Lolita

            Lolita is a psychological romance drama. It tells the story of a middle aged college professor who becomes the boarder to a lonely widowed woman. She falls in love with him but he’s already interested in someone else- her young teenage daughter Lolita. This taboo triangle becomes even stranger when he decides to marry her mother.

            Sue Lyon is excellent in the titular role of the flirtatious free spirted Lolita. She greatly expresses Lolita’s repressed sexual feelings constantly brewing just beneath the surface as well as the contempt and confusion she has towards all the men in her life. Shelly Winters is wonderful as her domineering deeply insecure mother. James Mason is frightening as the seemingly charming predatory professor Humbert. He perfectly portrays his manipulative nature and the overbearing paranoia he shows over losing Lolita. Peter Sellers is also great as the creepy Clare Quility, the fast talking Hollywood pervert always looming in the background of Humbert and Lolita’s relationship.

            Lolita is a perverse romantic drama. The movie which came out in 1962 was ahead of its time in dealing with its subject matter. Director Stanley Kubrick excellently disguises its pedophilic undertones. He uses constant shots of Lolita from Hubert’s point of view to highlight his infatuation with her. Like the title character the sexy vapid music entices you with its playful seduction. The film explores the twisted relationship between a child molester and the kid he’s grooming.

5 out of 5 stars

1962 Not Rated, 2h 33m