Review of Lolita (1962) by Amber A — 28 Aug 2009

I suppose in the 1960's this was a daring and new concept, but seeing it now, in 2009, just makes me think of Venus and how uncomfortable I was watching that movie as well. Same premise as Venus except a little more twisted, James Mason marries a woman to be close to her daughter, ends up ruining more than one life. The star power is also brighter than in Venus, which has the amazing Peter O'Toole, but Lolita boasts James Mason, Shelly Winters, Peter Sellers in an odd yet interesting role for him, and also Sue Lyon is perfect as Lolita.

This is one of those movies that everyone gasps upon hearing that I have not yet seen, so now I have seen it but I think the only thing it really did was make me think of James Mason in a totally different way; not in a good way. He is a sad and twisted person in this movie and I don't know if I can see him the same again, although his performance is great, just not the Mason I would like to see on the screen. Shelly Winters is fantastic as the screeching mother and wife, Peter Sellers channels some familiar characters but luckily he stuck to comedy for most of his career. Sue Lyon is like the devil-half of Sandra Dee, bewitching to say the least.

Where I would give a movie like Rebecca 4 or 5 stars, I give this 3, because although both movies address themes that are likely more common place nowadays, Rebecca endures and has some quality, perhaps it's Hitchiness, which makes us care about the characters, even the bad ones. Lolita gives me no feeling of empathy or distress for even one of the characters, even though they are all tragic, of almost Shakespearean proportion. If Lolita was made by anyone besides Kubrick (as in the remake), I don't think it would have worked at all.