Word: lynes
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...addicted to comic books that her character becomes rather tiresome. Similarly, Melanie Griffith, in the role of Dolores Haze, is so flaky that we are bored of her presence all too soon. Neither is a particularly likeable character, although this seems to have been a calculated move on Lyne's part. The effect of this is to turn our sympathies to Humbert, played perfectly by Jeremy Irons, whose expressive face beautifully conveys his longings and inner torment. Reserved and elegant, Irons' character is the most thoughtful and multidimensional person in the film, so much so that we are almost compelled...
...Humbert of Lyne's movie does not say very much, as opposed to the verbose Humbert of Nabokov's book. Indeed, Nabokov takes his book's basic plot and builds layer upon layer of meaning, drowning the story line in seductive word play which, amazingly, is able to lead the reader's attention away from the moral issues underlying the book. "Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth," Humbert says by way of indroduction in the book, providing us with a glimpse...
...seductive word play of the novel is clearly missing from the movie, but perhaps Lyne recognized that it would have been a near-impossible task to recreate Nabokov's words through the medium of film. Indeed, the reason why Lyne's film works is that it focuses upon the potential of film to beautify even the morally grotesque, ensuring that Nabokov's broader message about the power of art has not been lost, only translated to another medium. Visual images take over for book's words; for instance, the idea of "haze," a play off Dolores Haze's name which...
...Indeed, Lyne's film is excruciatingly conscious of the fact that it is, after all, a film, and therefore contrived with elements at the filmmaker's disposal to shape audience perception. The film never lets us forget that we are seeing a very personal memoir through Humbert's own eyes and ears. Scattered voiceovers give us glimpses into Humbert's observations and feelings. Meanwhile, trivial occurrences in the film are occasionally represented in almost too much detail, from the making of an ice cream sundae to the zapping of bugs on a porch, as they might be in Humbert...
...times, the utilization of these elements is so abrupt that it cannot help being jarring, as if Lyne is announcing, forcefully, that he is taking artistic license. Yet, his point is well-taken that we are observing the individual experience of a man whose emotional experience is unlike any other, particularly as he plunges deeper and deeper into a state of madness. When Humbert suffers from these bouts of insanity, twisted camera angles and the sudden jangle of discordant music cut into the narrative...