2009 film log (Marchon)

I felt like there was some sly jabs at the dynamics of family sexuality - Humbert’s secret sexual longings masking as Fatherly protectiveness or Charlotte punishing Lolita out of sexual frustration with Humbert. I mean notice how liberal she is with her when she thinks she’s going to get laid, but after being rejected by Hum she turns into a tyrant. It’s also funny how similar Charlotte and Lolita are to one another. They both have pictures of men on their wall that they worship, they’re both quite moronic and immature, and they both have their bodies as their one true asset. And the fact that they’re so similar is what makes Humbert look pretty silly. He’s constantly deriding Charlotte, yet is completely in love with Lolita because of her looks, thus pointing out that attraction (ie sex) is really what is important when it comes to love. Personally I love Sellers in this film, he’s actually my favourite part though I can see how he’d be an acquired taste. His character is very important I think in contrasting with Humbert. Because of their fixation on young girls they are both perhaps ‘sleaze balls’, but Sellers is a lot more care free and libertine than the comparatively repressed Humbert Humbert. Quilty unabashedly brags about his sexual adventures and even wants to film them (“He wanted me to cooperate like the others into doing some sort of…I dunno…some kind of an art movie.” “An art movie…ugh.”) He accepts it as part of his nature and isn’t ashamed. Humbert on the other hand, is very ashamed of his longings and practically tortures himself with his fantasies (by not acting them out); notice how it is Lolita who initiates their first ‘encounter’. And ultimately the movie recognizes that love is really just a game (a sometimes fatal game) where there’s a winner and a loser, first Charlotte loses to Hum and then Hum loses to Lolita. I mean really, who took advantage of who here? It totally flips the politically correct notion on top of it’s head. Being a huge Kubrick fan, I’ve watched Lolita a lot over the past few years. It’s got so many great ideas, but it’s really kind of stale in the end. Perhaps that’s fitting though. It seems like the entire film is shot through Humbert’s eyes (I mean, wasn’t Charlotte a little too dumb?) So by that token, Humbert would have wanted a sort of detached European art film done in his honour. Lolita munching on potatoe chips and sipping sugary soda “Do you ever watch any of those movies with um…subtitles?” “Yes, frequently.” “Meh, I don’t like ‘em”.