Sundays and Cybele
Director: Serge Bourguignon
Year Released: 1962
Rating: 2.0
A man-child - who crashed his plane and killed a little girl in the war - takes the role of father for a little orphan named Cybele, although those around them interpret their relationship as less than platonic, leading to a downbeat ending. Hampered by excessively hokey symbolism and inane dialogue - the little girl sounds far wiser and more philosophical than a 12-year-old is capable of being - this is a far cry from Lolita, where Nabokov had the gumption to write earnestly about pedophilia; Bourguignon, on the other hand, tries to make the relationship almost spiritual, and treats his film as something too precious.
