A straight forward and intriguing drama that takes Nabokov's postmodern exercise and reduces it too a simple (but elegant) story of a man who wants something more from life and his struggle to get it.
Mason plays Humbert with a suavity and charm that belies a vulnerable core that is much more sympathetic than the sociopath of the original novel.
Done in a cool, almost off-hand yet stylish fashion that is not above getting seductive, it is at once gleeful and eerie in its smouldering inter-generational romance. it's easy to root for Humbert as he tries to pursue the forbidden fruit in a petty bourgeois purgatory and the effect is subtle, effective and never lascivious.
The sultry performance of Lolita is presented with a sophistication and feather touch that makes her the centre of the picture but appropriately not the focal point.
As good an adaption as you could hope for that honours the original story but makes it its own. Whether the premise entices you or repulses you there is much to like here.
I wish Kubrick had stuck to just directing other people's screenplays. That's where his talent lies. Oh well.
Mason plays Humbert with a suavity and charm that belies a vulnerable core that is much more sympathetic than the sociopath of the original novel.
Done in a cool, almost off-hand yet stylish fashion that is not above getting seductive, it is at once gleeful and eerie in its smouldering inter-generational romance. it's easy to root for Humbert as he tries to pursue the forbidden fruit in a petty bourgeois purgatory and the effect is subtle, effective and never lascivious.
The sultry performance of Lolita is presented with a sophistication and feather touch that makes her the centre of the picture but appropriately not the focal point.
As good an adaption as you could hope for that honours the original story but makes it its own. Whether the premise entices you or repulses you there is much to like here.
I wish Kubrick had stuck to just directing other people's screenplays. That's where his talent lies. Oh well.