LOLITA Cast: Jeremy Irons, Dominique Swain, Melanie Griffith, Frank Langella Director: Adrian Lyne Screenplay: Stephen Schiff based on the novel by Vladimir Nabokov Australian theatrical release: April 8, 1999 Reviewed by Luke Buckmaster
On the Buckmaster scale of 0 stars (bomb), to 5 stars (a masterpiece): 4 stars
One might describe Lolita as simply a road movie with a pedophile and a young girl - at least, that would be the easy way of explaining it. There is a bad taste that lingers all through this film; even in its sweetened moments, there is a sense that nothing will end righteously. Behind the films characters and behind its doomed central romance, there is a cynical but simultaneously passionate depiction of the nature of forbidden love. Director Adrian Lyne takes a lengthy amount of time building the relationship between his two protagonists, before coming in for the kill in the last forty-five or so minutes of the film. He molds the bad taste into an immoral atmosphere, all the while making sure that the sins he examines are told in an engaging and profound manner. The result is an enticing and literate mixture of triumph and disaster, sorrow and pleasure. Told with subtlety and elegance, Lolita is a gentle but expressive experience, and one that is portrayed vividly and openly.
You can bet your bottom dollar that no film this year will have created as much controversy as this one. With the large amount of media spotlight on the film, it's almost as if seeing Lolita is a crime - and for all the wrong reasons. I don't understand why many individuals and organizations were so intent on having the film banned - do they think that if we ignore the issue of pedophilia, it will go away? As my colleague Peter Thompson explained on the Sunday TV program, "if Lolita discourages even one person from pursuing his or her desires at the expense of another person, of any age, it will have more than justified itself." And justified itself it has. I don't believe that Lolita encourages pedophilia at all - it really discourages it, since the film ends with a painful and heart-breaking tragedy, which is one of the foremost reasons to see it.
Professor Humbert Humbert (Jeremy Irons) is a quaint middle aged pedophile, and he's not a monster or a freak as many screen pedophiles are. Humbert fell head over heals in love as a teenager, and the death of his girl friend at a young age marred him for life. So much so, that he has never stopped searching for her. As he matured, his romantic interests did not, so when he stumbles upon the beautiful 14 year old Dolores "Lolita" Haze (Dominique Swain) he is instantly mesmerized. Humbert lodges in the home of Lolita's mother Charlotte Haze (Melanie Griffith) and then marries her, just to stay close to his true object of affection.
When Charlotte is conveniently removed from their lives, Humbert and Lolita's relationship advances. Lolita realizes the manipulative power she has over Humbert, and what began as meaningless flirting materializes into a contingency of sexual manipulation. As Humbert becomes obsessed by the seductive young girl, he takes away from her the very thing he was attracted to - her innocence.
Jeremy Irons is perfectly cast as professor Humbert, a character whose every action needed to performed with a weighty but gentle presence. Irons fulfills that criteria beautifully, and gives a performance that's virtually faultless. Every look and every move that Humbert makes is carried with subtle expression and gorgeous artistry; Jeremy Irons is completely convincing and incredibly moving. I wouldn't hesitate to say that he is one of the best actors working today. On the other side of the spectrum - in age, and in experience - Dominique Swain (who appeared in John Woo's Face/Off) is fine. She animates Lolita with needed energy, and only ever looks slightly unconvincing in her final scene (though the damage made is minimal). Together, Irons and Swain make an obliging screen couple, although their togetherness is intentionally never entirely comfortable to watch.
Stephen Schiff's screen adaptation of the classic novel by Vladimir Nabokov retains its literacy and coherency. The film never adds subplots for the sake of having subplots - everything is edited precisely and its key scenes never run too long. The photography by Howard Atherton provides some nice visual touches, especially in the final few scenes that, together, provide a disturbingly provocative climax. Shot, edited and performed with elegance, Lolita is a powerful and artistic film with a grim core. Ignore the droves of people who condemn it, and listen to those who take it seriously - Lolita is a painfully beautifully piece that, aside from the controversy it has gathered, is really not about politics at all - its about a relationship that cannot feasibly end happily.
Read more of my reviews at In Film Australia http://infilmau.iah.net
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews