Lo. Lee. Ta.

This summer I've been reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - admittedly a slightly obscure beach read, but the ultimate tale of fixation and infatuation, bordering into our own narrative ideas of stalking and obsession. Set in the present day I feel Lolita would've been an entirely different story - whereas child molestation in the Fifties was something grossly under reported, and purposely hushed up if revealed in that typically 1950s manner that induced panic at the thought of a tarnish to their social standing or idyllic family reputation, today paedophilia is perhaps the only social taboo left, in some cases inducing something of witch hunts in the general public, repulsed and disgusted by the thought of child exploitation. In the Fifties I feel it would've been easier for a paedophile to have operated unnoticed, taking on the guise, as Humbert Humbert did, of a dedicated and overprotective parent, whereas today it is drilled into our children's minds to speak out against abuse, and is made resolutely clear where help is available through massive police and government campaigns - this could, of course, be extremely naive of me, and is not to undermine the control and manipulation the paedophile would exercise over their victim in ke eping them quiet.

I also feel I am only interpreting the novel on a very superficial level, that this is simply a story of a basic paedophile but Humbert himself is a compassionate man - his struggle with his desire for Lolita is long and agonized and extremely contemplative and though his desires for Lolita are made clear and detailed graphically, there is nothing in the first few chapters to suggest he will act on these desires. Lolita does also appear to be something of a willing candidate - a flirtatious and provocative young 'nymphet,' though the reader can tell in her mind this is simply a girlish game toying with her new found sexuality - something if exercised with another more morale male adult that would've been brushed aside, and it is undeniable she is exploited by Humbert and unfairly stripped of her childhood. I feel Humbert's only saving grace - not that he deserves one as he is essentially a perverse and weak man - is that he is genuinely in love with Lolita and so passionately and intensely so, that he eventually destroys himself with it.

After reading the book I ventured further to watch Stanley Kubrick's version of it, and excerpts of the Adrian Lyne 1997 version too and I must admit I am quite fascinated with the narrative and its translations to screen. I think it could be a really interesting narrative for our trailer - because the actual book is written in first person, we aren't sure of the reliability of the narration and I think it could be something of shocking to show Humbert's interpretation of her actions and her actual feelings - I was visualizing lots of close ups, particularly of her lips, whispering seductively one of the book's lines - 'I've been revoltingly unfaithful to you,' and then cutting to her crying for help, maybe even screaming, and another of her sucking on that iconic heart lollipop. I also think setting it in modern day could leave us room to experiment with today's reaction to paedophilia - we could include close ups of strangers repulsed, building up a voiceover of their insults, then layered over lines from the other characters - I'm thinking Lolita's mum when she screams thats he's a monster, etc. then layered again against his diaries entries, a faint whispering in the background, detailing her constant movements quoted from the book and then the whole thing simmering down to simply him chanting 'Lolita' to symbolize his complete obsession of her.