Film analysis: Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita

Introduction

The movie Lolita by Stanley Kubrick is based on Vladimir Nabokov’s controversially 1955 novel. The story revolves around a middle-aged man (Humbert), who has a peculiar obsession for a flowering gorgeous girl (Lolita).

On the on-set of the movie, satin drapes grace the scene, and a feminine leg that seems to belong to a young girl is befittingly brought forth. The left hand of a mature man wearing a wedding ring is brought into the picture. The man is observed to be fondling her feet, with his right hand meticulously painting her toenails with lustrous enamel. This evidently a behavior foreshadow of the fathomless intense affection that Humbert (the man painting the girl’s toes) develops for Lolita (the young girl) as the movie progresses. Humbert is immediately captivated by Lolita’s outstanding physique and unique beauty during their very first encounter. His fondness for Lolita is undisputed when he opts to rent a house he had no intention of moving into in the first place, because, he despised the land lady Charlotte, Lolita’s mother. Moreover, Humbert’s obsession for Lolita is palpable in the instance where, he decides to marry her mother as opposed to the other alternative, that is, he would be compelled to move far away from Lolita. Key to note also, is the joy he displays when his wife dies unexpectedly in a tragic car accident.

The rousing piano music that prevails over the opening scene sets the mood for romance, intrigue and catastrophe which is noted throughout the movie.

The disorganized interior of the grotesque mansion that belongs to Quilty, a renowned writer who leads a care-free fast life and had an eye for the good things that life has to offer is brought into view. Quilty has a liking of extravagant orgies and pretty girls. In this scenario a behavior foreshadows is used to portray Quilty’s degenerate nature and to justify his death at the hands of Humbert. Quilty is depicted as a very shallow minded person, who is egocentric and manipulative. He takes advantage of the little girl Lolita whom he is aware has had some sort of infatuation on him for the longest time. He coaxes her to run away with him and eventually breaks up with her, then kicks her out in the streets.

Musical instruments are displayed in this scene; they include the harp and the piano which fills part of the room. Humbert is seen stroke the harp as he struggles to make his way around the congested and disorganized room. This is object foreshadow of the piano recitals that Humbert uses in the movie as a strategy to hinder Lolita from socializing with her male peers. Disappointingly, she uses the very excuse of going to piano recitals to sneak off and see Quincy whom is feels deep affection for. The mock piano recital that Quilty gives to Humbert later on in the scene, further emphasizes this object foreshadow.

The fact that Quilty is spotted for the first time laying on the floor like a corpse, is in itself foreshadow of his fate at the end of the movie where he dies at the hands of Humbert. Having a personal vendetta against Quilty for ‘defiling’ the only girl that he loves, Humbert decides to revenge. He drives into Quilty’s house and after a brief casual conversation, shot at him severally until he succumbed to his injuries.

The instance when Humbert pulls out a gun with the intention of using it on Quilty in the movie is also a foreshadow. The gun initially belongs to his late wife (Charllote) who got it from her late husband. Her husband had purchased the gun with the intention of committing suicide because he did not wish to see his wife watch him suffer from his terminal illness. Fortunately he did not get to use it, because, he was hospitalized before he got a chance too. Upon his demise, his wife, Lolita’s mother, repossessed the gun and kept it safely in the confines of her bedroom. When Charlotte re-married, this time to Humbert, in confidentiality she showed him the gun, swearing to use it on herself if he ever broke her heart. No sooner had Charllote died in a car accident, than Humbert took ownership of the gun, which he conveniently uses to end Quilty’s life.

The marble statues at the beginning of the scene are objects foreshadows that signify Quilty’s line of work. Quilty is not only a writer but he also an artist. His area of specialty is art that deals with nudity. Towards the end of the movie, Lolita confides in her step-father Humbert and reveals that Quilty threw her out of his house because she refused to participate in the nude art. This is one of the infuriating factors that force Humbert to resort to revenge as the only form of justice.

The voice impersonations that Quilty uses in the first scene are also a foreshadow of the voice impersonations he uses, first to disguise himself as a German Psychologist from Lolita’s school in an effort to hoax Humbert that it was in his best interest and hers, to let Lolita play a lead role as an actress in the school play. Quilty also impersonates himself as a police officer, accusing Humbert of being a pedophile. Quilty is seen to successfully use this talent foreshadow to his advantage in the movie.

The note that Quilty gives to Humbert terming it as a death sentence is depicted to be poetic. This is an insight into professor Humbert’s prowess in poetry which is evident as the story unfolds. In his narration, Humbert states that he has been called upon to a lectureship at Beardsley College in Ohio .His posting is inspired by some English translations he has made of French poetry which has become very popular in America.

In the event of Clare Quilty’s death, a young innocent lady’s portrait with a bullet hole through its torso hangs over his lifeless body. This is a foreshadow of the irreconcilable life of Lolita and the abuse she goes through at the hands of both Humbert her supposed step –father and Clare Quilty her supposed lover. Both men can be rightfully considered to be pedophiles since they are both much older that Lolita who is still a teenager. Humbert imposes his love on Lolita by being overwhelmingly possessive of her, this greatly restricts her from enjoying her teenage years ,thus, making her very rebellious to the extent that she runs off with a manipulative, delinquent so as to get freedom from her rather obsessive guardian. On the other hand, opportunistic Quilty Clare takes advantage of the situation and uses this opportune time to gratify his selfish desires. The end result is that the once, sassy, attractive innocent girl ends up living in deplorable conditions and is stuck in a loveless marriage to a pauper.

Kubrick has endeavored to skillfully optimize the use of foreshadow in his movie to make the entire story credible and plausible. The exquisite and generous use of foreshadow in this movie, triggers understanding of every specific aspect of the story hence, facilities suspense, excitement and most importantly, total acceptance by the audience.