I recently went to a screening of the 1997 version of Lolita directed by Adrian Lyne, who is probably most famous for Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal. For those who are only familiar with the Kubrick version, Lyne’s version far surpasses Kubrick’s. It is much truer to the novel, and far racier, as Lyne could get away with much more. Dominique Swain plays Lolita and she’s brilliant. She was only 15 when she filmed that role which makes it all the more disturbing to witness.
Lolita’s plot doesn’t need synopsizing, everyone is familiar with the general story, whether or not they like it. Or so I thought. Imagine my surprise, then, when about ten minutes into the film, just after Humbert has first met Lolita, watching her move her legs about in the sprinkler, and soon after begins to blatantly flirt with her, a cup of soda went soaring through the air from somewhere behind me right at the movie screen. Well, I thought, that was weird. Then came a man’s voice, and he was not happy. “That guy’s a pedophile!” he shouted. Then came his bag of popcorn, sailing through the air towards the movie screen. “And you’re all pedophiles for watching it!” And with that he stormed out.
There were many chuckled and titters in the theater. I couldn’t help wonder, what the hell did he think he was coming to see? Had someone dragged him there? He left alone, and it didn’t appear anyone followed him out. How could he not have known what this movie was about?
There’s a lot that’s been written about Lolita and I won’t rehash all that here. People love it or hated. Many are offended by it. Sure. But watching the movie and thinking about the book, it’s clear to me why that is, and it’s not just the content.
It’s that Nabokov doesn’t editorialize. And because he doesn’t explicitly tell you what to think, the reader (or in this case the viewer) must be fairly sophisticated to grasp the nuance. The thing about Humbert Humbert is that he is narrating his story from prison, and he of course wants to defend himself. He wants to justify the things he has done. Therefore when there are moments when Lolita appears even to consent, to want what he has done to her, one should be cautious in believing that’s how the events played out. In all likelihood the entire story, from beginning to end, is not at all how things actually transpired.
And Nabokov doesn’t bother trying to set the reader straight. The point-of-view is the essence of the story, but unless one knows what to look for, I suppose one could be forgiven for believing it is advocating pedophilia, (which would still be wrong—Humbert Humbert is actually a hebephile). But it’s not. It is rather offering a character study, and Nabokov handles it with sensitivity and aplomb. We all are the heroes of our own story, none of us are reliable as narrators, and even the worst among us, such as killers and rapists, tend to justify their actions even to themselves. And that’s something worth thinking about.
My all time fav book