Lolita [1998] (DVD)

I imagine that, after Stanley Kubrick's brilliant attempt in the 1960s, that few really believed that we needed another adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita. Nevertheless, director Adrian Lyne, who has also helmed steamy erotic thrillers like Indecent Proposal and 9 1/2 Weeks, does a pretty good job, despite the film being rather unneccessary in lieu of Kubrick's better effort. The film takes place in 1947, with Humbert Humbert (Jeremy Irons), a French literature professor, who moves to New Hampshire, where he rents a room from widow Charlotte Haze (Melanie Griffith), largely because he catches sight of her young daughter (although her ...  Read the complete review

This really is not the kind of film that you should admit to liking, but it is awfully good. I saw it on Film Four the other week, while browsing the channels late at night. Immediately drawn to the fact that it had Jeremy Irons in it, I thought I would give it a shot. Jeremy Irons always seems to find himself in films embarking on relationships he shouldn't embark on; the films usually end with catastrophic consequences. 'Lolita' is a tale of incest, well sort of. Jeremy plays Humbert Humbert who marries his landlandy, somewhat reluctantly and proceeds to fall deeply in love with her daughter. Unfortunately, this is made all the more complicated because her ...  Read the complete review

Anyone who knows the basic story of 'Lolita' will realise that the subject matter is rather controversial - a grown man forming a sexual relationship with a barely teenage girl. Since Vladimir Nabokov first released the novel in 1955, there have been a couple of movie adaptations, both surrounded by controversy upon their release. I suppose it's a brave (or stupid) director who would decide to take on such a contentious project, but both Stanley Kubric and Adrian Lynn have returned very different results in their separate attempts at bringing the book to the big screen. The story focuses on the curiously named 'Humbert Humbert' (Jeremy Irons), a British ...  Read the complete review