The only thing remarkable about the film is the author’s freedom, which today is absolutely impossible and unthinkable. Then the film was the author, and he wanted, then shot, almost without restrictions. And if such a film was made today, the director and half of the team would be imprisoned for 20 years. At best, the film would be made without childish nudity and with the message that women are on all sides of the victim, and men are spooks, tyrants and rapists. For today, cinema must be “right”, must reflect the interests of the oppressed (who have long become oppressors themselves), must lick the bloated public morality, etc. In society there is a drawn and at the same time iron conviction that sex with minors is evil, and in no other way this topic can not be presented, and it is better not to present at all. And here we are transported to the 1970s, when this hype simply did not exist – well, what is so terrible we see in this film? Nothing. When there is no HYIP, suddenly there is no evil. It turns out that there may be a time when everyone is happy.
However, on the paragraph about copyright freedom, all the pluses end. The movie is really about nothing. It has almost no script, no history. It consists of a set of almost random scenes, and the maximum they give is a pleasant sketch of the life of that time. But there's no plot. There are almost no characters, except for the girl, mother and photographer, no one is revealed and plays no role in the film. Most striking is the complete contradiction of the characters, their constant change of mood for no reason. Here the photographer sees the girl for the first time and wants to take pictures of her, but soon she does not want it, she interferes with him. The old woman is categorically against selling her, but after a couple of scenes she does. And nowhere has she been shown to change that decision. Here the photographer beats the heroine, then says that children can not be beaten, then beats again. And he's not crazy, just different scenes suggest different character. There are no storylines in this film, no character development. A 12-year-old prostitute in such a life drama could go from negation of her profession to acceptance or vice versa, could move towards a dream or lose something, could realize the value of love or betray it, but none of this happens. The heroine does not have an arch, she perceives everything that happens absolutely exactly like all other characters. The virginity of the beloved photographer sold almost before his eyes, and he NEVER reacts to it. I don't believe it. Further, the photographer warns that some children climb into his house, and one of them sees the heroine through the window - to what turn of the plot can this lead? To expose? Treason? Nothing. This boy is never shown again. But they show someone else, and meeting him means absolutely nothing. This film had so many plot possibilities, so many leads for dramatic scenes, conflicts, and none of them were used. The film is absolutely incompetent, it does not work. The only drama is the drama of missed opportunities.