Lolita
1997 · Directed by Adrian Lyne
Original language: English
- drama
- romance
The story
Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged British novelist who is both appalled by and attracted to the vulgarity of American culture. When he comes to stay at the boarding house run by Charlotte Haze, he soon becomes obsessed with Lolita, the woman's teenaged daughter.
What it’s like
Sun-bleached and languid, with warm golden-hour light over New England lawns, dusty American motel rooms, and the glare of highway diners, all shot in a polished 1990s glossy style with lingering close-ups and soft-focus sensuality. The score swells with lush, romantic strings, which sits uneasily against the rot underneath. The pacing is slow and watchful, lingering on glances, gestures, and small domestic rituals, so the mood is one of sultry dread rather than shock. A middle-aged man's obsession bends the warmth of the setting into something sinister, with a drifting, dreamlike unease. Sexual content is suggestive and implied rather than graphic, but the subject is the sexual predation of a minor, and the emotional manipulation, jealousy, and cruelty are persistent and hard to watch. There is some brief violence late on. This is not a gentle watch. It suits viewers who want a serious, uncomfortable literary adaptation about obsession and self-deception, and who can sit with a morally repugnant narrator.
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