Lolita

Though Kubrick’s Lolita is not exactly riveting, it is still entertaining enough to see where the relationship between the caring gentleman with hidden desires and the virginal adolescent girl discovering her natural womanly seductiveness will lead. This calmly and smoothly told story is psychologically detailed and subtle, with surprising tragicomic moments and a mysteriously ambiguous character played by Peter Sellers. However, what I find criminally lacking in Kubrick’s version of Lolita is a more revealing, or at least implied, spectrum of their coming together intimately, which we can only imagine. The main character, Humbert, comes across rather as a platonically enamoured, impotent wretch who fanatically holds on to his object of desire only because he cannot have it himself. (19/09/2020)

Kubrick fully immersed himself in works over which he had complete control, and he didn't start half-heartedly but rather went straight into controversy. Lolita was very controversial in its time, and it still is today. The collaboration with the author Nabokov led to the creation of a film that is worthy of its controversy. Just the first glance by James Mason (Humbert Humbert) at Sue Lyon (Lolita) clearly shows what awakened within the professor. That self-destruction is clearly evident from the beginning, with a brilliant scene featuring Peter Sellers, who demonstrates his unique acting talent in a small space. James Mason was chosen perfectly for the role because his expressions convey exactly what they are supposed to. He embodies the necessary perversion that is essential for the role. When you focus on those subtle nuances, it's an exceptional experience. By the way, I felt for the first time that a musical component truly complemented the film it was in. (04/04/2014)

Sufficiently dramatic, sufficiently ironic, but surprisingly lacking in urgency and destiny – that's Stanley Kubrick's Lolita. I've been spoiled by Adrian Lyne's perfect remake, but when I see Humbert in James Mason's unnecessarily restrained portrayal displaying unwarranted paranoid fits, and when Shelley Winters whines and overacts as Charlotte Haze, everything boils within me. The biggest win is Lolita herself, whose bewitchingly charming actress can with the slightest smile evoke in the viewer exactly the feeling Humbert must have had when he first glimpsed her. The portrayal of Quilty is interesting too, as I remember him as an elusive omnipresent demon, whereas here Peter Sellers portrays him as a slimy snake, openly showing his face and implying his desires to Humbert's face. In the end, my final feelings are mixed. The screenplay has very weak parts and minor inconsistencies, but it's not afraid to come up with amazingly sarcastic moments (chuckling while reading a profession of love) or an all-telling romantic image (the opening credits). But it is "only" a romantic drama and not a fateful confession full of desperate and escaping passion. (28/08/2007)

I would have loved to see a Kubrick version of the legendary Lolita that would not have had to give in to the zealous initiative of the censors and fully reflected his visual genius. But even so, edited beyond recognition, this adaptation of Nabokov's masterful postmodern novel offers so much cinematic beauty, dense erotic atmosphere, breathtakingly stylized shots and cleverly written dialogue that it’s impossible to call it a "weak" Kubrick. Scenes that seem protracted and superfluous are in fact extremely sophisticated and fit perfectly, both in content and atmosphere, into a unique cinematic puzzle that gradually – now tragically, now with an innocently ironic sneer – reveals socially unacceptable motives, and which also quite naturally brings together several different genres, from crime-noir to adventure road-movie. Above all, the excellent James Mason, whose painstaking creation of an obsessed paedophile determines the emotional aspect of the film, and the great Peter Sellers, whose peculiar oratorical performances are among the absolute highlights of the story. In the end, Kubrick's Lolita is a rather intimate odyssey into the bowels of a strange character torn apart by mental illness that may not have the same scope of thought as a comprehensive book and is not always easy to follow, but its artistic value and formal refinement cannot be denied. 85% (08/04/2015)

One of Kubrick’s weakest films, very uncontroversial and tedious for today’s standards. Unlike others, I have no need to praise Peter Sellers, his Quilt annoyed me every time he was on screen (due of course to the nature of his character and not the performance). James Mason’s character, on the other hand, arouses all conceivable emotions during the film. The viewer’s experience was rather positive, but I don’t think I’ll watch it again. (12/06/2010)