jayembee
Senior HTF Member
I've seen Lolita mentioned many times as the companion piece, double feature film, to go with Eyes Wide Shut. Funny, for a long time Lolita was my least favorite Kubrick film. Mainly because I felt that had he made it in the 1970s it would have been far different than the film he made in the 1960s. I've outgrown that now though and really enjoy his version of Lolita.
Lolita remains my least favorite Kubrick film. I've always maintained that fidelity to the source material is not the primary obligation of a filmmaker; their primary obligation is to make a good film. But I make exceptions when I think the filmmaker makes changes that don't work nearly as well as the original material. In the novel, Quilty was a largely unseen menace who seemed to dog Humbert from the shadows until their final confrontation. By casting Peter Sellers in the role of Quilty, he made that character farcical. On the other hand, Kubrick did make a brilliant change in the hotel where Humbert is to finally have his way with Dolores, by having the hotel hosting a convention of police officers!
I also thought some of Kubrick's changes to the story weakened The Shining. On the other hand, he improved upon A Clockwork Orange.