ～りゃ～お前のこ～とを～🎵年の～離れ～た～妹と～🎵という、「花街の母」と同様に、スーザン・サランドン演じる娼婦ハティは、娘のヴァイオレットを妹だと客には言ってます。この母親と娘の関係が、初めから終わりまで描かれています。娘のヴァイオレットも、当時の娼館で産まれた少女には当たり前なのか、年齢的にそろそろ娼婦としてのデビューを控えています。そんな母娘がいる娼館に、娼婦をモデルに写真を撮りたいとやって来たのが、キース・キャラダイン演じる写真家べロック。ヴァイオレットは、娼館に客として来る男達とは違う雰囲気の芸術家タイプの男を目にして、恋をしてしまいますが、べロックは子供だからと相手にしません。べロックが撮る娼婦達の写真には、全くエロさが無く、そのエロさが無い、というのは、この映画にも言えます。女性の裸が出てきても、全くエロさがありません。写真家べロックは、芸術家タイプであると同時に学者タイプで、娼婦達に性的興味を覚えること無く、写真を撮らない間でも、娼婦や客の様子を観察しています。映画の前半は、このべロックが見た娼館の姿をノンフィクション的に描いた、「ニューオーリンズ娼館物語」といった風情があります。映画が１時間過ぎた頃、ふとしたかくれんぼ遊びをきっかけに、べロックが急速にヴァイオレットに惹かれていきます。その場面が、あまりに素敵で、一気にときめく恋愛映画へと雰囲気が変わります。母ハティがいい客をつかまえて結婚。娼館に残ることを選んだヴァイオレットは、娼館でこっぴどく怒られたことをきっかけに娼館を飛び出し、べロックの住む家に転がり込んみ、そこから二人の同棲生活が始まります。年の離れたわがままな年下女性に振り回される年上男性、という設定は古典的な物語からよくあるものですが、自分は1980年代のフランス映画『ベティ・ブルー』を思い出しました。娼婦達を描きながらも、ひたすら明るい雰囲気の前半と違い、徐々に沈鬱になっていく雰囲気は、モノクロ映画時代のルイ・マル映画「恋人たち」「鬼火」も思い出します。それでも、べロックとヴァイオレットの結婚でやや雰囲気が明るくなりますが、成功した土建屋の女房として幸せそうな母ハティが、ヴァイオレットを迎えに来たラストで、観ているこっちは、完全に鬱な気持ちにさせられます。「鬼火」の主人公のように、べロックも自殺するんじゃないか、という暗さです。ラストカットのヴァイオレットの表情も、非常に印象的で、これからの物語を観るこちら側に想像させられます。結局、少女を大人として成長させられるのは、男性との性行為ではなく、好きな人との別れなんでしょうか。