Oscar Wilde's tale of eternal youth is something of an evergreen itself having been made into countless versions for both the large and small screen. The previous results have been mixed, but here in the hands of director Oliver Parker, Wilde's gothic novel is given a new life.
Ben Barnes plays the eponymous Dorian, a handsome yet naive youth who comes to London after he inherits a fortune. Society loves a man with cash, particularly one this good looking, and before he knows it he is being invited to all the best parties.
A familiar face at the gatherings, Lord Henry Wotton (Colin Firth) is a hedonistic playboy and he soon takes Dorian under his wing. Under his corrupting influence Gray learns the seedier delights of Victorian/Edwardian London and in return Wotton revels in seeing his friend's new found self-confidence. An introduction to a gifted artist (Ben Chaplin) follows and it isn't long before Gray finds himself sitting for a portrait.
Dorian is astonished by the likeness of the painting and declares that he would sell his soul to stay as young and beautiful as he appears in the portrait. As anyone who didn't fall asleep in English lessons at school will be able to tell you, herein lies the essence of the story. The harder Dorian Gray parties, the more his portrait ages leaving the man himself as fresh as a daisy. He banishes the portrait to the attic away from prying eyes and embarks on a self-destructive path to tragedy.
On the face of it this is all pretty dark stuff but add in Oscar Wilde's skill for a comic turn of phrase and we are left with something that is much more palatable. Colin Firth makes for a likeable rogue and it's easy to believe that his character would indeed be able to influence Dorian. Barnes too is well cast, though he seems to be more at home as an opium puffing, absinthe quaffing sex-pot than he is as the green, wide-eyed waif he begins the movie as.
It's debatable whether this is a film that needs to be seen by cinemas audiences. The special effects - such as they are - amount to showing the audience that Dorian Gray's tortured soul actually looks like Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This would work equally as well on TV and it is there and on DVD that the film is destined to do most of its business. And an enjoyable night in it would make too.
Rob Andrews
