Review of Lolita (1962) by Eddie S — 15 Feb 2014

Old lolita vs new lolita.

In the old they don't give him motivation for liking the child.

In the old their sexual relationships is not explicit enough, really goes against the point.

In the new one she looks younger, her crying/pain is more real and is shown for extended periods of time.

In the new one their fight is not about screaming, looking good in front of the neighbors, etc, but about a clash of wills. It's calm, calculated, and really shows the cards each of them holds. By the time the outburst scene appears, you can really feel and understand the pent up rage, confusion and pain Lo has been harboring, and the actors both do it justice.

In the new one I feel Humbart has much more responsibility for what happens. In the old one he seemed like the victim.

The new one doesn't have inspector clusau, in all his forms and glory. Tough he is very talented and entertaining, I don't feel he has a place in this story. The lack of him actually serves to amplify the surprise by the end. In addition, I didn't like that the old one began at the end.

The old one focused more on Lo's mom, and she was a much better actress there (very annoying). It also came to show how much Humbart didn't care for 'regular' sex.

In the new one the two actually discuss what they are doing, giving us at least a glimpse into the dynamics of the relationship. They know full well what they're into (at one point she says the word 'incest'), but they like it.

The fact that by the end her growing distant translates to selling her affections for money is much more interesting, mature (on her part) and realistic.

The new one is much better at showing how manipulative Lo can be and what a good liar she is. The fact that cool, collected Humbart has come to hit her a couple of times also shows the strain on him, and I love that she reacts like a child to it.

In the new one, the final sex scene is the culmination of her sexual power over him.

Overall, the change of times allowed for more explicit writing, the actors felt more grounded to life, which gave it additional gravitas, and the story-telling for the most part got better, probably because the second attempt learned from the first. It is also more poetic.