A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty eternally, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.
Dorian Gray (2009)
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Well, it seems they have taken some liberties with adapting the story from the original novel, which sadly for Hollywood films, almost always leaves the movie just a bit worse than than the book. My first thought about the movie after the ending was : “well they had some gorgeous outfits”.
Though Dorian depicted here wasn’t what I expected (I expected a life- size porcelain doll), Ben Barnes was nevertheless charming and did keep my attention during the film.
The portrayal of Lord Henry was exactly what I expected and fun to watch, but not as nearly as interesting as reading his words from the book.
The actress playing Sibyl Vane was beautiful, but her storyline was completely ruined, she wasn’t given any personality and they cut out one of the best parts from the book: the real reason why Dorian breaks off the engagement(which is not her nagging about him going to the club, but her obsession with his love) which signifies the start of him becoming shallow and eventually evil.
What lacked in this film was more of Wilde’s philosophy, charm and Lord Henry’s paradoxical opinions. I guess they had to cut all of that out in order to make room for a couple of sex scenes and a pointless subplot about Henrys daughter Emily, which of course did nothing good for the film. I know that literature back in the 19th century was subversive, but good Lord, they really read between the lines. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t remember Dorian sleeping with half of London in the book. They also dedicated a few seconds to advertise autocompany Fiat which ddidnt exist at the time.
One more thing, the musical score made the film sound like a horror movie.
The photography, the visuals and production design were amazing, but it is a missed opportunity.
