European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 02, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Or mount Murton Ltd try j Keith Carradine and Treffy baby Brooke Shields together in 1917 new Orleans bordello  Matte s newest baby u less they were accompanied by Parent or guardian the child stars in several of French director Louis Malle s films could just walk in to the theater where they appeared on the screen. Malle s first film in America pretty baby starring Brooke Shields is no exception. Shields who turned 12 during the shoot ing of this film plays the child of a prostitute Jho grows up in a Brothel in Coryville the new Orleans red Light District. The film set in 1917, when the Bordel los were closed Down by the Navy also stars Keith Carradine As a photographer fascinated by images of women living in the red Light District and Susan Sarandon As Shields Mother. It is rated a which Means restricted under 17 requires accompanying Parent or adult guardian according to the Indus try code. The film has been banned in parts of Canada. The Star in murmur of the heart which woo Malle an Oscar nomination for Best screenplay in 173, is 14 year old. It s the Story about a boy who sleeps with Bis Mother. He could t see the movie in France Malle said in an interview. It was forbid Den to people under 18, and i think i had the same problem with Zane Dantle metro his third film 1960. It was adapted from Raymond Queneau s Best Selling comic novel about the adventures of a precocious 11-year-old visiting her transvestite Uncle in Paris. It s happened to me several times and i think it s very hypocritical but what can i do about censorship said Malle who admitted that pretty baby which has no explicit sex scenes deals with a Touchy subject he said however that he believes the ratings system for movies is ridiculous when violence is very very heavy on american  Malle said be would not hesitate to show his children Bis films. My experience with children and i be Bee dealing with a number us them in All these recent films is that they know lot More about everything than adults want them to know. People asked me How can you direct Brooke Shields to do things she does t know everything about i m sorry she knows everything about it. Especially Chil Dren today 12, 13with to sexual Edu cation now largely provided in schools they know  Malle 46, has two children aged 3 and 6. I m not married no but i have two Chil Dren. I was married a Long time ago but i be been divorced since 1968. I spend a lot of time with my children. And if i spend the summer working Here i la have them with me so that i la spend time with them said Malle whose next film takes place in new York. I d like Tojio a very ironic film which would have the appearances of a comedy he said of the As yet untitled project for Paramount. Malle has never avoided taboo subjects. His Lacombe Lucien which received the Oscar nomination for Best foreign film in 1974, deals with the Long suppressed topic of the involvement of Ordinary French Citi Zens in nazi collaboration during world War ii. The title character is 17. He feels a personal attachment to la Combe. Lucien because he was 11 in 1944 and it was a very traumatic experience for a child to Deal with what was going on in France in 1944." in Bis hotel suite Maue spoke lightly accented English about Why be concentrates on adolescence la Bis films. It s a moment of rebellion and it s very creative in a lot of ways. It s a moment of lucidity and you re also afraid and you re insecure and it s a key moment and i m really interested in that period in the life of  Maue said he had an easy childhood be cause be came from a wealthy Back ground but that he went through a stage of rebellion from age 11 to 17."it s probably the most traumatic moment in a lifetime when you re just about to enter the world of adults and you Start finding out about hypocrisy and the lies and Start reconsidering All that you have been taught All those  of All of Malle s films pretty baby is Likely to cause the most controversy and the most self righteous outrage not Only because it resolutely refuses to moralize Bat also because the Over All mood of this whorehouse film is so tender. The director and Polly Platt who collaborated with him on the screenplay have had the nerve to make a movie that Dis plays not Only prostitution but especially a prepubescent prostitute at a time when do goobers and politicians have been get Ting a lot of mileage out of their War on the exploitation of children in commercial pornography. Pretty baby is not about child prostitution and it certainly does rat promote it though it will have Tough going answering those critics who think that by not making new Orleans whoredom circa 1917, look More squalid Sleazy and disease Ridden the film is by default one of the last truly unspeakable social ills As Well As a totally inaccurate picture of history. Pretty baby is a lyrically romantic Memoir of a Young photographer named Bellocq whose obsession is photographing the whores in the fancy houses of Story Ville. Though Bellocq is based on a real character . Bellocq in life a misshapen Man who suffered from encephalitis he is played in the movie by the handsome Carradine As the quintessential artist. Dail Magazine a in pretty baby Bellocq makes the mistake of facing la love with i subject who because she is his subject is someone of his own creation. That she is a child simply extends the Tost nature of his love she is emotionally out of is reach. In effect she does t exist. Because pretty baby shows us the Way that life at Madame Nell s looks to 12-year old Violet Brooke shield sit is never judgmental. It is the Only life that Violet who was born there has Ever known. Nights Are Lively but mornings and afternoons tend to be Boring because every body is sleeping off the night before or Busy sorting Linen cleaning floors cooking and making preparations for the new night s activities. When the time comes to join the profession Violet agrees enthusiastically. It s her Way of growing up. Though the movie is told from Vio let s Point of View it is less about her than it is about Bellocq and us Art and about the tragic mistake of con fusing life with Art. But that is using the word tragic very loosely since the film is not really tragic at All. It is sad autumnal inevitable. Bel Locq s loss of Violet through the happiest of circumstances if one is worried about her is the Only Way the movie could end. Bellocq marvellously Well played by Carradine who is very toned Down from roles in a Hville Welcome to l.a., and his other recent films is the most interest ing most convincing portrait of an artist in films since Alec guinness s Gulley Jimson in the horse s Mouth. This in t to say that the artist is totally revealed or explained he in t Only that we glimpse something of what drives him and some thing of the fleeting satisfaction of his Art. One of the film s most moving moments Bellocq is Busy in the backyard of Madame Nell s preparing to make some portraits of Violet s Mother Hattie Susan Sarandon. Hattie lounges in a Large chair wearing a White gown her hair hanging in Loose curls the Sun Bac lighting the foliage around her. Says Bellocq with excitement As head justs her pose you Are very Beautiful and he returns to his camera. I am very  it s the measure of the film s achievement that we believe the artist in Bellocq even though we May not under stand him. With pretty baby Louis Malle gives to the popular Cinema his most sustained vision of romanticism poetic perverse mysterious and liberating. It makes most of the other films we be seen this year look As drab and unimaginative As a series of tax returns. Associated press new York times director Louis Malle. Twelve year old Shields plays Violet a prepubescent prostitute. Tuesday May 2, 1978 the stars and stripes Page 13