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FILM DETAILS

Certificate 15

Cast Ben Barnes Colin Firth Rebecca Hall Rachel Hurd-Wood Emilia Fox Ben Chaplin Caroline Goodall.

Directors Oliver Parker.

Screenwriters Toby Finlay.

Running Time 112 minutes

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Dorian Gray
Not as scary as Lady Bracknell...

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Plot
In Victorian England, the young Dorian Gray (Barnes) is enamoured with the hedonism of Lord Wotton (Firth). After seeing a portrait that captures his beauty, Gray wishes the portrait would age while he stays forever young, but it’s the painting, not his body, that carries the scars...

Review

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In spite of its position as a pivotal work of 19th century literature, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture Of Dorian Gray has only once before enjoyed a major adaptation for the screen: in 1945, director Albert Lewin unveiled a dark, brooding cinematic canvas upon which he’d daubed Wilde’s harrowing vision in stark black and white. The results were impressive, but other filmmakers have, until now, declined to dip their nibs fully into this particular pot of Wilde’s ink. Admittedly, the book is as difficult to adapt as it was to write. Oscar Wilde’s greatest challenge was “keeping the extremely obvious moral subordinate to the artistic and dramatic effect”, and this is director Oliver Parker’s great achievement — cocooning his protagonist’s spiritual decline in a painterly gauze, which distracts the audience from the (entirely expected) news that excess brings its own punishment.

In truth, many have dismissed Gray, an impulsive, absurdly romantic young man, as a near-impossible person to animate on screen. His original tale was, essentially, an essay on decorative art, reacting against the crudities of plain old realism. Taken out of this context, the narrative can appear rather slight. After all, the story is just a simple if highly stylised interpretation of Faust’s risky wheeler-dealing with the devil.

To boost some modern resonance, Parker and screenwriter Toby Finlay inform us during the credits that this rendition is merely based on Wilde’s novel. The ‘Picture’ has disappeared from the title, and the filmmakers shift the focus onto Gray and away from his grisly painting. In turning to Ben Barnes, they remain true to Gray’s much-lauded good looks, and unveil a near-perfect paradigm of wide-eyed naivety when he arrives in London, to be harangued by guttersnipes, ogled by ladies and then entranced by Lord Wotton (Colin Firth), the man who shatters his innocence. When the tide turns, however, and Gray starts flailing in the soul-breaking waves of his newfound hedonism, the dramatic swell subsides.

In Lewin’s film, Hurd Hatfield is allowed to revel in his performance, with Gray’s acts of decadence largely unseen. Here, however, with the man taking centre stage, so do his vices. Wilde’s aim was to keep this vague — “Man sees his own sins in Dorian; what Dorian’s sins are, no-one knows” — and yet here we see all his sins unfold. In truth, this should not detract from the true horror in the story, which Wilde spins around Gray’s sense of conscience, but this inner anguish remains absent. His piano-playing may look better than Hatfield’s (which was awful), but Barnes’ overall performance is one-note.

The filmmakers also shift the structure, as well as the focus, and create characters like Emily Wotton (Rebecca Hall), who inhabits the final act and bids to bring Gray’s conscience to bear. In fact, Hall is quite delightful, as is Rachel Hurd-Wood, playing the actress Sybil with whom Gray falls briefly in love, and Firth, as Lord Henry Wotton, is blessed with the very best of Wilde’s wit — “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about”! Their performances, however, cannot raise a classic out of this classic.

