Dorian Gray

Roadshow Entertainment

R4 DVD

Oscar Wilde’s novel Dorian Gray caused undue consternation in Victorian Britain but has since become one of the great classic gothic novels combining great wit, decadence and a supernatural theme.

Set in an impressively re-created 19th century, director Oliver Parker’s film sustains the original gothic feel of the tale but with a more explicit exploration of sexuality and decadence. The tale centres on young Dorian, a powerless and pained youth who was degraded and abused in his childhood by his overpowering grandfather. On his grandfather’s demise, he becomes heir to the estate but is somewhat overwhelmed by the society he must now enter. He is taken under the wing of homosexual artist Basil Hallward (Ben Chaplin) and hedonist Lord Henry Wotton (Colin Firth), who is a portrayed as a cross between Lord Byron and Oscar Wilde.

Hallward paints an incredibly realistic painting of Dorian’s beauty and youth which is hailed by all as a masterpiece. Under the wayward influence of Wotton, Dorian becomes enraptured by the painting and offers his soul in exchange for immortality. It seems someone was listening because Dorian soon finds that wounds inflicted on his person are transferred to the painting and while others age, he sustains his youth forever.

At first he falls in love with a Sybil Vane (Rachel Hurd-Wood) but this just will not do within the upper echelons of Victorian England and Wotton introduces Dorian to the wild life of prostitutes, opium, hashish and orgies to ween him off her. He breaks off their engagement leading to Sybil’s suicide. Soon he follows every possible urge indulging in every possible vice, leading to him killing his friend Hallward and corrupting all around him. Of course as this is a morality tale, these experiences all lead him execrably towards facing the darkness of his soul and his destruction (and possible redemption).

Dorian Gray is an intriguing adaptation of a well-respected gothic novel. Firth as Wotton is utterly superb; witty, cynical and urbane, he is the arch sceptic. Ben Barnes as Dorian is both beautiful and seductive; he combines both innocence and a sense of the sinister. Ben Chaplin as Hallward, a homosexual artist trying to survive in Victorian England plays a good supporting role.

The problem with Dorian Gray is that it is essentially an antiquated morality tale. The warnings against hedonism and indulgence quickly wear thin and the more indulgent aspects of the movie are by far the most enjoyable. Personally I have always felt the novel reflected Wilde’s own inner torment over his own homosexuality and admiration for pleasure. On one level he rejected traditional morality and celebrated cynicism with great repartee and banter, yet on another he hated himself internalizing the prudish values of Victorian England. This conflict is at the heart of any adaptation of Dorian Gray and hence automatically dates the plot regardless of how well the story if told or the characters fleshed out. This is an enjoyable rendering of the tale but ultimately relies on notions most of us now find rather quaint and antiquated.

Reviews appear on the Synergy website with a single cover image. In the digital and print edition, reviews appear with multiple images and with expanded content. We recommend you download the free digital edition (or buy the print edition) to get the most from Synergy Magazine.

This review will appear in Volume 3 No. 3 of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

If you came to this page directly (and missed our menu), click here to go to the front page of Synergy Magazine Website or use the following link: http://www.synergy-magazine.com