They are all classics. After 36 years of separation, two films of the same subject, different shooting techniques and actors, even one black and white, one color, can not be the reason for distinguishing which one is better.
"Lolita, the light of my life, the fire of my desire. My sin, my soul. Lolita. The tip of the tongue is up, in three steps, it gently falls on the teeth from the upper jaw. Luo, Li, Ta "
This is the opening paragraph of the novel. It is a story of drifting between ethics and lust. But the movie uses all pure methods, but it shows extremely ambiguous and erotic.
I really like the title of the 62 year version. James Mason and Sue Lyon starred. The director is Stanley Kubrick. Black and white film. The soft and lingering piano sound. With 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 American movies have not yet implemented a classification system, such an incest story should not be shown on the screen. But Kubrick did it. There is no one second erotic shot in the whole film, but it is exactly the beginning. After that, the light and shadow intertwined in the film. The door of the house, Lolita's ambiguous eyes, and the suddenly dimmed lamp describe a kind of deformity. And naked lust.
The 1998 version of "Lolita" was translated into "A Pear Blossom Pressing Begonia". I learned the source on the Internet: "One Tree Pear Flower Presses Begonia" Code from Song Dynasty Su Dongpo mocked his friend Zhang Xian (990-1078, Ziye). It is said that Zhang Xian married an 18-year-old concubine when he was 80 years old. Dongpo joked: "Eighteen brides and 80s, pale hair and red makeup. The mandarin ducks are in a double night, and a pear blossom presses a begonia." Ewha refers to the white-headed groom, and Begonia refers to the bride with red makeup. After that, "a pear blossom pressed a begonia" became a euphemism for old couples and young wives. "
Jeremy Irons's sensitive and nervous eyes are no one can replace, and the lines on the corners of his mouth and lips are deep and melancholy. His interpretation of the male protagonist, Professor Humbert, is more gentle and forbearing than James Mason in the 62 version. And Lolita, played by Dominique Swain, is younger and purer. When Humbert saw her for the first time, Lolita was wearing a dress close to her skin color, leaning on the grass and letting the water wet her whole body. Turning his head, there is no need for words or actions, his eyes are already full of unintentional teasing and seduction. Such a scene can be regarded as an erotic classic. It was the sin and temptation of Humbert's life in silence.
The two films tell the same story, and the 1962 version does not explain too much about Humbert's paranoid preferences for girls. At the same time, the way of expression is more from a point of view and presentation, with a little black humor and a hint of sarcasm. In the 1998 version, the emphasis was more on the expression techniques in the original novel, and the protagonist Humbert's self-reports when facing the trial were constantly appearing. And at the beginning, he recalled that he fell in love with a girl who died of disease in his youth-the ultimate reason for his preference for girls. At the same time, pay more attention to more details and dig into the helpless heart of the hero.
The Lolita in the two versions is portrayed as two completely different images. In the 62 version, she was a girl who was keen to seduce every man but fell in love with the playwright Clare Quilty, while in the 98 version, she was disgusting, indifferent and ruthless, and regarded everything as a deal. But as Lolita, they are all smart, with an innocent and beautiful face, long soft hair and delicate skin. At the same time, they clearly know how to seduce and use Humbert to make him bow to court.
In fact, Lolita is Humbert who doesn't need temptation. Because she was already a temptation to him. Even bewitched. A catastrophe that he will never escape in his whole life. It was just a glimpse in the garden, he decided to stay, and never recovered. Whether it is the pleasure or sin of lust, or the money and freedom that lust is exchanged for, he and she both get what they need.
He found in her the shattered dream of love in his youth. The emotions that had been suppressed for many years burst out suddenly. Even though years have distorted such a mutilated emotion, he still falls in love with her unavoidably. For this reason he married her mother and became her stepfather. The accidental death of his wife fulfilled his righteous rejection of ethics. The sinful flower of lust blooms ever since. He tried everything to please her, giving all he could to grasp the last tenderness. She still grew up slowly, no longer obedient to him, no longer dependent on him. When he found that his youthful love dream was finally destined to be broken, she had already left him in lies and betrayal. He was almost crazy and hysterical. Day after day, he went everywhere looking for her. The car that came when I drove raised the dust all the way.
One day three years later, he received her letter. The dry and desperate heart was once again filled with emotions, surging. He drove the car to see her. In a simple hut, she was married and pregnant, pale and bloated, tired and mediocre. It was no longer the provocative little fairy in his words and deeds back then. She asked him for money to make ends meet. He just looked at her quietly, with mixed feelings.
"I looked at her, looked and looked again. For the rest of my life, with all my heart and soul, I love her the most. I am sure, as sure as I must die... She can fade, wither, whatever. But I only look at her. At a glance, the tenderness
came to my heart..." He gave her money and asked her to go with him. She still insisted. She had never loved him. He finally understood. The old man burst into tears, took out all the money and all the checks, and then left in a hurry.
I like the ending of the 98 version. Humbert shot Clare Quilty and drove all the way with a heartbroken heart, carrying a small hairpin on Lolita's head with blood stains on it. He seemed to see her again, dressed in blue, waving at him with an innocent and brilliant smile. It was this young girl, who was only 12 years old, who seduced him for a lifetime. She is his life's sin, life's desire, life's debt, and the end of his life.
Such a controversial story for many years, a long-term banned novel, was evaluated by the famous American magazine Vanity Fair as: "The only convincing love story of our century". Maybe it's because of people's uncontrollable lust, maybe because of deceit and betrayal, or because of love itself, it has nothing to do with age, it is destined to be a catastrophe and destiny, the original sin that people are born with.
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