In 1917 New Orleans, a 12-year-old girl is raised in a brothel by her prostitute mother.
Cinematography
Sven Nykvist's honey-drenched visuals that seduce then repulse.
Direction
Malle's clinical distance that infuriates as much as it illuminates.
Acting
Shields' eerie composure — performance or exploitation? Debate rages.
Director
Louis Malle
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film sparked protests at Cannes and an actual congressional inquiry into child exploitation in cinema — Shields testified she understood none of it.
The 'virginity auction' was based on real Storyville practices; E.J. Bellocq's actual photographs were destroyed by his mother, recreated here from memory and description.
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