Based on a strongly autobiographical story, I doubt "My Little Princess" will be widely seen, for its subject can shy away many cinema lovers (it tells how a talented photographer literally sold her daughter's soul via erotic shots). And yet, "My Little Princess" deserves to be seen, not only because it is an unconventional story, well told and well played, but also because it makes you think and wonder about what can be done for the sake of art. And the answer is of course not an easy one.
Director Eva Ionesco has a full bag of stories regarding mother-and-daughter relationships and the world of art as it was in the 1970s. To begin with, as bizarre and cruel as they seem, yes, many aspects of MLP are true. Eva's mother is Irina Ionesco, a French photographer of Romanian origin who became famous some forty years ago for her erotic stills, particularly those showcasing her daughter in artsy and suggestive situations. These pictures created much controversy as Eva was only four when her mom began to take fetishist pictures of her. These photos are still a problem for Eva Ionesco as her mother goes on displaying and selling them on the Net and in some art galleries. It can be thus inferred that MLP is without any doubt a therapeutic work of art.
However, Ionesco has managed to lay anger aside when she wrote the scrip of MLP, for her work is astonishingly non judgmental. Young Anamaria Vartolomei (herself of Romanian origin) plays the part of Violetta, torn between Hanah (Isabelle Huppert), her eccentric and over-possessive mother, and her devout great-grand-mother (Georgetta Leahu). The danger was to expose Anamaria Vartolomei to the same unpalatable exhibition Ionesco has herself experienced, but the director knew exactly where to draw the line. There is more suggestion in the film than anything else, when Hanah takes pictures of Violetta for instance, then there is only brief nudity and it concerns only adults. Not that the film is an innocuous one -- of course it isn't (cf. the upsetting scenes with Jethro Cave), but Ionesco chose instead to focus on the psyche of a child who would do anything to gain her mother's love, then who turns into a rebellious teenager.
We've seen Huppert playing icy, half-insane and abusive characters so many times before than her performance is hardly a surprise -- she is nevertheless one of the film's best assets. Looking in turn like a witch or a fairy in her Gothic outfits and Harlowesque hairdo, she is as poisonous and beautiful as a datura. Anamaria Vartolomei is a rare finding, an astonishingly mature girl who was only 10 when the film was shot. She is a born actress.
At the end of the film, while she is saving herself from her mother's clutches, Violetta transforms herself into a sort of provocative Lolita who wears make-up and tight pants to go to junior high school. The future of such a disoriented girl looks quite uncertain, but soon we will find out what happens next as Ionesco has already said that MLP is the first part of a trilogy. Next episode will deal with the period of her life when she was the youngest night bird of all Paris. "A much more funny time for me", she says. With such a promising debut, there is enough to be looking forward to watching Violetta's new adventures.
Director Eva Ionesco has a full bag of stories regarding mother-and-daughter relationships and the world of art as it was in the 1970s. To begin with, as bizarre and cruel as they seem, yes, many aspects of MLP are true. Eva's mother is Irina Ionesco, a French photographer of Romanian origin who became famous some forty years ago for her erotic stills, particularly those showcasing her daughter in artsy and suggestive situations. These pictures created much controversy as Eva was only four when her mom began to take fetishist pictures of her. These photos are still a problem for Eva Ionesco as her mother goes on displaying and selling them on the Net and in some art galleries. It can be thus inferred that MLP is without any doubt a therapeutic work of art.
However, Ionesco has managed to lay anger aside when she wrote the scrip of MLP, for her work is astonishingly non judgmental. Young Anamaria Vartolomei (herself of Romanian origin) plays the part of Violetta, torn between Hanah (Isabelle Huppert), her eccentric and over-possessive mother, and her devout great-grand-mother (Georgetta Leahu). The danger was to expose Anamaria Vartolomei to the same unpalatable exhibition Ionesco has herself experienced, but the director knew exactly where to draw the line. There is more suggestion in the film than anything else, when Hanah takes pictures of Violetta for instance, then there is only brief nudity and it concerns only adults. Not that the film is an innocuous one -- of course it isn't (cf. the upsetting scenes with Jethro Cave), but Ionesco chose instead to focus on the psyche of a child who would do anything to gain her mother's love, then who turns into a rebellious teenager.
We've seen Huppert playing icy, half-insane and abusive characters so many times before than her performance is hardly a surprise -- she is nevertheless one of the film's best assets. Looking in turn like a witch or a fairy in her Gothic outfits and Harlowesque hairdo, she is as poisonous and beautiful as a datura. Anamaria Vartolomei is a rare finding, an astonishingly mature girl who was only 10 when the film was shot. She is a born actress.
At the end of the film, while she is saving herself from her mother's clutches, Violetta transforms herself into a sort of provocative Lolita who wears make-up and tight pants to go to junior high school. The future of such a disoriented girl looks quite uncertain, but soon we will find out what happens next as Ionesco has already said that MLP is the first part of a trilogy. Next episode will deal with the period of her life when she was the youngest night bird of all Paris. "A much more funny time for me", she says. With such a promising debut, there is enough to be looking forward to watching Violetta's new adventures.