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#79 - Lolita
Stanley Kubrick, 1962
While boarding in an American widow's home, an English professor becomes obsessed with the widow's teenage daughter.
It's a little weird to think of a Kubrick film that I'd classify as being merely good rather than great or an all-time favourite, but here we go. Might be a little slow at times, but it's aided by some appropriately strong performances. James Mason makes for a good protagonist who comes across as slimy and unlikeable but charming enough that you can understand why other characters don't see through him. Peter Sellers steals the show as Mason's rival, a quick-talking playwright who's always ready with one line or another (and one memorable scene where he disguises himself as a German psychiatrist serves as an obvious predecessor to his work in Strangelove), while Sue Lyon manages to give the titular character even more depth than you'd expect. The monochromatic cinematography isn't especially daring or innovative but it suits the film nonetheless, as does the darkly comic pacing of some scenes (the prime example being Mason taking a phone call about a car accident). Lesser Kubrick, but still very solid.
Stanley Kubrick, 1962
While boarding in an American widow's home, an English professor becomes obsessed with the widow's teenage daughter.
It's a little weird to think of a Kubrick film that I'd classify as being merely good rather than great or an all-time favourite, but here we go. Might be a little slow at times, but it's aided by some appropriately strong performances. James Mason makes for a good protagonist who comes across as slimy and unlikeable but charming enough that you can understand why other characters don't see through him. Peter Sellers steals the show as Mason's rival, a quick-talking playwright who's always ready with one line or another (and one memorable scene where he disguises himself as a German psychiatrist serves as an obvious predecessor to his work in Strangelove), while Sue Lyon manages to give the titular character even more depth than you'd expect. The monochromatic cinematography isn't especially daring or innovative but it suits the film nonetheless, as does the darkly comic pacing of some scenes (the prime example being Mason taking a phone call about a car accident). Lesser Kubrick, but still very solid.