Blu-ray Review Pretty Baby – Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[t1g3r5fan]

Today, Pretty Baby. One of the most eclectic filmmakers to emerge in 20th Century French cinema, Louis Malle transcended his contemporaries in the French New Wave by delivering a style that was all his own. With films like Elevator to the Gallows (1958), The Lovers (also 1958), The Fire Within (1963), Lacombe, Lucien (1974) and Black Moon (1975), Malle’s directorial style made him difficult to pin down in any one particular genre; brought to America by Paramount Pictures head David V. Picker, Malle shocked everyone by tackling Pretty Baby for his debut here in the states. Previously released on DVD by Paramount and released on Region Free Blu-ray last year by Imprint, Kino has given the movie its U.S. Blu-ray debut.



Pretty Baby (1978)



Released: 05 Apr 1978
Rated: R
Runtime: 110 min




Director: Louis Malle
Genre: Drama



Cast: Brooke Shields, Keith...

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[Robert Harris]

A well-reasoned review of a film that some viewers, in the day, found “pornographic.” Hopefully, more folks have been to topless beaches these days and become acquainted with body parts. Gorgeously lensed, beautifully produced - hats of to Kino for putting out this great film. This has been on my pile to review, but no reason to re-state what you already have.

 

[compson]

I like nudity in movies as a rule, but full nudity of an 11-year-old? We can’t say the nudity isn’t in a sexual context; she’s playing a sex worker. Even if you’re comfortable as a viewer, the perspective of the child you’re viewing must be considered. Eleven years old isn’t old enough to contract, or to give meaningful consent to anything. I’d like to be persuaded otherwise, but I don’t understand why this is OK.

 

[Robert Harris]

I like nudity in movies as a rule, but full nudity of an 11-year-old? We can’t say the nudity isn’t in a sexual context; she’s playing a sex worker. Even if you’re comfortable as a viewer, the perspective of the child you’re viewing must be considered. Eleven years old isn’t old enough to contract, or to give meaningful consent to anything. I’d like to be persuaded otherwise, but I don’t understand why this is OK.

There is no full nudity of a child in this film.

 

[compson]

There is no full nudity of a child in this film.

I’m puzzled by your comment. There is a shot in the movie of Brooke Shields lying nude on a sofa. To obtain approval for the film’s initial release in the UK, Malle agreed to darken the image so “no detail in the lower half of the girl's body would be clearly visible, most specifically any genital detail.” Even in the UK, though, the unaltered version was later released on home video.

Pretty Baby

Louis Malle's drama about child prostitution in early twentieth century New Orleans had already aroused controversy in the press and overseas when it was first seen by the BBFC on 28 March 1978.

www.bbfc.co.uk

Do you mean that the shot was created with artifice of some kind, and that Shields wasn’t actually nude?

 

[Robert Harris]

I’m puzzled by your comment. There is a shot in the movie of Brooke Shields lying nude on a sofa. To obtain approval for the film’s initial release in the UK, Malle agreed to darken the image so “no detail in the lower half of the girl's body would be clearly visible, most specifically any genital detail.” Even in the UK, though, the unaltered version was later released on home video.

Pretty Baby

Louis Malle's drama about child prostitution in early twentieth century New Orleans had already aroused controversy in the press and overseas when it was first seen by the BBFC on 28 March 1978.

www.bbfc.co.uk

Do you mean that the shot was created with artifice of some kind, and that Shields wasn’t actually nude?

Correct.