Movies - Lolita

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	Movies - Lolita

Lolita (1962) is a film by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel of the same title by Vladimir Nabokov. Although Kubrick's direction was generally acclaimed at the time, it has been described as a very unbalanced film, with all of the main action taking place during the first half.

With Nabokov’s consent, Kubrick changed the order in which events unfolded by moving what was the novel’s ending to the start of the film. This ending became the film’s opening, with the events leading up to it told as a flashback. Kubrick determined that while this sacrificed a great ending, it helped maintain interest, as he believed that interest in the novel sagged halfway through once Humbert was successful in seducing Lolita.

The second half contains an odyssey across the United States and though the novel was set in the 1940s Kubrick gave it a contemporary setting, shooting many of the exterior scenes in England. Some of the minor parts were played by Canadian and American actors, such as Cec Linder, Lois Maxwell, Jerry Stovin and Diana Decker, who were based in England at the time. Kubrick had to film in England as much of the money to finance the movie was not only raised there but also had to be spent there.

The "moral values" and censorship of the time inhibited Kubrick's direction. Kubrick commented that, “because of all the pressure over the Production Code and the Catholic Legion of Decency at the time, I believe I didn't sufficiently dramatize the erotic aspect of Humbert's relationship with Lolita. If I could do the film over again, I would have stressed the erotic component of their relationship with the same weight Nabokov did.” In a 1972 Newsweek interview, Kubrick said that had he realized how severe the censorship limitations were going to be, he "probably wouldn't have made the film."

Lolita's age was raised to fourteen, as Kubrick believed that this was the right age. He has commented that, “I think that some people had the mental picture of a nine-year-old, but Lolita was twelve and a half in the book; Sue Lyon was thirteen.”

Humbert uses the term 'nymphet' to describe Lolita, which he explains in and uses throughout the novel; it only appears once in the movie and its meaning is left undefined. In a voiceover on the morning after the Ramsdale High School dance, Humbert confides in his diary, “What drives me insane is the twofold nature of this nymphet, of every nymphet perhaps, this mixture in my Lolita of tender, dreamy childishness and a kind of eerie vulgarity. I know it is madness to keep this journal, but it gives me a strange thrill to do so. And only a loving wife could decipher my microscopic script.”

This voiceover is a part of Humbert’s narration, which was central to the novel. Kubrick uses it sparingly and, apart from the above comment, only to set the scene for the film’s next act. Humbert’s comments are generally simple statements of fact, spiced with the odd personal reflection.

The only other one of these reflections, which makes reference to Humbert’s feelings towards Lolita, is made after their move from Ramsdale to Beardsley. Here Humbert's comment seems to show only an interest in her education and cultural development: “Six months have passed and Lolita is attending an excellent school where it is my hope that she will be persuaded to read other things than comic books and movie romances”.

The narration begins after the opening scenes but ceases once the odyssey begins. Kubrick makes no attempt to explain Humbert's fascination with Lolita, which a full narration would have done, but merely treats it as a matter of fact. An explanation might well have made Humbert a more sympathetic character, which may not have suited a censor in 1962.

James Mason plays Professor Humbert Humbert, who falls under Lolita's spell. He is smooth, charming, self-assured and a little condescending, as might be expected in an academic. Shelley Winters plays Charlotte Haze, the loud, overbearing, status-seeking widow who is both Humbert's landlady and Lolita's mother. When she develops a romantic interest in Humbert, Charlotte's pushy advances as parried by Humbert's barely concealed sarcasm become comedic. Sue Lyon's performance as Lolita is more restrained, but this may well result from concerns about the censor. When allowed freedom to act, she subtly shows the darker side of Lolita's character.

Peter Sellers' performance as Clare Quilty was generally acclaimed at the time. The character’s role was greatly expanded from that in the novel and Kubrick allowed Sellers to adopt a variety of disguises throughout the film.

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