Pretty Baby - 1978 - Starring Brooke Shields - ... |best|

The answer is ambiguous. Bellocq marries Violet, effectively buying her from the madam. The camera becomes a tool of possession. Similarly, Malle’s camera “possesses” the real Brooke Shields. The film’s final scene shows Violet playing hopscotch as a newlywed—a jarring image of a child pretending to be a woman pretending to be a child. The hopscotch is the film’s thesis: childhood is an act that can be performed, photographed, and sold.

Set in 1917, Pretty Baby follows Violet (Shields), a young girl raised in a high-class brothel by her prostitute mother, Hattie (played by Susan Sarandon). Violet’s life is defined by the unique, often disturbing social hierarchy of Madame Nell's establishment. The story takes a turn when E.J. Bellocq (Keith Carradine), a reclusive photographer based on a real-life historical figure, arrives to document the women of the district. Key plot points include: Pretty Baby - 1978 - Starring Brooke Shields - ...

The keyword "Pretty Baby - 1978 - Starring Brooke Shields" often leads to searches about how a minor was allowed to perform such roles. The answer lies in the legal loopholes of the time. Malle and producer Paramount Pictures used a body double for some of the more explicit shots (a woman in her 20s with a body double for wide shots), but the close-ups and the emotional weight of the scenes are undeniably Shields. The answer is ambiguous

The film centers on the relationship between Violet and (played by Keith Carradine ), a photographer obsessed with documenting the women of Storyville. As the district faces closure by the U.S. Navy, the plot takes a dark turn when Violet’s virginity is auctioned off to the brothel's wealthy patrons. A Legacy of Controversy Set in 1917, Pretty Baby follows Violet (Shields),

1978 Director: Louis Malle Starring: Brooke Shields, Keith Carradine, Susan Sarandon Genre: Historical Drama / Coming-of-Age Rating: R (original release) / Unrated (director’s cut)

Set in 1917 New Orleans, Pretty Baby unfolds within the last days of a legal, yet morally complex, Storyville brothel run by the elegant and pragmatic Madame Nell (Susan Sarandon). The film follows Violet (Brooke Shields), the prepubescent daughter of prostitute Hattie (Susan Sarandon), who has been raised amidst the chandeliers, pianos, and silk sheets of the house.