A tragedy if this film has really disappeared, vanished, and gone into some dark, interstellar space. Seems inconceivable it should be irretrievable. I saw it in what must have been about 1970, and I certainly remember it --- perhaps even more vividly than the book, which I have also read. Nicol Williamson is a very fine actor. So is Anna Karina. Nabokov was a genius. Richardson directed several stunning films. Edward Bond had a number of successes to his credit. Cannot imagine why this work should be disregarded, when so much miserable rubbish has been preserved, and is being churned out in ever-increasing quantities. I won't repeat the plot, which can easily be found out from elsewhere.
The novel's original title was "Camera Obscura", and it was translated into English twice, the second time because Nabokov considered the first translation to be intolerably bad. Misfortune seems to have dogged the story from its beginning. Nicol Williamson, some of whose performances are quite difficult to find on DVDs, was brought in as a very late replacement for Richard Burton, who had already shot several scenes. The director, Tony Richardson, found Burton's drunken unreliability intolerable
The novel's original title was "Camera Obscura", and it was translated into English twice, the second time because Nabokov considered the first translation to be intolerably bad. Misfortune seems to have dogged the story from its beginning. Nicol Williamson, some of whose performances are quite difficult to find on DVDs, was brought in as a very late replacement for Richard Burton, who had already shot several scenes. The director, Tony Richardson, found Burton's drunken unreliability intolerable