Dorian Gray (2009)

There have been many adaptations of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. There were four silent versions before 1918, with the last one featuring Bela Lugosi. The definitive version is the 1945 film, but they haven't stopped coming (Dorian Gray is also a character in the lamentable adaptation of Alan Moore's brilliant comic book The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). The most recent version is from 2009, directed by Oliver Parker. It's stylish, and as one would imagine, ups the ante on gore and special effects.

The basics are the same, although we get more of Gray's (Ben Barnes) background. He is an orphan, but inherits his grandfather's estate. He becomes acquainted with a painter (Ben Chaplin), who paints his portrait. He also becomes friends with Henry Wotton (Colin Firth), but unlike the Wildean epigram-maker of the book, Firth gives Wotton a Mephistophelean edge. It is he and he alone who is responsible for Gray's descent into decadence, espousing hedonism and that the only things that matter are beauty and youth.

Sybil Vane is played by Rachel Hurd-Wood, and unlike the book or the 1945 version, she does not remain chaste. This film does return her to her rightful place as a Shakespearean actress, but her suicide is not caused by her lack of talent. Instead, Gray storms out after a disagreement about whether they should have a child together. Oops! She's already pregnant, and throws herself in the river, just like the Ophelia she was playing.

There are some other differences from the book in regard to Sybil's vengeance-seeking brother, and an ingenious twist that sees Gray fall in love with Wotton's daughter. In the book he falls in love with a woman and turns her down in an effort to be a good man, but here Wotton gets a taste of his own medicine, as the man he has tutored in debauchery is now hanging with his daughter (Rebecca Hall).

The production is quite handsome and the performances are fine. Barnes is a pretty face. The special effects regarding the painting go a bit beyond the necessary, though. It basically comes to life, with maggots falling out of it, and makes groaning and rasping noises. When it comes to horror, I'm a "less is more" kind of guy.

For high school or college English majors everywhere, I recommend you see both films, read the book, and you have a nice topic for a paper.