Directed by:
Oliver ParkerCinematography:
Roger PrattComposer:
Charlie MoleCast:
Colin Firth, Ben Barnes, Rebecca Hall, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Emilia Fox, Fiona Shaw, Ben Chaplin, Caroline Goodall, Daniel Newman, Maryam d'Abo, Douglas Henshall (more)Plots(1)
Forever Young. Forever Cursed. Dorian Gray is Beautiful. Charming. Powerful. CURSED. Young Dorian Gray (Ben Barnes) arrives fresh on the London social scene and is taken under the wing of corrupt, devilish Lord Henry Wotton (Colin Firth) who introduces him to the seedy pleasures of London life. Desperate to protect the youth and beauty captured in his portrait, Dorian swears he would give anything to stay as he is... even his soul. Slipping deeper and deeper into a world of sin, sex and celebrity, his deeds grow ever more evil in an attempt to hide his secret. But when he eventually finds love, Dorian struggles to hide the secret behind his eternal youth. Is it too late for redemption or can love un-lock Dorian's humanity and save his soul? (Momentum Pictures)
(more)Reviews (2)
The book is better of course, but considering my worries about the movie I was very pleasantly surprised. Barnes delivers a more than solid performance (who would have said?) and the same applies for Firth. The atmosphere resembles a horror movie more than Wilde’s painting, but that isn’t such a shame. At places the movie was really chilling. The special effects aren’t so great, but it’s an all British production, so I’ll give them some points for effort.
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I thought this film would be pompous, that it would try to be too modern, but it turned out to be the adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray I imagined. It has power, the darkness of lust and the human soul, and it's all presented by well-chosen actors. It’s a great story about how far it is possible to go and still never reach fulfilment.
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