A 14 year old girl learning about her sexuality is a dangerous thing...thrust into womanhood with desires beyond your comprehension; the inclings of a new-found knowledge that you now have a certain power, one which you don't understand yet want to explore, an exploration that cannot be stopped once your hormones make known their existstence...ahhh, to be young and naive again - and completely invincible, what utter bliss...
The clumsiness of pubescent males is completely non-existent in their female counterparts who, seemingly overnight, have developed a sense of (misguided) understanding about existence - and their target: Men. Not boys their own age, who these girls consider immature and too easy a target, but men of authority - teachers, your older sisters boyfriend or your older brothers friends, and, in the case of Lolita, a man her mother was flirting with, later her stepfather. The desire of, and [mis]belief that the conquering of these men, brought about by their own forbidden lust, will elevate you to that all important goal: to prove you are at last a woman!
Dolores (who by the end of the movie was known solely as Lolita (evidence of Humbert's lack of a grip on reality) is far from being a victim. Lacking the love and security a father figure can instill, and hating her mother who treated her like a child, a mother she would see flirting with men constantly, was searching for the one thing all us mere mortals crave - love. Uneducated and unnurtered [sp?], Lolita simply uses the only too available to her, sex
Humbert considers himself an artist, a lover of beautiful things who doesn't need to be tied down by society's rules. He tells us (while telling himself) that ordinary men cannot see this beauty. He KNEW it was wrong: he ate a piece of paper with Lolita's gum on it so that Charlotte would not know Lolita had been in his room; he narrated to his "beloved jury"; he justified his behaviour by a manner of things, one of which was his lost love of years ago. All this to convince himself, to aide him in not losing his mind - which of course was inevitable. Secretly giving Charlotte sleeping pills so that he would not have to perform his "matrimonial duties" was a means to an end...Lolita. When Charlotte died, he probably felt that all his Christmases had come at once, he probably told himself that it was fate, convinving himself further that Lolita was meant to be his. He conveniently did not tell Lolita of her mother's passing until AFTER he had slept with her (noting that she was by no means a virgin).
Lolita, of course, whether she had been playing cruel games or not, was now completely alone and stuck. Humbert was the only human being who could take her in. So she manipulated the situation to suit her. She stayed with him, performing sexual pleasures which meant nothing to her, flirted with any man she could find searching for a replacement, and receiving gifts and her own way in return. Humbert was in a self proclaimed "paradise" - all because he was simply getting his rocks off.
This is a movie of manipulation, the frailty of the human mind, female opportunism and the penis!!
My bottom line....Humbert was a sick bastard who tried nought to refrain himself, the pleasures of the flesh paramount in his mind. He was mad to start with and his guilt drove him over the edge. Lolita, poor white trash, using her sexuality to gain any advantage.
For me, the most oustanding performance was by far Frank Langella's (Clare Quilty)...after having been shot twice, he stumbles, bloodied and confused, saying ever so poliety to his killer "You should not continue in this fasion, really".
(I don't play with 5 stars, not enought of them for my liking. All through the movie I was thinking 4/10 at best, but I loved the ending, which shot it up to 6.5/10)
Originally posted by r3port3r66
The end confused me a little too. Why did he have to go back and kill Quilty?
Quilty took his passion away and forced him to face his guilt and insanity...but like any self-respecting insane person (
) he prefered to blame Quilty rayther than himself
and yes R66...great choice...thanks buddy
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