What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this intelligent, charming French film has subtitles and includes mild references to sex (for instance, a twentysomething couple's gentle kissing leads to off-screen sex). The film focuses on intergenerational tensions, as an aspiring singer must learn to move past her anger at her egotistical, famous novelist father, and stand on her own, with her own relationships, ambitions, and self-image. Characters drink (especially wine) and smoke, and women worry about their weight.
- Families can talk about Lolita's low self-esteem and judgments of other people, as these stem from her experiences with her father (who ignores or criticizes her, but who also shows himself to be vulnerable and afraid of being abandoned, that is, not wholly bad). Families can also discuss the ways that Lolita's nuanced relationship with her supportive music teacher helps both women to understand themselves more fully. How do parents inadvertently hurt their children's feelings? How can children develop autonomy and self-assurance while also respecting their parents?