Lolita

***Lolita*** is a 1997 drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and written by Stephen Schiff. It is the second screen adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel of the same name and stars Jeremy Irons as Humbert Humbert and Dominique Swain as Dolores "Lolita" Haze, with supporting roles by Melanie Griffith as Charlotte Haze, and Frank Langella as Clare Quilty. The film is about a middle-aged male professor, Humbert, who rents a room in the house of the widow Charlotte Haze and becomes sexually attracted to her adolescent daughter Dolores, also called "Lo" or "Lolita".

Lyne's film is more overt with many of the novel's darker elements compared to Stanley Kubrick's 1962 version, which used suggestion and innuendo for comic purposes.

The film had difficulty finding an American distributor[4] and premiered in Europe before being released in the United States. The film was eventually picked up in the United States by Showtime, a cable network, before finally being released theatrically by The Samuel Goldwyn Company. The performances by Irons and Swain impressed audiences, but, although praised by some critics for its faithfulness to Nabokov's narrative, the film received a mixed critical reception in the United States. *Lolita* was met with much controversy in Australia, where it was not given a theatrical release until April 1999.

## Plot:

In 1947, Humbert Humbert (Jeremy Irons), a middle-aged European professor of English literature, travels to the United States to take a teaching position in New Hampshire. He rents a room in the home of widow Charlotte Haze (Melanie Griffith), largely because he is romantically attracted to her 12-year-old daughter Dolores (Dominique Swain), also called "Lo", who he sees while touring the house. Obsessed from boyhood with girls of approximately her age (whom he calls "nymphets"), Humbert is immediately smitten with Lo and gets married to Charlotte only just to be near her daughter.

Charlotte finds Humbert's secret diary and discovers his preference for her daughter. Furious, Charlotte runs out of the house, when she is struck by a car and killed. Her death frees Humbert to pursue a romantic and sexual relationship with Lo, whom he nicknames "Lolita". Humbert and Lo then travel the country, staying in various motels before eventually settling in the college town of Beardsley, where Humbert takes a teaching job and Lo begins attending an all-girls Catholic school. Humbert and Lo must conceal the nature of their relationship from everyone- strangers they encounter when traveling as well as the administration at Beardsley. They present themselves to the world as a father and daughter. Over time, Lo's increasing boredom with Humbert, combined with her growing desire for independence, fuels a constant tension that lead to a fight between them. Humbert's affection for Lo is also rivaled by another man, playwright Clare Quilty (Frank Langella), who has been pursuing Lo since the beginning of the pair's travels. Lo eventually escapes with Quilty, and Humbert's search for them is unsuccessful, especially as he doesn't know Quilty's name.

Three years later, Humbert receives a letter from Lo asking for money. Humbert visits Lo, who is now married and pregnant. Her husband, Richard, knows nothing about her past. Humbert asks her to run away with him, but she refuses. He relents and gives her a substantial amount of money. Lo also reveals to Humbert how Quilty actually tracked young girls and took them to Pavor Manor, his home in Parkington, to exploit them for child pornography. Quilty abandoned her after she refused to be in one of his films.

After his visit with Lo, Humbert tracks down Quilty and murders him. After being chased by the police, Humbert is arrested and sent to prison. He dies in November 1950, and Lo dies the next month on Christmas Day from childbirth complications.

## Links:

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita\_(1997\_film)