Dorian Gray (Oliver Parker, 2009, United Kingdom)
Rating: MA Running time: 107 minutes
Oscar Wilde’s famous novel about a young man who gives himself up to a life of hedonism, if far from being a great work of literary art, reveals his considerable moral insight. This adaptation does it justice only losing its grip in the later stages when it indulges in some rather incongruous conventional horror/thriller devices. Ben Barnes plays Dorian Gray, a wide-eyed young man who inherits a fortune and falls under the spell of Henry Wotton (Colin Firth), wit and bon vivant whose pose of depravity unduly impresses Gray. Wotton’s friend Basil Hallward (Ben Chaplin) paints sensational portrait of Gray who makes a secret pact so that the portrait bears the stains of his sins whilst he remains blemish free.
It was a brilliant conceit on Wilde’s part and Oliver Parker, who is something of a Wilde specialist (he directed An Ideal Husband in 1999 and The Importance of Being Earnest in 2002), bar some unnecessary physical violence and arguably the distracting introduction of a new character, Wooton’s grown-up daughter (played by Rebecca Hall), does an excellent job of bringing the story to the screen. Firth is first class as Wotton, the man whose love of a cleverness starts all the trouble and provides a solid ballast for Barnes's more lightweight talents. With fine art direction and costume design and Parker’s stylish direction, Dorian Gray is a fine addition to the catalogue of late Victorian era horror. BH
DVD available from: Village Roadshow
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