Dorian Gray (2009)

A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty eternally, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.

Director:

Oliver Parker

Writers:

Toby Finlay, Oscar Wilde (novel)

Stars:

Ben Barnes, John Hollingworth, Colin Firth

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Barnes	...	Dorian Gray
John Hollingworth	...	Patrol Policeman
Cato Sandford	...	Rent Boy
Pip Torrens	...	Victor
Fiona Shaw	...	Agatha
Ben Chaplin	...	Basil Hallward
Caroline Goodall	...	Lady Radley
Maryam d'Abo	...	Gladys
Michael Culkin	...	Lord Radley
Colin Firth	...	Lord Henry Wotton
Emilia Fox	...	Lady Victoria Wotton
Nathan Rosen	...	Young Dorian
Jeff Lipman	...	Lord Kelso (as Jeffrey Lipman Snr)
Louise Kempton	...	Prostitute
Douglas Henshall	...	Alan Campbell

Storyline

Fresh-faced and innocent, Dorian Gray arrives in London to move into the house he has inherited. Almost immediately he falls under the influence of amoral and calculating Lord Henry Wotton, leading to a life of increasing debauchery and even violence. Through many years Gray stays as young-looking as ever, while a portrait painted when he arrived grows old, reflecting his increasing excesses. Eventually the picture, now secreted in his attic, becomes almost hideous to behold. When true love finally enters his life he realises he must guard his secret at all costs.

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Plot Keywords:

painting | portrait | deal with the devil | beauty | youth | 

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Taglines:

Forever Young. Forever Cursed.

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content including nudity, violence and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Castello Lopes Mulimédia [pt]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 September 2009 (UK)

Also Known As:

El retrato de Dorian Gray

Filming Locations:

Basildon Park, Lower Basildon, Berkshire, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£883,148 (UK) (11 September 2009)

Gross:

£2,819,663 (UK) (9 October 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ealing Studios, Alliance Films, Fragile Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the second film starring Rachel Hurd-Wood (Sybil Vane) that involves an eternally youthful male lead. The first was Peter Pan.

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Goofs

After receiving the personalized cigarette box Dorian says "Thank you Harry". The character's name is Henry. However, both Harry and Henry are considered alternative versions of the same name.

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Quotes

Lord Henry Wotton: The only way to get rid of a temptation, is to yield to it.

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Connections

Version of Az élet királya (1918)

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Soundtracks

"A Perfect Picture"
Written by Flipper Dalton
Performed by Flipper Dalton

User Reviews

Enjoy it for what it is: A picture show and nothing more.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, as penned by the Irish wit Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), is a tale of high-brow debauchery and limitless pleasures of body and soul and the corruption, by one Lord Henry Wotton, of the young, handsome and soon to be narcissistic 19th century rock 'n roll hell-raiser Dorian Gray.

Ealing Studios have translated Wilde's controversial novel into a celluloid den of iniquity that somehow comes across as rather shallow. Like the characters seen here too; it seems that as a work of symbolic gesture of how the upper classes conduct their sordid lifestyle of hypocrisy, deceit and lust it lacks any deep and thoughtful intrigue that any good 19th century Gothic horror story should be.

To fully understand the ethics of a Victorian London that Oscar Wilde has so wonderfully reflected with his novel here, we see, too, with this latest interpretation using, as Wilde may have done, the picture purely as a metaphorical means. Yes, we see the selling of souls here and the lamb to the slaughter and the hedonistic teachings of Lord Wotton, but toward the end, the whole sordid affair becomes predictable.

Penned with an undercurrent of realism and too fantasy of the love of sin. It's a dark, dirty, dingy setting of a self-indulgent Victorian London that we are lead to believe is prim and proper on the surface but lurking just below this weak, temperate society lies pure greed, greed for experience, experience that will transcend the mind, body and soul to the wondrous dealings of what life has to offer. For, as always, a price, a price both Oscar Wilde and Dorian Gray would pay the highest sacrifice.

It is with a taint of sorrow that this latest performance too has paid a price too high, sensationalism over content, ironies aside, the film seems too concerned to show the sordid details of this lifestyle and its inhabitants'. It lingers on too far in the bedrooms of London and strays too far from the mental anguish that may have been. We see the trouble mind of our young (looking) man but we see not enough of his fears, regrets, sorrows and repentance, which are cast aside and squandered. Welcome to the 21st century Mr. Wilde.

By the time the chimes of time are echoing in the distance we have Dorian fading into the far reaches of the eternal abyss of the afterlife. With all the time in the world we are still wanting more to feed our palates, it's all to aesthetically pleasing, but at the same time oh so unrewarding, a taster we are given but the full flavour we are, regrettably, spared.

This too may have its target audience and in so having picked its target out it may have trouble standing the test of time, due to its lack of wit, lack of diversity and a lack of daring and commitment of its original source. It is a sad loss that such a literary work of historical meaning and wealth should have been robbed of its qualities.