SOIS BELLE: My Little Princess- Eva Ionesco

MY LITTLE PRINCESS-- EVA IONESCO
film review by Darya Baitsim

At last! At last! My little Princess has been released!I've waited for it for so long..almost for a year...So, my joy is inconceivable!The readers of this blog remember that one of the first articles here was about Eva Ionesco ad Irina Ionesco, her mother, and their unusual story.
But to the point. The film has come to scratch, just as I'd expected it..This was no foolish meaningless glamorous Hollywood film, but a French one, so the quality was infinitely better- in every respect.I actually watched the film bit by bit, for three days, or rather, nights,so as to suspend my pleasure...
Eva was an ordinary, almost an ordinary girl, until her mother began to take photos of her.But she never really was ordinary.Already then her classmates treated her differently, and she had no friends. She longed for something different. And for love and affection, and warmth..for she had no close relations either, except for her grandmother and her mother, and the latter was always away and never really paid much attention to her.And the grandmother took all the care she could of the little girl, but it was not enough. Every child needs a mother, especially if the child is girl.Ad Eva needed her mother. She worshiped her..and desperately needed her attention. That is why when Irina began to take pictures of her, Eva was in seventh heaven.. at first..she felt that at last she was treated as she should be, that her mother cared for her, and singled her out.But pretty soon this influence of her mother and her art and artistic projects began to throw more shadow than ever on Eva's life- she began a complete outcast at school and yet she was treated like a novelty and a celebrity in fashion and artistic society.Irina' style of photographs was peculiar-- she was inspired bu cemeteries, death, eroticism, and she mixed these notions in her mind, to her they were one.In those times, in the seventies, when everyone was looking for something new,this was a novel approach to photographs,and consequently,extremely popular.Gradually Eva began to realise that her mother was going too far..or if not, then it least it was too much for Eva herself- as her grandmother's health declined, Irina gained more control over her daughter's life- or rather, over her daughter's image, behaviour and outlook on life- and the girl was left to her own devices most of time, to care for herself as well as she could. Eventually, after Irina took some pornographic pictures of Eva, and sold them to various fashion magazines, she lost her rights on the child, and Eva was adopted by Christian Louboutin- who took care of Eva and to whom she is grateful to this day..
Understandably, Eva was going through a great crisis at the time. Her mother took her out of the ordinary society and showed to her the world of art, brought her into it, and Eva did not, could not come back to being an ordinary schoolgirl playing a ball in the courtyard. But she couldn't abide by the laws of show business either..for,uncared for and untaught as she was, she had her conscience and her knowledge of limits.She was stuck in the middle...And Christian L helped her, reared her like his own daughter and gave her the care and attention she needed.That is why the film, shot by Eva Ionesco herself( she is the producer), is dedicated to him.
Upon the whole, the film is interesting, sometimes dark, very emotional and strong-- I loved it.