Dorian Gray (2009 film)

Dorian Gray
British promotional poster
Directed by	Oliver Parker
Produced by	Barnaby Thompson
Screenplay by	Toby Finlay
Based on	the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) by Oscar Wilde
Starring	Ben Barnes Colin Firth Rebecca Hall Ben Chaplin Emilia Fox Rachel Hurd-Wood
Music by	Charlie Mole
Cinematography	Roger Pratt
Editing by	Guy Bensley
Distributed by	Momentum Pictures
Release date(s)	9 September 2009 (2009-09-09)
Running time	112 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	£2,967,711

Dorian Gray is a 2009 British fantasy, thriller, drama film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's 1890 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.

This version is directed by Oliver Parker, written by Toby Finlay (his first screenplay), and stars Ben Barnes as Dorian Gray and Colin Firth as Lord Henry Wotton.

The film, which was released in the United Kingdom on 9 September 2009, competed in the Official Fantàstic Competition at the 2009 Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival.

Plot

When a naïve young Dorian Gray (Barnes) arrives in a train to Victorian London, he is swept into a social whirlwind by the charismatic Lord Henry Wotton (Firth), who introduces Gray to the hedonistic pleasures of the city. Lord Henry's friend, society artist Basil Hallward (Ben Chaplin), paints a portrait of Gray to capture the full power of his youthful beauty. When the portrait is unveiled, Gray makes a flippant pledge: he would give anything to stay as he is in the picture—even his soul.

Gray meets and falls in love with young budding actress Sibyl Vane (Rachel Hurd-Wood). After a few weeks, he proposes marriage to her, but after Lord Henry tells Gray that having children is "the beginning of the end", he takes Gray to a brothel. This breaks Sibyl's heart as Gray leaves her; drowning herself soon after. Gray learns of this next day from her brother "Jim" (James), who tells Gray that Sybil was pregnant. Jim then tries to kill Gray before being restrained and carried off by the authorities. Gray's initial grief disappears as Lord Henry persuades him that all events are mere experiences and without consequence, and his hedonistic lifestyle worsens, distancing him from a concerned Hallward.

Gray goes home to find the portrait of himself warped and twisted and realises that his pledge has come true; ever youthful while portrait ages, its owner's sins showing as physical defects on the canvas. The chaos of the portrait of Gray starts, leading him to kill Hallward after telling him his secret, dumping the body in the River Thames.

Having left London to travel for many years, Gray returns to London and during the welcome-back party the guests are surprised to see that he has not aged in all. He becomes close to Lord Henry's daughter, Emily (Rebecca Hall), a member of the UK suffragette movement, despite Lord Henry's distaste for such a relationship, due to Gray's lifestyle and unnatural appearance.

Although Gray appears genuinely interested in changing his ways as he spends time with Emily, matters are complicated when he is confronted by James, still seeking revenge for his sister's death; despite Gray's attempts to drive off his suspicions by pointing out his apparent age, James nevertheless deduces Gray's true identity, only to be killed by a train during the chase in the London Underground. As Gray makes arrangements to leave London with Emily, Lord Henry's study of old photographs makes him remember the time when he teased Gray to deal with the devil for eternal youth and beauty at the cost of his soul. This prompts him to go and look in Gray's house for the portrait which he thinks holds the mystery to Gray's fountain of youth.

In the subsequent confrontation between the two men, Lord Henry is able to knock Gray out when he tries to kill him because of Emily's calls downstairs and he throws a lit lamp at the portrait, causing it to catch fire. Lord Henry locks the gate of the attic, to ensure Gray and the painting are destroyed, before his daughter sees the ruckus as she pleads with Gray for the key. Gray, after seeing her and realizing that he really loves her, turns his back as Lord Henry drags his daughter out of the house. Gray then decides to end it all; stabbing the portrait with his years catching up to him before his decayed body is consumed in the explosion.

A few months later, scarred from the explosion and after attempting to reconcile with Emily through Agatha over the phone, Lord Henry heads to his attic where he keeps now-youthful portrait of Gray.

Cast

In credits order.

• Ben Barnes as Dorian Gray
• Colin Firth as Lord Henry Wotton
• Ben Chaplin as Basil Hallward
• Rebecca Hall as Emily Wotton
• Douglas Henshall as Alan Campbell
• Rachel Hurd-Wood as Sibyl Vane
• Fiona Shaw as Aunt Agatha
• Maryam d'Abo as Gladys
• Michael Culkin as Lord Radley
• Emilia Fox as Lady Victoria Wotton
• Caroline Goodall as Lady Radley
• Johnny Harris as Jim Vane, Sibyl's brother
• Pip Torrens as Victor, Gray's valet
• David Sterne as Theatre Manager
• Jo Woodcock as Celia Radley
• Max Irons as Lucius

Production

The film began shooting in summer 2008 at Ealing Studios and locations across London and wrapped in October.^{[citation needed]} The film received £500,000 of National Lottery funding via the UK Film Council's Premiere Fund.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, the film reviews aggregator, gave the film 42% based on critics' opinions.

See also

• British films of 2009
• List of drama films
• List of fantasy films
• List of thriller films

External links

• Dorian Gray at the Internet Movie Database