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LOLITA (1962) (***1/2)

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I saw Adrian Lyne’s 1997 LOLITA before I saw Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 version. It’s amazing how the relatively same plot and story could be told in too starkly different ways. Lyne’s is a dark, tragic drama while Kubrick’s is a satirical, dark comedy.

Prof. Humbert Humbert (James Mason, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH) decides to take a room at the home of Charlotte Haze (Shelley Winters, A PLACE IN THE SUN) after he catches a glimpse of her daughter Lolita (Sue Lyon, THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA), claiming it was Mrs. Haze’s offer of cherry pie that persuaded him to stay. The film is filled with sly double entendres. And of course no one delivers them better than Peter Sellers (BEING THERE) who plays Clare Quilty, a TV writer who had a brief fling with Mrs. Haze, but only remembers Lolita.

The tone of Kubrick’s film reminded me very much of AMERICAN BEAUTY, which also dealt with pedophilia to some degree. The performances from the whole cast are outstanding. Mason is droll and subtle with his mania. Lyon balances perfectly between innocence and sexuality. Winters, in a very unflattering role, is so good that it’s hard to watch her desperately lonely widow who just wants some spice in her life.

Then we come back to Sellers, who like in Kubrick’s masterpiece DR. STRANGELOVE has a chance to play multiple characters. His acting should be a training video for comedians who want to know exactly how to play a character perfectly on the line of between natural and over-the-top. The discipline it takes to do what he does in this film is remarkable. I really believe that film schools should compare and contrast Lyne’s and Kubrick’s films. The main difference between the two films is the presentation of Quilty. In Kubrick’s film, the character is clearly defined and established from the beginning, being introduced in the first scene where he is confronted by Humbert. In Lyne’s, Quilty is a shadowy figure that is more like a mysterious ghost or a figment of Humbert’s imagination than a real character.

With Kubrick’s approach more humorous, it is far easier to identify with Humbert. The humor allows us to keep a kind of moral distance from his insidious actions. Lyne’s film is far more challenging, which makes it far more tragic. Kubrick’s film is also tragic, but that is established right from the beginning. We know right from the start that Humbert will spiral out of control. In some ways, the first scene where Humbert confronts Quilty undermines the tail end of the film because we know what is going to happen ultimately. However, subtly Kubrick may be saying something about art and entertainment and its seduction over children. Lolita ends up with the TV writer not the translator of French poetry.

Though Lyne’s film is more psychologically complex, Kubrick’s film flows better and more coherently. Plus, Winters is an enormously more gifted actor than Melanie Griffith (WORKING GIRL). Griffith plays the role more conniving and sophisticated, but Winters is more vulnerable and ultimately more real. Winters really should have received an Oscar nomination for this performance. She’s just that good. Sellers deserved one as well. Kubrick’s resume of films is astonishing and LOLITA is just another example of why he is one of the masters.

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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks