Lolita by Adrian Lyne

A long time ago, back in 1955, Vladimir Nabokov published a scandalous book that remains controversial long after his death. Lolita narrates the life of a teacher, Humbert Humbert, who falls in love with a 12-year-old girl and shamelessly pursues her. The novel is narrated by Humbert, which probably makes the book even more controversial since surely no one wants to read into the mind of a rapist. Fortunately for Nabokov, he proved to be an expert writer, and the book became a literary classic. Stanley Kubrick released a film in 1962 about the book, but censorship regulations at the time dictated that certain scenes from the book be omitted. Sue Lyons, who played Lolita, was only 14 years old at the time of filming. Adrian Lyne directed the second screen adaptation in 1997. However, due to its content, Lyne had difficulty finding a production company and the film was eventually released on a cable network. However, it was released in theaters on this side of the pond to mixed reviews.

Jeremy Irons is Humbert Humbert, a professor who goes to the United States to teach. He remains deeply affected by the death of his childhood sweetheart, which occurred when he was 14, sparking a lifelong interest in teenage girls. For Humbert, his lost love was the embodiment of the ideal woman. Obviously, there’s no excuse for pedophilia, that’s what makes this movie hard to watch, but his past heartbreak explains his unhealthy but self-aware attraction to young girls.

The summer before his semester starts, he decides to finish his textbook and stays with the widowed Charlotte Haze. He is initially unimpressed with the messy house, but seeing Charlotte’s daughter Dolores, always called Lo, for the first time, he decides to stay. He calls her ‘Lolita’ and looks at her in amazement and lust.

Humbert interprets Lo’s play as flirting and reacts with schoolboy embarrassment. Charlotte takes a very real interest in Humbert and the two eventually marry. Charlotte, fed up with her precocious daughter talking back all the time, decides that Lo should go to summer camp and then to boarding school, where she will learn manners.

Charlotte breaks into Humbert’s locked drawer and reads his diary, where she discovers that he is obsessed with Lo and that he is disgusted by Charlotte. Furious, she storms out of the house to find the end of her running in front of a car. Humbert picks Lo up from camp posing as her father, and the two start a relationship and go on a trip.

Humbert freely refers to Lo as his daughter, conflicted between his duties as a stepfather and his desire for her. He advises her on school work, gives her a weekly allowance, and tries to discipline her. Lolita asks for more money in exchange for sexual favors, to which Humbert agrees. She becomes more and more difficult for him, which makes him suspect that she is planning to run away. Both Humbert and Lolita find their relationship embarrassing, with Lo often crying after a sexual encounter.

Sometimes Lolita is immature for her age, other times the opposite, especially when we realize that she had sex with someone at a summer camp. She is also aware of the incest and rape of her, but is sometimes clueless to the reality that he is taking advantage of her. She is still a child, and she is not old enough to make a conscious or informed decision regarding sex. Her father is dead, so she could be looking for a father figure and, at the same time, confused by Humbert’s feelings for her. Some people believe that Lolita willingly manipulated Humbert, since throughout the film she is obsessed with money and ways to get it. We see Humbert riddled with guilt at times, ashamed of taking Lo’s childhood away and how he can’t redeem himself. Since he is the one who narrates the movie, we never really see how Lolita was affected by all of that, just that she grows up before her time. The movie doesn’t glorify rape or underage sex, nor does it cast a romantic light on their relationship. Humbert tells the story as something of an idealistic love story, but the viewer remains aware of the inappropriate circumstances unfolding in front of them. I haven’t read the book, but on research I found that Humbert’s character is much less likable in the book. Also, it appears that Lyne avoided using certain parts of the novel in the film, possibly to make it easier to watch, and scenes of a sexual nature are brief and opaque.

Jeremy Irons is perfect as a complicated and unsympathetic figure haunted by the death of his childhood sweetheart. He is very believable as Humbert, who is well-spoken, intelligent but emotionally immature. Dominique Swain is also excellent, as she immaculately bridges the line between childish innocence and manipulative teen. You don’t have to admire the characters, or even like them. The content is controversial – it’s about a pedophile rationalizing his interest in an underage girl – but with Nabokov’s prose as dialogue, the film is far more moving and riveting than one might expect.