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RE: Dorian Gray

The last great Gothic novel? Is this person serious, or have they never heard of this little known book called Dracula, published 7 years after Dorian Gray, which some people call the GREATEST Gothic horror novel and the quintessential tome of the genre? Terrible lack of literary knowledge, Empire Admin. ... More

Posted by RockDiva at 02:40, 01 August 2012 | Report This Post

Average. ... More

Posted by reminn at 10:35, 14 December 2010 | Report This Post

Enjoyable turn by Ben Barnes as highly impressionable Dorian and Colin Firth as Lord Henry (who in my opinion stole the show). Never having read the book I cant say how it compares, but from a newbies POV the gothic tones seemed to come accross well on the screen. Was nice to see Ben Chaplin back on the big screen - haven't seen him in anything for ages! ... More

Posted by nclowe at 12:34, 28 September 2009 | Report This Post

Dorian Gray

The latest adaptation of Oscar Wilde's tale is an uneven portrait of self destruction. With that said its dark, moody, accomplished and the period detail is well realised. Although one cant help but think that this is a mature story that has been softned for the junior dollar. ... More

Posted by Soprano168 at 18:21, 27 September 2009 | Report This Post

Not a badly painted Picture!

Just watched Dorian Gray. To share my opinion, I liked it. Of course this was not a literal adaptation of the book (it does say it was based on it), but another point of view of the story. Neverthless I thought it was worth it. It is dark enough (not suposed to be a horor film, I think).There were some solid performances, Colin Firth as Lord Henry is delicious with his sharp cynicism and Rebecca Hall delivered her "short" part very well. As for the leading man, even though he has y... More

Posted by Columbina at 18:32, 21 September 2009 | Report This Post

RE: Dorian Gray - A Movie Review

A solid adaptation of Oscar Wilde's brilliant novel,with a surprisingly effective performance from Ben Barnes title character,though Colin Firth gives the standout performance and shows what a strong actor he can be when given the chance. It works fairly well as a semi-gothic horror piece,and retains the morality and some of the depth of the novel. It's about as close to the book as one could expect,though there are some changes and additions which are sometimes a little pointless,and the bo... More

Posted by Dr Lenera at 21:28, 19 September 2009 | Report This Post

Dorian Gray - A Movie Review

A nicely dark, moody and atmospheric adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s 1895 novel. Unfortunately Colin Firth’s Lord Henry Wotton comes across as sinister and slightly pervy rather than charming and witty as he does in the novel. The lines are delivered too bluntly and lose all their subtlety. This is not the only thing that’s blunt about this movie. The nature of Dorian’s sins and degradation is made clear in the film, whereas in the book it is only hinted at. His ’is he,... More

Posted by nicola_sloan at 12:16, 15 September 2009 | Report This Post

Gothic Update Of The Infamous Tale.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray is indeed gothic and disturbing to read, not one to be alone and in the dark with. Many films have come out and tried to make the character just like the novel, some good while others failed. Now with this, it is indeed a gothic update and better than I first thought. The cast is good enough to hold you throughout the film, Colin Firth and Rebecca Hall were pefect for their parts. At first, I didn't highly rate Ben Barnes being Dorian Gray. Thought he was a bit wet and... More

Posted by joanna likes films at 16:04, 12 September 2009 | Report This Post

Dorian Grey

Can someone please confirm if the screen went green and the sound disappeared when they went to see this? Not sure exactly how far into the film, but it was during one of the parties/ orgies. The cinema tried to say that it was part of the film, but if so it didn't work at all as everyone in the cinema looked around and started to complain about the projector. Was that just the viewing I went to, or was it indeed a part of the film? I'm not convinced it was intentional. ... More

Posted by jennifer1981 at 23:49, 11 September 2009 | Report This Post

I liked it

It was different and far more gory than i expected, but i enjoyed it. I though Colin Firth was brilliant in his role and Charlie Chaplin. I did think Hurd-Wood's performance was rather bland but thats just me...she did have great moments in the film. Overall I think its worth a watch. ... More

Posted by Ed_girl12 at 22:38, 11 September 2009 | Report This Post

This is awful

And for the record, The Picture of Dorian Gray is hardly the last great Gothic novel. Wilde was hardly concerned with the Gothic. It's a novel of society as well as something of a satire. The reviewer seems to have as much of an understanding of the source material as the makers of this film - that is, not much. ... More

Posted by artilleryman at 21:02, 09 September 2009 | Report This Post

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