These two days are down. Rediscover the film and watch it. Watch Lolita, a film made from the controversial novel, 1962 and 1998, two versions back-to-back. Then write the review to the sound of a French song by Alizée, “Moi Lolita”.Both are classics. 36 years apart, two films on the same subject, with different shooting techniques and actors, even one in black and white and one in color, are no reason to distinguish between any one film and the other.”Lolita, the light of my life, the fire of my desire. My sin, my soul. Lolita. Tongue up, in three steps, gently falling from the upper jaw down to the teeth. Lol, Rita.”This is the opening paragraph of the novel. It’s a story that veers between ethics and lust. And the movie uses everything pure, but shows an unparalleled ambiguity and eroticism.James Mason and Sue Lyon starred in the title role. The black and white film is directed by Stanley Kubrick. Soft and lingering piano sounds. A pair of generous hands, holding a delicate, small, white foot, put a thin pinch of cotton between the toes, and then apply nail polish. Infinite compassion and tenderness.When the American film rating system was not yet in place, such an incest story should not be presented on the screen. However, Kubrick did it.
The entire film does not have a second of erotic scenes, but it is precisely the beginning of the film, after the film’s indistinct interplay of light and shadow, the door of the house, Lolita’s provocative and ambiguous eyes, the sudden fading of the lights, telling a kind of monstrous and naked lust.The 1998 version of “Lolita” was translated as “A tree of pear blossoms presses the begonia”. On the Internet, I learned the source: “A tree of pear blossoms presses the begonia” is an allusion to a flirtation by Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty, who mocked his friend, the lyricist Zhang Xian (990-1078, character Zino). It is said that when Zhang Xian married an 18-year-old concubine at the age of 80, Dongpo teased: “Eighteen brides and 80 boys, pale white hair on red makeup. Yuanyang ducks in a double night, a tree pear blossom pressure begonia.” The pear blossom refers to the white head groom, begonia refers to the red makeup bride. Later, “a tree of pear blossoms pressed the begonia” became a euphemism for an old couple with a young wife.”Jeremy Irons’ sensitive and neurotic eyes are irreplaceable, and the lines at the corners of his mouth are deep and melancholy. His portrayal of the hero, Professor Humbert, is more sober than the James Mason of the ’62 version, with more stoicism and depression. Dominique Swain’s Lolita is younger and more innocent. When Humbert first met her, Lolita was wearing a near-skin dress, leaning on the grass and letting the water drench her. Turning her head, without words and actions, the eyes have been full of unintentional teasing and seduction. Such a scene is considered an erotic classic, right? It is in the silence that becomes the sin and temptation of Humbert’s life.
Both films tell the same story, but the ’62 version doesn’t say much about the reasons for Humbert’s paranoid preference for girls. At the same time, the presentation is more from a narrative and presentational point of view, with a touch of dark humor and a touch of cynicism. The ’98 version, on the other hand, focuses more on the original novel’s presentation, with the main character Humbert’s confessions in the face of the trial constantly appearing. And at the beginning, it recalls his youthful love for the girl who later dies of a disease – the ultimate reason for his preference for girls. It also focuses on more details and digs into the hero’s inner helpless heart.In the ’62 version, she is a girl who eagerly seduces every man but simply falls in love with playwright Clare Quilty, while in the ’98 version, she is averse to sex, cold and unfeeling, and sees everything as a trade. But as Lolita, they are both smart, with a beautiful innocent face, long soft hair and delicate skin, while knowing exactly how to seduce and use Humbert, making him bow down.In fact, Lolita is not necessary to seduce Humbert. Because she is already a temptation to him. It is even a compulsion. He had a lifelong snare to escape. It was a glimpse in the garden that he decided to stay and never to return. Whether it was the pleasure or sin of lust, or the money and freedom he could get from it, he and she each got what they wanted.He found in her the shattered dream of love in his youth. Years of repressed emotions suddenly burst forth. Even though the years have distorted such a crippling emotion, he still fell in love with her inexorably. For this reason, he married her mother and became her stepfather. The accidental death of his wife completes his justifiable rejection of ethics. The sinful flower of lust blossomed from then on. He tried to please her with everything he had, to capture the only remaining tenderness. She grew up slowly, no longer subservient to him, no longer dependent on him. When he discovered that his youthful dream of love was finally destined to shatter, she had also left him in a lie and betrayal. He was nearly frantic and hysterical. Day after day, he traveled to every place looking for her. He drove the same car he came in, raising dust all the way.One day, three years later, he received a letter from her. Once again, his dry and desperate heart was filled with the tide of love, surging. He drove to see her. A certain humble hut, she had married pregnant, pale and bloated, tired and banal. No longer the provocative goblin of the year in speech and behavior. She asked him for money to make ends meet. He just looked at her in silence, with mixed feelings.”I looked at her, and looked and looked. All my life, with all my heart, I love her most of all, and can be sure, as sure as I must die …… she can fade, she can wither, any way. But I only look at her, ten thousand tender feelings, then rushed to my heart ……”He gave her money and asked her to go with him. She still persisted in refusing. She was never in love with him. He finally understood. Old tears, pulling out all the money he had, all the checks he had given her then left in a hurry.Humbert shot Clare Quilty and drove off with his heart in his mouth, carrying a small hairpin from Lolita’s head, stained with blood. He seemed to see her again, all in blue, with an innocent, bright smile waving at him. It was this young girl of 12 years old who seduced him for life. She was the sin of his life, the lust of his life, the debt of his life, the end of his life.Such a controversial story, a novel long banned, has been rated by the famous American magazine Vanity Fair as “The only convincing love story of our century”. Perhaps it is because of the irrepressible lust of man, perhaps it is because of the deception and betrayal involved, or perhaps it is because love itself, which has nothing to do with age, is destined to be a calamity and a destiny, the original sin that man is born with.