Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov’s novel about a literature professor’s paedophilic obsession caused a scandal in the 1950s, which in turn made it a global success – and it was soon recognised as a literary masterpiece. Nabokov’s multi-layered dismantling of his unreliable first-person narrator is an artful puzzle that cannot be translated into any other medium. Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation became a balancing act and a battle with censorship restrictions; of Nabokov’s original, the chess-game structure and the shifts in tone from black comedy to tragedy remain: Humbert Humbert (James Mason) spends the summer with a lonely widow (Shelley Winters) in order to get closer to her 14-year-old daughter Lolita (Sue Lyon). Lurking in the background is Humbert’s adversary and doppelgänger, Clare Quilty (Peter Sellers). Lolita is controversial today for different reasons than it was back then, but remains a key work for Kubrick, who moved to England after its release and discovered surrealist approaches. (C.H.)