Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0003153, Fri, 29 May 1998 10:22:59 -0700

Subject
Re: BBC VN TV & Lyne LO (fwd)
Date
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To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@UCSBVM.UCSB.EDU>
Subject: Re: BBC VN TV & Lyne LO



From: Philosophers <J.Goodenough@uea.ac.uk>



> From: Roy Johnson <Roy@mantex.demon.co.uk>
>
> >From: Philosophers <J.Goodenough@uea.ac.uk>
>
> I agree with Jerry's well balanced review of the TV programme,
> in the course of which he observes:
>
> > and Jeremy Irons complements Ms Swains on her maturity.
>
> ... and that's part of the problem, from the clips I've seen so far.
>
> No amount of suspended belief can prevent me from thinking that
> the girl in the film looks about eighteen or nineteen.
>
> It completely undermines the drama of paedophilia about which
> there has been so much comment - and of course it is against
> the spirit of the novel. VN would *not* have classed Ms Swains
> as a 'nymphet', I'm sure.

On reflection, I have to agree with Roy here. Much of the attempt to get Ms
Swain to look Lolita-ish revolves around props (braids, bobbysocks, dental
braces, etc) and (from the clips I've seen) certain gestures or behaviour. It's
not clear to me what age Lolita is supposed to be in Lyne's movie - is he aiming
for 12? - but Swain is certainly a teenage girl rather than a nymphet.

In the TV programme, Lyne states that he believes he caught Swain at just the
right time, that he could not make the film again or re-shoot with her as by
the end of the few months of shooting time, she had matured and changed too much
to be the Lolita at the beginning of the film. Maybe it will be clearer if I get
a chance to see the whole movie. (I sat through Kubrick's version for the first
time in many years a couple of weeks ago, and thought Sue Lyons seldom looked
less than 25!)
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