redanhemma
As a movie in and of itself this is not too bad, in fact I might even have really liked it if I hadn't read the book. However, as an adaptation, this was a disaster. Like many other reviewers I get the feeling that they didn't even read the book! So many things are just way off, it's awful...They took way too many "creative liberties" and it certainly didn't add anything of value, it just made it look like a poor attempt of being unique (if you want to make an adaptation, you should follow the original, otherwise you should make your own story).Henry suddenly had a daughter (???) who would serve as the romantic interest and I get the impression that she was meant to "save" Dorian from his lifestyle or something. The painting was practically alive, it could move and make noise and seemed to be physically decaying - the first sign of corruption, if memory serves, was a maggot or something eating its way through the canvas. Why? Hell, I don't know. Basil's death was unnecessarily violent and he was chopped up into pieces and dumped in a river, presumably so that he could be found later in the movie and cause drama. These are just some examples of the weird things that were changed, because screw the original, right?Most of the characters were really off, and some plot points were changed for no apparent reason, it served no purpose whatsoever and they should have been kept the way they were. They also did a lousy job at subtlety, either they didn't know how to do it or they thought the audience would be too stupid to pick up on it.Again, as a movie on its own it's kind of alright, but it's quite frankly a disgrace when compared to the original. I had really high hopes for it too, I think they really could have done a much better job if only they had bothered reading the book.
grantss
Set in Victorian London, a wealthy, free-wheeling young man, Dorian Gray (played by Ben Barnes) yearns for eternal youth. He achieves this by making a deal with the devil. However, a painting reveals the cost of this pact.Great adaptation of the Oscar Wilde novel. Excellent plot, as you would expect. Edgy, dark direction, with great CGI and settings.Great performances from Ben Barnes, Colin Firth and Ben Chaplin. Colin Firth is particularly good, delivering all the quotable Wilde-isms with perfect timing and cynicism. Ben Barnes' transformation from innocent boy to cynical, evil old man is very convincing.
bimbi2
Oliver Parker transformed the great novel by Oscar Wild into a ghost ride speeding like a rocket. Sometimes the movie has the looks it needs to represent Oscar Wilde's time, sometimes it looks like a cheap horror flick filled with clichés about London. Of course it has a handsome Ben Barnes as Dorian Gray too, but it misses the witty dialogues, the behavior of the upper class members and so on. Sir Henry Wotton becomes a cynic wisecracking jerk who doesn't really believe in what he's saying and we, the audience, don't believe him either, in contrast to the character in the novel. The only person I really liked in the movie was the character of Basil Hallward played by Ben Chaplin, but to soon he leaves the stage.Dorian Gray (which is already a shortening of the title: "The picture of Dorian Gray) is a version for the non intellectual working class movie goers who don't have the time to read the novel nor have any interest in doing so. It is not bad to watch bad movies but there is a saddening effect. After they have watched this movie they don't pay attention to the novel anymore, because they think it's all been said. So they miss a great chance to read a great piece of literature and culture that has something to say especially in our times where we have contests for models like Next Top Model on TV and a youth fetish in the media and society. Everybody wants to stay young and fresh and powerful and beautiful.So I suggest better read the novel than watching this movie!
Mosquitha
I really enjoyed this film, I do not agree with the bad reviews some viewers left.Its atmosphere is very dark and Gothic, so it helps if you like these qualities in a film. Splendid costumes and settings, and very good acting all around. Dorian Gray is perfect as a smooth faced naive high society boy who slowly gets corrupted.There are quite a few diversions to the original story. I have read the book quite a few years back and it' s one of my favourites. Having said that, I found the changes to the story in this film very plausible and interesting. There have been so many films about Dorian Gray, so I am not against a version that changes something, as it still keeps the values and ideas of the book in mind.
AD
