Cornell Cinema presents 'Nabokov on Film' series

In April, Cornell Cinema and the Department of Russian Literature honor novelist and former Cornell Professor Vladimir Nabokov with a series of films based on his work. The series begins with "Lolita," starring Sue Lyon and James Mason and directed by the late Stanley Kubrick. "Lolita" will be shown April 2 at 9 p.m. and April 5 at 7 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre.

In honor of the centenary of novelist and one-time Cornell Professor Vladimir Nabokov's birth, Cornell Cinema and the Department of Russian Literature is presenting five films based on his work as part of the Monday Night Classic Cinema series. "Nabokov on Film" will be shown Mondays at 7 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre. Admission is $4.50/$4 for students.

Nabokov's prose -- full of word play, ironies, subtleties of tone -- seems at first so literary that it's hard at first to see its cinematic possibilities. Several visionary directors have, however, taken on the challenges of adapting his writings to the silver screen, and the resulting films are simultaneously seductive invitations to reconsider and reread Nabokov's novels and remarkable works of art in their own right.

The series begins on April 5 with the best-known Nabokov film, "Lolita." Directed by the late Stanley Kubrick (honored this month at Cornell Cinema with a series of his own), this controversial story of a March-December romance channels Nabokov's ironic humor onto the screen with sly and delightful performances by James Mason, Shelley Winters, and the frenetically dazzling Peter Sellers. The film will also be shown Friday, April 2, at 9 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre.

Strong and stylish acting also carries British director Tony Richardson's "Laughter in the Dark," in which an uptight art dealer is undone by a sexy cinema usherette. Swinging 60s London is the backdrop for this story of sexual manipulation. Anna Karina stars as the femme fatale. "Laughter in the Dark" plays April 12.

Called "the most Nabokovian film the cinema has thrown up," Jerzy Skolimowski's "King, Queen, Knave" is a lush and witty version of Nabokov's novel about a love triangle between a wealthy businessman, his wife and an orphan. Gina Lollobrigida stars as the lust object in this over-the-top story of adolescent desire. The film will be shown April 19.

Three great talents -- Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Tom Stoppard and, of course, Nabokov -- make "Despair" an exquisitely ironic dark comedy, based on Nabokov's novel set in 1930s Berlin. Dirk Bogarde gives one of his best performances as a Russian emigré owner of a chocolate factory whose life is out of control. Roger Ebert has called the film "treacherously funny and full of demented genius." "Despair" will be shown April 26.

The series concludes on May 3 with a special treat: a work-in-progress short film adapted from the short story "Breaking the News," made by local filmmaker Carol Jennings, who will be on hand to get feedback. It will be followed by the latest feature-length effort to bring Nabokov's wit and lyricism to film, Adrian Lyne's now-infamous "Lolita." Despite the controversy and censorship which Lyne and his cast endured, nearly preventing the release of the film in the United States and costing the production millions of dollars, Nabokov's work will continue to lure filmmakers, like the writer's beloved butterflies, into its beautifully woven net.

Cornell Cinema's Monday Night Classic Cinema series is made possible, in part, with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.