Dorian Gray Movie Review 90

This movie is from the novel written by Oscar Wilde. This is another adaptation of the book and it stars Ben Barnes, Colin Firth and Ben Chaplin. It is directed by Oliver Parker who also directed the new St. Trinian movies as well as other Oscar Wilde works.

The movie beings with a young man killing someone and dumping the body in a river. We cut to one year earlier and a young man called Dorian Gray(Ben Barnes) has come to London. He is taken to a huge house and we find out that his grandfather has passed away and he inherits everything. He seems like a naive person and he doesn't know much about the city ways. He meets a man called Lord Henry Wotton(Colin Firth) and he takes him under his wing and schools him in the ways of the world by telling him that he needs to experience the pleasures of life etc. He meets an artist called Basil Hallward(Ben Chaplin) who wants to paint a portrait of the young man. Basil is fascinated with Dorian because of his youth and his good looks. Lord Henry takes Dorian to some seedy places and introduces him to some ladies of the night!

So, Dorian happens to see a play starring an actress called Sybil Vane(Rachel Hurd-Wood) and likes her. He visits her and they begin to see each other. She finds out that he is seeing other women, though and she fights with him. They fall out and break up. He feels badly about it but then he finds out that she has killed herself and that she was pregnant with his child. He is very upset but then Henry talks him around. He has his portrait up in the house and he notices that it is changing. He decides to take it down and hide it in the attic. Dorian goes back to his womanizing ways. The more he goes astray, the worse the picture becomes. Basil wants the picture to show off his work,but Dorian will not give it to him. They argue about it and Dorian shows him the horrible picture and Basil is terrified. Dorian kills him in a fit of rage and disposes of his body as shown in the beginning of the movie.

Dorian heads on a trip for a few years and when he comes back, he hasn't aged at all whilst everyone else has. His old pals are now really old. They wonder how he has not aged. Sybil's brother , James, sees him and tries to kill him for what he did to his sister, but Dorian talks him around, telling him that he could not be the same young man who was with her. So, in the end, James tries to kill Dorian once again but gets knocked over by a train, leaving Dorian free again. He meets Lord Henry's daughter,Emily(Rebecca Hall) and they fall in love. Henry is not happy about this at all. He knows that Dorian is not a good person. Dorian looks at the picture and it is hideous now. There are worms coming out of it and rats are drawn to it. He knows that he has sold his soul to the Devil and he will have to pay. He tries to repent but there is no way that he can be forgiven.

Henry warns Dorian to stay away from his daughter but it doesn't work.Emily and Dorian get together. They decide to leave London together for a new life. Henry is not happy with this and he realises what Dorian has done with the picture so he heads to see it and find out what is going on. He sees the picture and realises how bad it is and realises the secret behind Dorian's youth. He also finds a scarf belonging to Basil and realises who killed him. He sets fire to the painting and locks Dorian in with it to perish. Emily tries to get him out but to no avail. Dorian accepts that he must pay for his sins and puts a knife through the painting, destroying it and himself. He changes into the old man he is and dies. The painting changes from the horrible old man into the youthful Dorian again....