Internationally acclaimed director Louis Malle has taken a taboo subject -- child prostitution -- and created in Pretty Baby a film of humanity and beauty. E.J. Bellocq (Keith Carradine) is a photographer in 1917 obsessed with the prostitutes in New Orleans' red-light district. Violet (12-year-old Brooke Shields), a young girl, bewitches Bellocq with her curiosity and naïve coquettishness. Malle's level-headed treatment of this controversial theme and exceptional performances by the entire cast (especially Susan Sarandon as Violet's prostitute mother) make Pretty Baby a must-see for all serious film fans. Storyline In 1917, in the red light district Storyville, New Orleans, the prostitute Hattie lives with her twelve year-old daughter Violet in the fancy brothel of Madame Nell, where she works. Photographer Ernest J. Bellocq has an attraction to Hallie and Violet and he is an habitué of the whorehouse. One day, Madame Nell auctions Violet's virginity and the winner pays the fortune of US$ 400 to spend the night with the girl. Then Hattie marries a wealthy client and moves to Saint Louis, leaving Violet in the brothel alone. Violet decides to marry Bellocq and she moves to his house. Until the day that Hattie, who has overcome her past, comes to Bellocq's house with the intention to take Violet with her. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil