Lolita Film Review - 1962, Stanley Kubrick

Even with censorship, Kubrick's 'Lolita', released in 1962, was a shocking and daring film. The story of a writer, Humbert Humbert, who has an obsessive infatuation with 'nymphets' - young girls of about twelve or fourteen - was to say the least scandalous. 'Lolita' is a sort of dark comedy, a black love story in its own right - having read the book, I was interested to see whether the film could capture this subtle humour that Nabokov had crafted, and whether it could also present Humbert in an objective light - the book itself perhaps not so much evokes sympathy as allows to you to understand the mind of someone you might previously have thought to be monstrous. In fact, Humbert appears well-mannered, even oddly-likeable.

Sue Lyon, publicity shot for 'Lolita'

James Mason played Humbert Humbert in the film, and did so very well. Known for playing villains; being the man everyone 'loved to hate,' Mason was perfect for the role. Kubrick's film perhaps allows even more sympathy to be channeled towards Humbert, with Nelson Riddle's 'Love Theme' contributing to the pity we feel for him. Perhaps not an entirely accurate rendering of the book, yet it still accomplishes Nabokov's point that people are not necessarily who we think they are - in many ways Humbert is also shown to be vindicated by Lolita, in her abandonment of him. Sue Lyon expertly caught the ungrateful, spoilt aspects of Lolita (or 'Dolores Haze') in her characterisation, yet manages to blend it with the desperation of a child who feels unloved, but doesn't know how to go about solving this hurt. Hence we are presented with a tragedy of the fate of two character's - Lolita's end, holed up in a tumbledown house, pregnant at seventeen and Humbert, desperately lonely and probably facing prison. Both seem on the edge of death. Maybe this is why we are gripped to them from the beginning - they are both so clearly characters trembling on the edge of their own existence.

Kubrick commented that had he known how much censorship would be imposed on the film, he never would have made it. However, in a similar theme to my other reviews, I always argue that restriction is not necessarily a negative thing. Many of the famous shots in the film, such as when Humbert paints Lolita's toenails, were put in to suggest the sexual nature of their relationship, as to portray it any more explicitly was forbidden. And yet this shot would never have been created, as well as the iconography associated with 'Lolita', had censorship lost it's battle. We also gain a sense of the possible love in the relationship, rather than simple carnal desire which it might have otherwise been portrayed as. This is also a significant theme in Nabokov's novel - Lolita's body, and the sexual encounters the two characters have, are (rather comically) described in flowery, ambiguous and metaphorical language, thus making Humbert seem more tender yet simultaneously adding a level of slight revulsion, due to the anonymity. Revulsion mostly aside in the film, Kubrick struck most of the balance right, though erring more on the side of love.

Publicity Stills of Sue Lyon for Kubrick's 'Lolita', shown at LACMA exhibition

Peter Sellers also gives a brilliant performance as 'Quilty', a role which was made far more prominent in the film, and to good effect. The plot, which the language often makes unclear in the novel, becomes gripping and much more understandable for an audience. Again, we understand, through Kubrick's direction, Nabokov's intention - that people are not who they seem. The apparent danger, Humbert, cares much more for Lolita than Quilty, who also has a penchant for younger girls and yet is a much more threatening, dislikable man. Who would have thought distinctions in such a category could be made? And yet they can be, and are expertly distilled by both writer and director.

The images and the iconography (the lollipop, the heart-shaped sunglasses, the tangible americana) of both the film and the book will always intrigue me, as well as the dynamic between Humbert and Lolita, both misunderstood characters in their own right - and also possibly enduring characters, frozen in time by being part of the fabric of American culture. It is for this reason that I urge you watch this film, but not only for this - after all the story, these days, is too often lost in the imagery it has projected. Watch the story, and listen to that - that it what has, and always will hold the magic.

Victoria x

N.B. - I do not claim rights to any of the pictures used. I used Flickr to find them, under a Creative Commons license:
https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=lolita%20stanley%20kubrick&sort=relevance&license=1%2C2%2C3%2C4%2C5%2C6