Boring Gray | Dorian Gray [Blu-ray] | Ben Barnes, Colin Firth

love it | Dorian Gray [Blu-ray] | Ben Barnes, Colin Firth

DVDs:


	• Dorian Gray [Blu-ray] Ben Barnes, Colin Firth National Entertainment Media, 2010 average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray am sure this movie was great However I think that they should make a new one with Johnny depp
as Dorian Gray am sure this movie was great I have not seen it let so I give three stars for try so hard to make a good movie with out Johnny depp when waching the great move The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Stuart Townsend did great job as Dorian Gray 4 stars but when watching the movie was Imagining Johnny depp in role in a movie about Dorian Gray

Boring Gray

This latest version of Oscar Wilde's classic novel is nice to look at but rather dull. The characters bisexuality is more explicit than usual but the film never reaches the outrageous kinkiness of the 1970's euro trash edition.

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love it

if u liked the book at all u should get this movie alot of sexual content but as long as u arent a prude u will be fine

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Brilliant version of Dorian Gray

I finally was able to see the 2009 version of Dorian Gray, adapted from the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

I am writing this review AS an Oscar Wilde fan. I have read The Picture of Dorian Gray twice and I have read The Canterville Ghost twice.

I am going to tell you right now that these negative reviews that claim that this film is an insult to Oscar Wilde are WRONG! It's as if people who know very little about th works of Oscar Wilde are following a trend.

Those that say this would make Oscar Wilde roll over in his grave clearly have never seen the dreadful mid 2000s version of The Picture of Dorian Gray that re-sets it in the 1960s with a female Basil with horrendous acting. And they clearly have never seen the 1940s version of The Canterville Ghost that turned the entire story into World War 2 propaganda about a solider having to prove himself against a nazi.

I will admit that this not a word for word faithful adaptation of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray however it is very true to the heart of the novel, the meaning and purpose. The character portrayals are perfect and accurate. All changes are purely superficial. I know Ben Barnes as Dorian does not resemble the character of the novel however he does resemble Oscar Wilde himself and since Oscar Wilde saw himself in Dorian I felt this was a brilliant use of visual symbolism in Wilde's own relationship with Dorian Gray.

I know that some people have complained about the adding of the character Emily Wotton, whom does not exist in the novel. What people fail to remember is that nearly all film versions of The Picture of Dorian Gray have this 'redeemer' character. In the 1940s movie her name was Gladys. In the 1973 version of The Picture of Dorian Gray her name was Beatrice. In most versions she's Basil's niece or daughter but in this version she was Lord Henry's daughter.

What many don't know is that this character does exist in the novel. She's mentioned briefly near the end as a country girl named Hetty. Her part in the novel isn't as big as in the film adaptations but she does still exist and she works to add sympathy to Dorian's character.

You cannot see the inner workings of Dorian's mind in a physical medium like films or plays as you do with the novel so you you need a new way to see his moral struggle. And this is done through the presence of Emily.

Collin Firth was incredible as Lord Henry. That was the best portrayal of Lord Henry since George Sanders. When he says 'People die by common sense.' he fully became Lord Henry for me. Most people treat the role too academically and sound like they're boredly reading from a book. Collin Firth however really got it. He really understood the character. This version of The Picture of Dorian Gray has more of Oscar Wilde's witty epigrams than any other version before it. The only line missing that I wish was in here is Lord Henry gives Dorian a cigarette case. In this one it's just inscribed with Dorian's name. In the novel it reads 'The World has changed because you are made of ivory and gold. The curve of your lips re-write history.

The only character of the film I did not like was this version of Sybil Vane. (Sibyl in the novel). In this version Dorian seduces her into sleeping with him before marriage (as he does in the original film with Angela Lansbury in the role).

When Sybil starts talking about having a family Dorian argues that it is too soon, much thanks to the ideas planted in his head by Lord Henry. When this Sybil kills herself it gets revealed that seh was with child. This takes away from her sympathy. It's true having a child out of wed lock was frowned upon in the Victorian era but it did happen. And it did not mean the end of the world. Look at the character of Fantine in Les Miserables. It was selfish of this Sybil to kill herself because she did not just kill herself, she killed herself and the unborn baby.

