"Lolita"

"I looked and looked at her, and I knew, as clearly as I know that I will die, that I loved her more than anything I had ever seen or imagined on earth. She was only the dead-leaf echo of the nymphet from long ago - but I loved her, this Lolita, pale and polluted and big with another man's child. She could fade and wither - I didn't care. I would still go mad with tenderness at the mere sight of her face..."

Lolita (1955) is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris, later translated by the author into Russian and published in 1958 in New York. The book is internationally famous for its innovative style and infamous for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, middle aged Humbert Humbert, becomes obsessed and sexually involved with a twelve-year-old girl named Dolores Haze.

After its publication, Nabokov's Lolita attained a classic status, becoming one of the best-known and most controversial examples of 20th century literature. The name "Lolita" has entered pop culture to describe a sexually precocious young girl. The novel was adapted to film in 1962 and again in 1997.

"Lolita", Stanley Kubrick´s Adaptation 1962

 Sue Lyon as "Lolita"

"Lolita" Adrian Lyne´s Adaptation 1997

Dominique Swain as "Lolita"

 Even when adaptations are not generally accurate, i´m always looking forward to the actors and actresses playing the characters on screen. In most cases, adaptations tend to ruin the way i picture the characters in my mind or maybe  i´m just picky and get a little too disappointed when the characters "come alive" on screen. Let´s face it,  there  is something about imagination, our own version seems perfect, we get to set the boundaries and shape the pages of the book in the way we want.  However, i did like both adaptations of "Lolita". The original plot is controversial and even when the 1962 adaptation was not as naughty as the one of 1997, it worked for me and i think Kubrick did a very good job directing it. Personally, i like the constant duality in the movies and even in the book. The endless struggle between innocence and "corruption",  maturity and inmaturity, a child and a young woman, the appropiate and inaproppiate, obsession and temptation, desire and love, a man wanting to be young and a girl wanting to grow up and of course i have to mention the special emphasisis on the awakening of sexuality in two different stages of life. I found both adaptations different but equally exquisite. They both captured the essence of the book and brought some remarkable performances on screen.

(Wikipedia, imdb, fanpix)