Pretty Baby (DVD)

Internationally acclaimed director Louis Malle (Elevator to the Gallows, Au Revoir les Enfants, Damage) has taken a taboo subject—child prostitution—and created in Pretty Baby a film of humanity and beauty. Keith Carradine (The Long Riders) is E.J. Bellocq, a photographer in 1917 obsessed with the prostitutes in New Orleans’ red-light district. Brooke Shields (The Blue Lagoon)—whose “subtlety and depth are astonishing” (Roger Ebert)—is Violet, a 12-year-old girl who bewitches Bellocq with her curiosity and naïve coquettishness. Malle’s level-headed treatment of this controversial theme, sumptuous cinematography by Sven Nykvist (Persona) and exceptional performances by the entire cast—especially Susan Sarandon (Atlantic City) as Violet’s mother—make Pretty Baby a must-see for all serious film fans. Pretty Baby was co-produced and co-written by Polly Platt (Broadcast News, Say Anything, Bottle Rocket), the iconic producer who helped launch the film careers of legendary filmmakers James L. Brooks, Cameron Crowe and Wes Anderson.