BROOKE SHIELDS (21 images)
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PRETTY BABY
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 #1
5:05 - 7:21, Tiger's Rag, from the typical NO repertory, including the tiger's roar
24:35 - 25:00, Jelly Roll
26:11 - 27:12, Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say #1
30:10 - 31:30, Winin' Boy Blues #2
38:39 - 43:20, (composing of ) King Porter Stomp, in the background
when the Susan Sarandon character poses half-naked for the photographer
54:46 - 56:35, (Original Jelly Roll?) Blues, with clarinet and bass
1:47:15 - 1:49:15 Blues
We can add to this the sweet, though perhaps already outdated by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).
Louis
Malle didn't make this film to exploit the sexuality of children. There
is such a reactionary curse on this film that few people dare to
actually view it. Compare it to Kids (1995),there are very few
similarities. This is an objective view of a true story 1910's New
Orleans. 12 year old Violet lives in a world of sexual currency,
everything is acceptable and out front. She passes no judgement on the
prostitutes and johns that parade across her mother's room. This is the
only life she has known, what could be possibly wrong when everyone is
smiling and there is food on the table. The camerawork captures the
tragic lyrical situation. Very little ugliness appears, only once in
the film when Violet loses her virginity. Bellocq, the photographer she
marries, only does so to protect her from losing the innocence she
still has. This film has been deemed child pornography but first and
foremost it is an accurate biography of a specific place in time. Malle
with his French sensibilty portrays the brothel as almost a sanctuary,
the people laughing and without malice. Violet's life is tragic not
just because she is overexposed to a sexual atmosphere but because the
world around her will eventually paint her extended family as ugly and
criminal. She has yet to realize this because she perceives them as her
home. Pretty Baby offers a very innocent look at prostitution. Susan
Sarandon,Brooke Shields,and Keith Carradine are very lovely with their
doelike eyes. This is a romanticized world, a far cry from the hardcore
reality that we perceive now. I think women would be more openminded to
actually view the film as a period piece and not some abomination of
morality.
