Ah Kubrick, courting controversy here with his adaptation of `Lolita'. It tells the tale of Humbert Humbert, a professor staying at the lodgings of one Charlotte Haze. There he becomes smitten with her 14 year-old daughter, the titular Lolita. The smitten becomes obsession becomes necessitation, and yet it's all balanced out with a humour blacker than my ire at `A Beautiful Mind' winning all those Oscars.
Humbert is played by James Mason. I'm not familiar with the original source material, so I'm not sure how accurate Mason's portrayal is. Here he starts off genial, even convincingly feigning romantic interest in Charlotte (in order to remain close to Lolita). There's a convincing sense of desperation injected later on by Mason - his movements become more agitated, eyes darting more, his voice becoming shaper. There's no real sense of credible darkness about him - more a sense of loneliness. The object of his affection, played by Sue Lyon, is cutely brattish. She knows the power she has and, even an ever so `butter would not melt in my mouth' demure fashion, she is able to abuse it to her will. Although (naturally) there's no real chemistry between the two, the two play the relationship well together and it's interesting to see how it develops later on, when it becomes less comic and more dark. The other participants, such as Charlotte and the man on Humbert's trail, Clare Quilty (Peter Sellers) are all decent characters and all acted well. Sure there's a congeniality there that was necessary due to censoring laws, but this is meant to be blackly comedic.
Kubrick again is on the ball. His talents aren't quite as strikingly shown as they are in his other works, given that he's less room to manoeuver into anything spectacularly fancy. The use of narration doesn't grate (it often would), and we're left to use our own imaginations often about what's going on, with just the subtle of clues before the camera pans away. There's a nice sense of mood used through lighting, especially later on in the movie as Humbert's obsession grows deeper (but it's Kubrick, so I expected as much). No complaints, as usual although I was not as overwhelmed as I was with the beauty he evidences in `2001' or `Barry Lyndon'.
`Lolita' is surprisingly amusing and, even if only by implication, quite risqué (check out the suggestive conversations Mrs. Schiller has with Humbert, for example). Certainly it's not immediately comparable to another movie (besides its remake) but. I wasn't left with the impressed feeling that I normally get from Kubrick. Perhaps the movie was too light, considering the possibilities, but I just didn't feel as satisfied as I expected. Still worth a catch, and above the usual mess. 7.5/10.
Humbert is played by James Mason. I'm not familiar with the original source material, so I'm not sure how accurate Mason's portrayal is. Here he starts off genial, even convincingly feigning romantic interest in Charlotte (in order to remain close to Lolita). There's a convincing sense of desperation injected later on by Mason - his movements become more agitated, eyes darting more, his voice becoming shaper. There's no real sense of credible darkness about him - more a sense of loneliness. The object of his affection, played by Sue Lyon, is cutely brattish. She knows the power she has and, even an ever so `butter would not melt in my mouth' demure fashion, she is able to abuse it to her will. Although (naturally) there's no real chemistry between the two, the two play the relationship well together and it's interesting to see how it develops later on, when it becomes less comic and more dark. The other participants, such as Charlotte and the man on Humbert's trail, Clare Quilty (Peter Sellers) are all decent characters and all acted well. Sure there's a congeniality there that was necessary due to censoring laws, but this is meant to be blackly comedic.
Kubrick again is on the ball. His talents aren't quite as strikingly shown as they are in his other works, given that he's less room to manoeuver into anything spectacularly fancy. The use of narration doesn't grate (it often would), and we're left to use our own imaginations often about what's going on, with just the subtle of clues before the camera pans away. There's a nice sense of mood used through lighting, especially later on in the movie as Humbert's obsession grows deeper (but it's Kubrick, so I expected as much). No complaints, as usual although I was not as overwhelmed as I was with the beauty he evidences in `2001' or `Barry Lyndon'.
`Lolita' is surprisingly amusing and, even if only by implication, quite risqué (check out the suggestive conversations Mrs. Schiller has with Humbert, for example). Certainly it's not immediately comparable to another movie (besides its remake) but. I wasn't left with the impressed feeling that I normally get from Kubrick. Perhaps the movie was too light, considering the possibilities, but I just didn't feel as satisfied as I expected. Still worth a catch, and above the usual mess. 7.5/10.