Sybil does kill herself in the earlier incarnations but at least she had never done it while carrying a baby and knowing she was carrying the baby, and having wanted to raise the child. It's hard to sympathize with this version of Sybil, especially since you know her brother Jim would have taken care of both her and the baby if not Dorian.

Basil, however, was very sympathetic. One thing I'm glad they cut was that in most versions Basil didn't just disapprove of Dorian's relationship with Sybil out of jealousy, he also had told him not to marry beneath his class. Basil doesn't do that in this version. Basil is the most sympathetic of Dorian's Victims in this film.

Dorian himself is played exceptionally well though my favourite character portrayal in this version is Lord Henry. Dorian goes from ruthless and cruel to sympathetic and tragic in a heartbeat. The struggle is perfect. You can see his conscience, and not just with the painting. He is fighting against his own darker instincts which adds to making him sympathetic.

As a true Oscar Wilde fan I feel they captured the spirit of Oscar Wilde's intent. This was the best version of The Picture of Dorian Gray I have ever seen, the black and white version coming in close second for having the better and more innocent version of Sibyl Vane.

I am in America and we never got a theatrical release of this version of Dorian Gray. This film is truly good, truly exceptional, and far more intelligent, interesting and just plain better than the Twilight Saga.

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'You are the Fire of your Life'

DORIAN GRAY as adapted form Oscar Wilde's famous novel 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' and directed by Oliver Parker is about as fine a transfer of a period novel to the screen as has been made of late. The settings, costumes, and acting are all outstanding and with Parker's 'enhancing' some of the debauchery in the transformed life of this famous character updated to allow for more sensuality and brutality than prior cinematic versions, the tale really becomes dramatic.

Dorian Gray (Ben Barnes), an orphaned, abused child who happens to inherit a mansion in London upon the death of his only relative, comes to London as a young inordinately handsome yet shy man. He is immediately seizes the attention of Lord Henry Wotton (Colin Firth) who believes that the only goal in life is to respond to your desires, to your sensual needs. Dorian is introduced to a young painter Basil Hallward (Ben Chaplin) who is attracted to Dorian's beauty and as he paints his portrait he becomes enamored with his model. As the portrait is completed Lord Henry suggests that Dorian could always remain as beautiful as his portrait if he 'sold his soul' to remain ever youthful. Dorian takes up the idea and follows Lord Henry's tutelage to drink, smoke, and carouse in brothels, opium dens, and in the boudoirs of all the middle aged ladies of society. He encounters a beautiful young actress Sibyl Vane (Rachel Hurd-Wood), falls in love only to cast her aside (we later discover that her body has been thrown into the river much to the chagrin of her brother James (Johnny Harris). As Dorian's thirst for lusty and scandalous behaviors increases he causes much harm: the mutual attraction between Dorian and Basil eventually results in Dorian butchering Basil and discarding his body into the river grave. Dorian decides to leave London and travel to exotic places to try to fill his lascivious appetite: he returns twenty odd years later and every one has aged except Dorian. Lord Henry's daughter Emily (Rebecca Hall), born when Dorian departed London, is Dorian's intellectual match and the two are mutually attracted but Lord Henry violently objects, knowing what the real Dorian Gray is inside. Dorian's secret - that he remains young eternally while his portrait ages and reveals the vile aspects of his corrupt life - is finally revealed and the ending is a gruesome one.

Ben Barnes, Colin Firth, Ben Chaplin, and Rebecca Hall are all superb in their roles - as are all of the many well-known fine British actors who fill minor roles. The DVD adds comments from many of these actors in a way that focuses on Oscar Wilde's novel, making the commitment of everyone involved seem more acutely aware of the film's purpose. It is a very well photographed, costumes, and lighted piece of cinematography - a truly excellent period piece for this great novel to come alive again. Grady Harp, July 10

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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