The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 16, 1998 Page: 16 of 24
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16
THE RICE THRESHER ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16,
1998
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'Lolita' measures up to predecessors
NYMPHET, from Page 13
Charlotte Haze (Melanie Griffith),
whose gaudy and open personality
instantly irritates the quiet, reserved
Humbert. And then Humbert meets
Charlotte's daughter, Dolores (Do-
minique Swain). He is immediately
overtaken by memories of Annabel
and becomes strangely enamored
with the girl.
Dolores, nicknamed Lo or Lolita,
is a spunky, strong-willed adoles-
cent. She becomes close to Humbert
in an apparently innocent sort of
way — sitting close to him on a
swing, jumping in his lap while he
writes and asking him to convince
her mother to not punish her. But
when Charlotte, in a misguided ef-
fort to win Humbert's affection for
herself, sends Lolita off to boarding
school, Lolita runs to him, jumps
into his arms and kisses him pas-
sionately. Humbert later realizes that
he is as much the object of Lolita's
misguided love as she is of.his.
In order to ensure that he re-
mains in close contact with the girl,
Humbert marries Charlotte.
Through a bizarre twist of fate, he
becomes Lolita's legal guardian as
well as her stepfather. Even so, an
affair begins between the two of them
— an affair that, while definitely ille-
gal and by most traditional standards
immoral, does not seem superficially
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as predatory as it actually is. When
Humbert tries to explain to Lolita
why she can't tell her mother, or
anyone else, about their activities,
Lolita shrugs, says, "It's called in-
cest, dad," and walks into a hotel-
room closet.
Lolita and Humbert set off to-
gether on a trip across America, stop-
ping at random motels in small
towns, visiting oddball tourist attrac-
tions and buying lots of useless junk.
They are followed by a darkly mys-
terious playwright, .Clare Quilty
irons is expertly
expressive of the
emotions involved
in 'lolita.'
(Frank Langella), whose motives are
beyond Humbert's reasonings.
Eventually, the relationship between
Lolita and her stepfather becomes
rocky, and the tragic portion of Lolita
ensues.
Swain, in her portrayal of the char-
acter Humbert calls his "nymphet,"
is absolutely incredible. This is a
film debut that surpasses Anna
Paquin's performance in Jane
Campion's The Piano. Swain is flaw-
less and carries off the role even as
it changes from not-so-innocent
schoolgirl to scarred and world-
weary young woman. She deserves
awards for her performance; here's
hoping Oscar has the balls this
spring to appreciate a brilliant ac-
tress in a controversial movie.
Irons, as usual, is excellent in his
role as the good-natured but sinister
professor. In playing a man torn by
his past and inextricably twisted into
a present he knows to be wrong,
Irons is expertly expressive of the
complicated emotions involved in
Lolita. Griffith is also entertaining
as the garish Charlotte, but not too
much can be said about her por-
trayal of a pretty flat character.
The screenplay for Lolita, writ-
ten by Stephen Schiff, is an excel-
lent blend of blindingly funhy wit
and deeply distressing psychologi-
cal drama. While it does not glorify
pedophilia, Schiff s script does give
careftil treatment to the intricate
relationship that arises between
Lolita and Humbert.
Without being explicitly judg-
mental, the screenplay subtly
villanizes Humbert for his destruc-
tive influence on the girl, but valo-
rizes him for his steadfast devotion
to her welfare. This devotion, how-
ever, turned into obsession, is the
force that drives all of Lolita's char-
acters into ruin.
Much of the magic in this ver-
sion of Lolita is in Lyne's direction
and Howard Atherson's photogra-
phy. Lyne takes a fabulous script
and a nearly perfect cast to create a
compelling, disturbing and provok-
ing movie. Atherson uses lighting to
great effect — sunlight shining
through falling water gives Annabel
and Lolita an angelic look; darkness
broken by the sharp brightness of
insect lamps and permeated with
cigarette smoke expresses the
sinisterness of Quilty and Humbert
— eventually making a visual chef
d'oeuvre of a film.
While it is sometimes difficult to
watch Lolita because of its almost
light-hearted treatment of a very se-
rious subject, the film is eventually
properly critical in its treatment of
pedophilia and incest. It's also a ver-
sion that successfully adapts the
actions of the novel without selling
out its intentions. Lolita is a success-
ful film, one of those rare movies
that can make you laugh, make you
think and ultimately disturb you in
the deepest parts of your being.
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 16, 1998, newspaper, October 16, 1998; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246630/m1/16/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.