Review of Lolita (1962) by Uditha D — 10 Feb 2012

Even though most of the original content were purged from this worthy film adaptation, I still could feel and sense all the wonderfully contrived and superbly hinted innuendos and perversity in Lolita. This is a greatly done movie, and not just for that reason. I don't think Lolita could have gotten anywhere were it not for Sue Lyon as its title character. Her character emerges for the first time in a breathtakingly erotic scene at Mrs Haze's back garden, where Humbert Humbert (played exceptionally by James Mason) at once decides to live as a boarder in her house, and from then on, she is revealed to be a spoilt, wretched, and at times inconceivably strong-headed girl. But she is not perverse as either Humbert, or to a large extent, Claire Quilty.

Talking of Quilty, I must say that the second best performance in Lolita belonged undoubtedly to Peter Sellers. When I saw him, I was convinced that this was THE role he was born to play. He spices up Quilty with innuendos, hinted perverseness, and of course all those mind-boggling disguises and accents (especially as Doctor Zempf) to a very delightful extent, that one could say his is a larger than life character.

Having said that, the other actors were good too, especially Shelley Winters. In all, I am kind of glad that the original content from the novel were toned down in this remarkable film. It made me, firstly, sympathize more with Humbert's plight than with Lolita's deflowering at the hands of him and Quilty; and secondly, enjoy this wonderful classic, without it having any excesses of sex and explicit perversity. It deserves a 5 out of 5 rating from anyone who has watched it.