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Fwd: Sexual vanity of Lolita's father
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This may be of marginal interest (or perhaps minor amusement) to the List in
view of a recent "Lolita" discussion: a curious aberration of Humbert
Humbert's persona in a synopsis for a film that happens to be screening in
Ithaca. HH apparently presents itself to some readers as a man of "sexual
vanity".
-----Original Message-----
From: Cinemapolis & Fall Creek Pictures [mailto:lynnecohen@frontiernet.net]
Sent: Monday, May 09, 2005 11:04 PM
To: aksenov@freeshell.org
Subject: MOVIES AT CINEMAPOLIS & FALL CREEK PICTURES, MAY 13-19
Schedule for Fall Creek (May 13-19)
LOOK AT ME (110 PG-13) 7:15/ 9:35 + Sat. Sun. Mats. 2:15/ 4:35
PALINDROMES (100 unrated) 7:15/ 9:35 + Sat. Sun. Mats. 2:15/ 4:35
MILLIONS (98 PG) 7:15/ 9:35+ Sat. Sun. Mats. 2:15/ 4:35
SYNOPSES
LOOK AT ME (110 PG13)
"Beware the father who would call a daughter Lolita an evocative name,
with its leering Nabokovian associations, that flatters the bestower's
sexual vanity but does no favors to a baby girl. In the superb French comic
drama LOOK AT ME, writer-director Agnès Jaoui ('The Taste of Others') knows
exactly what kind of man would be so self-absorbed: He's famous writer
Etienne Cassard (the expressively sour-faced Jean-Pierre Bacri, Jaoui's
creative partner and coscreenwriter), a man oblivious to the feelings of
others, including those of his young, sylphic second wife. Etienne is
especially, exquisitely insensitive to the unhappiness of his own miserable
Lolita (Marilou Berry), a plump, dumpy, angry 20-year-old who has warped her
life trying unsuccessfully to get her father's attention (when not enjoying
his renown as a substitute for love). Around the two, the wry filmmaker has
created an urbane society of family and friends as ridiculously pretentious
and hypocritical as they are cultured, accomplished, and posh: Comparisons
with Woody Allen in his prime aren't out of order. And then she lets them
all flatter, disappoint, and deceive each other with irresistible results.
(The sparkling, perfectly constructed screenplay took home a prize last year
at Cannes.) Jaoui herself plays Sylvia, a boho-chic singing teacher married
to a struggling writer (Laurent Grevill), and the couple is just as
susceptible to the lures of status and the traps of phoniness as the
insufferable Etienne: Sylvia's interest in Lolita as a voice student rises
immeasurably when she learns of the girl's provenance. (Music is offered
like a balm throughout the story.) And Lolita's own bruised experience as a
child of privilege doesn't keep her from trampling on the feelings of a
decent young man who dares to like her for herself. The title LOOK AT ME is
a reasonable substitute for the original French title, Comme une Image the
English emphasizes the sadness and folly of sophisticates hiding in plain
sight. But Jaoui has also said that she considered a number of others,
including The Right Reasons (as in, everyone finds excuses for compromise).
The ravishing vocal operatic trio included from Così fan tutte suggests one
other headline for Jaoui's great social study: Everyone Does It. " (Lisa
Schwartzbaum, EW)
----- End forwarded message -----
view of a recent "Lolita" discussion: a curious aberration of Humbert
Humbert's persona in a synopsis for a film that happens to be screening in
Ithaca. HH apparently presents itself to some readers as a man of "sexual
vanity".
-----Original Message-----
From: Cinemapolis & Fall Creek Pictures [mailto:lynnecohen@frontiernet.net]
Sent: Monday, May 09, 2005 11:04 PM
To: aksenov@freeshell.org
Subject: MOVIES AT CINEMAPOLIS & FALL CREEK PICTURES, MAY 13-19
Schedule for Fall Creek (May 13-19)
LOOK AT ME (110 PG-13) 7:15/ 9:35 + Sat. Sun. Mats. 2:15/ 4:35
PALINDROMES (100 unrated) 7:15/ 9:35 + Sat. Sun. Mats. 2:15/ 4:35
MILLIONS (98 PG) 7:15/ 9:35+ Sat. Sun. Mats. 2:15/ 4:35
SYNOPSES
LOOK AT ME (110 PG13)
"Beware the father who would call a daughter Lolita an evocative name,
with its leering Nabokovian associations, that flatters the bestower's
sexual vanity but does no favors to a baby girl. In the superb French comic
drama LOOK AT ME, writer-director Agnès Jaoui ('The Taste of Others') knows
exactly what kind of man would be so self-absorbed: He's famous writer
Etienne Cassard (the expressively sour-faced Jean-Pierre Bacri, Jaoui's
creative partner and coscreenwriter), a man oblivious to the feelings of
others, including those of his young, sylphic second wife. Etienne is
especially, exquisitely insensitive to the unhappiness of his own miserable
Lolita (Marilou Berry), a plump, dumpy, angry 20-year-old who has warped her
life trying unsuccessfully to get her father's attention (when not enjoying
his renown as a substitute for love). Around the two, the wry filmmaker has
created an urbane society of family and friends as ridiculously pretentious
and hypocritical as they are cultured, accomplished, and posh: Comparisons
with Woody Allen in his prime aren't out of order. And then she lets them
all flatter, disappoint, and deceive each other with irresistible results.
(The sparkling, perfectly constructed screenplay took home a prize last year
at Cannes.) Jaoui herself plays Sylvia, a boho-chic singing teacher married
to a struggling writer (Laurent Grevill), and the couple is just as
susceptible to the lures of status and the traps of phoniness as the
insufferable Etienne: Sylvia's interest in Lolita as a voice student rises
immeasurably when she learns of the girl's provenance. (Music is offered
like a balm throughout the story.) And Lolita's own bruised experience as a
child of privilege doesn't keep her from trampling on the feelings of a
decent young man who dares to like her for herself. The title LOOK AT ME is
a reasonable substitute for the original French title, Comme une Image the
English emphasizes the sadness and folly of sophisticates hiding in plain
sight. But Jaoui has also said that she considered a number of others,
including The Right Reasons (as in, everyone finds excuses for compromise).
The ravishing vocal operatic trio included from Così fan tutte suggests one
other headline for Jaoui's great social study: Everyone Does It. " (Lisa
Schwartzbaum, EW)
----- End forwarded message -----