17

FRIDAY

In these times of frightful uncertainty, VH1 can assure us of at least one thing: The ’80s were totally radder than we thought, like, five years ago. Sure, the rest of the world may not yet be ready to re-evaluate the artistic merits of Short Circuit, but we can at least agree that Brooke Shields was the decade’s most significant pop-culture export, no? Long before she was a multiple-RAZZIE nominee, or made to recall an unfortunate farting incident in the South Park movie, Shields enjoyed the distinction of being Time magazine’s “Face of the ’80s.” But only the ’70s could have produced Pretty Baby: The film is French director Louis Malle’s art-house piece about a prostitute’s daughter’s coming of age in a 1917 New Orleans brothel. That daughter is played by Shields, who, 12 years old at the time, appeared nearly nude in several scenes. The film is certainly “pretty”—Sven Nykvist’s cinematography is brilliant—but it’s difficult to get over the “baby” part, no matter how matter-of-factly Malle presents the material. The film screens at 7 p.m. at the Library of Congress’ Pickford Theater, 101 Independence Ave. SE. Free. (202) 707-5677. (Chris Hagan)