MovieChat Forums > Lolita (1962) Discussion > why do people like this film?

why do people like this film?

posted 8 years ago by liv911
15 replies | jump to latest

Hi could you please explain what made this movie great/stand out in your oppinion if you liked it.

Did i miss something? cause i thought it was incredibly dull:/

I have seen maybe 5/6 other stanley kubrick films and thought they were all amazing but i hated lolita, i had nothing against the plot but i had a really hard time getting intruiged, i was waiting for it to engage me but it didn't and i found it boring. I dont get why it is considered great, to me it feels like people just say that cause kubrick directed it.

i have not read the novel btw

[–] Melton (4439) 2 months ago

Because it’s instantly engrossing, perfectly paced, funny, elegant, and deeply complex.

Great films ‘begin’ after you’ve left the theatre. This one does that while also being a powerful ride for its 2.5 hour runtime.

It has a Hitchcockian quality with all the secret motivations of the characters and captivating suspense around what will happen next. What will happen when x finds out y? etc.

The performances are all phenomenal (although Sellers overdoes it a bit for my liking). Listen to David Lynch explain the mastery of the film and his appreciation for Mason’s performance: https://youtu.be/VJalhqirPxE?si=jRKauXLVVXgpTw3e

Let’s also not forget the sheer ballsy-ness of making a film about ‘relationship’ between a grown man and a teenager (who’s 12 in the book!), and this was 1962!

I wasn’t expecting Kubrick’s earlier works to be so good, but they’re right up there with his better known classics.

Lolita showed that Kubrick, the legendary visual stylist, could direct performance-led drama as well as any great theatre director, and could give Hitchcock a run for his money as a grab-you-by-the-nuts storyteller.