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Helen Mirren as Lolita?
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From a review yesterday in the NY Times of two new DVD releases of films by the great British director, Michael Powell:
Where “A Matter of Life and Death” delights in piling up digressions and asides, “Age of Consent,” based on a 1935 novel by the Australian artist and sybarite Norman Lindsay, is simplicity itself. Powell seems personally invested in the character played by James Mason, a celebrated Australian artist who abandons the cacophony of New York City for a shack on an isolated beach, where he finds inspiration in the form of sand, sea and Cora, a remarkable teenage girl who lives down the way.
Played by a 23-year-old Helen Mirren, in her first major movie role, Cora is the answer to an exhausted artist’s prayers: a pure and innocent force of nature, who is proud to pose as nature made her (and nature made her well).
Produced by Mason and Powell, “Age of Consent” hardly seems innocent in casting the star of Stanley Kubrick’s “Lolita” (1962) in another tale of middle-aged yearning for underage flesh, though this time the fantasy element is emphasized by making Cora the aggressor. For ideological reasons, “Age of Consent” seems about as likely to be remade today as “The Birth of a Nation,” yet the picture doesn’t feel unhealthy — at least not to this male gazer, or to Ms. Mirren, who has contributed an affectionate reminiscence to this edition.
Metaphorically, “Age of Consent9
D is about an artist falling back in love with his art — something Powell needed to do after the scathing experience of “Peeping Tom.” From the looks of this blissful, openhearted film, he succeeded. (Sony, $24.96, unrated.)
David A. Krol
Deputy Director & Director of Visitor Services
The Lobkowicz Collections
Lobkowicz Palace, Prague Castle, Jirska 3
119 00 PRAHA 1 Czech Republic
dakrol@lobkowiczevents.cz
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Where “A Matter of Life and Death” delights in piling up digressions and asides, “Age of Consent,” based on a 1935 novel by the Australian artist and sybarite Norman Lindsay, is simplicity itself. Powell seems personally invested in the character played by James Mason, a celebrated Australian artist who abandons the cacophony of New York City for a shack on an isolated beach, where he finds inspiration in the form of sand, sea and Cora, a remarkable teenage girl who lives down the way.
Played by a 23-year-old Helen Mirren, in her first major movie role, Cora is the answer to an exhausted artist’s prayers: a pure and innocent force of nature, who is proud to pose as nature made her (and nature made her well).
Produced by Mason and Powell, “Age of Consent” hardly seems innocent in casting the star of Stanley Kubrick’s “Lolita” (1962) in another tale of middle-aged yearning for underage flesh, though this time the fantasy element is emphasized by making Cora the aggressor. For ideological reasons, “Age of Consent” seems about as likely to be remade today as “The Birth of a Nation,” yet the picture doesn’t feel unhealthy — at least not to this male gazer, or to Ms. Mirren, who has contributed an affectionate reminiscence to this edition.
Metaphorically, “Age of Consent9
D is about an artist falling back in love with his art — something Powell needed to do after the scathing experience of “Peeping Tom.” From the looks of this blissful, openhearted film, he succeeded. (Sony, $24.96, unrated.)
David A. Krol
Deputy Director & Director of Visitor Services
The Lobkowicz Collections
Lobkowicz Palace, Prague Castle, Jirska 3
119 00 PRAHA 1 Czech Republic
dakrol@lobkowiczevents.cz
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/