Dorian gray is a film adaption of a book so there are sure to be critics as soon as the film is shown but I have to agree with some of the negative comments made about the film. It begins with Gray played by Ben Barnes brutally murdering someone who is not yet revealed the tossing a trunk with blood leaking out into a river, this ellipsis of time scene is later shown to reveal who he has killed, why and how. The blood effect was badly done with it looking like the actor is being splashed with strawberry ribena so this representation could have been done better. We are then taken back into the past in order to inform us of Dorian's story and how he cam to be in the situation we saw him in right at the beginning of the film. With the setting being London in the 1930's we are treated to some nice establishing shots and beautiful scenery so that the mise en scene is truly invoking a sense of the past. Fades between shots I found were very effective and found to create a dreamy state. These were a few of the good points of the film.
A dark atmosphere is created by building tension around what is in the attic and we are shown flashbacks of when Dorian was a child and how he was abused, I feel this was a way to make the character more appealing by making us sympathise with his past in order to forgive his actions in the present day but I found myself to feel he brought his fate upon himself with his own selfishness. Barnes playing the main role may have been a bit of a ploy to draw in an audience as his handsome face is sure to capture your attention at certain points of the film and keep your interest for a while, I especially liked the close up shots of him intensely looking at the attic with worry.
I feel that the plot was very slow developing and that in the beginning it is hard to figure out exactly where it is leading but once you figure out that Barnes is at first a pleasant gentlemen that has come to London then led astray by the conniving Lord Harry into the life of sin that London has to offer, at first he appears to worry for his soul but soon gives in to temptation. We find out that he makes a ambiguous deal with the devil to stay young and beautiful forever but he does not understand the full consequences of his agreement. We see the ugliness and evilness of his true soul that appears to lie beneath the innocent face through a painting that Basil painted of Dorian. The development of the painting is a creepy process that makes you look away at points as with see maggots moving around the face and sense the unnaturalness of the being through the low moaning sound that is a motif throughout.
A lot of things were so overdone that it made the film hard and tiresome to watch at points such as the over exaggeration of the corruption that Dorian Gray went through as the constant sex scene clips soon became dull and tedious. I almost screamed at the screen "I get it!" it is easy to understand he has given in to all that is seen as bad and dangerous so the point does not need rehashing over and over again. Along with this the film prolonged the suspense and intrigue to the point the it lost all suspense and intrigue because it became boring waiting for something to happen. It appears to turn full circle when we find ourselves back where we started with Dorian chucking the trunk with Basil's body into the river after brutally murdering him but the story does not end there. The plot thickens as Dorian falls in love with Harry's daughter and he suddenly wants to repent for his crimes in order to live a happy life with her but of course actions have consequences. The painting secretly hidden in the attic was bound to be revealed at some time and typically it is revealed at the point in his life where he finds somebody he cares about. Harry and Dorian have a showdown in the attic with Harry coming out on top as he sets fire to the hideous painting and looks Dorian in the attic with it. The sad moment being when his true love shows up attempting to save him but he doesn't want to escape he declares his love then goes back to the attic to help destroying himself. The film ends on a poignant note with Harry having the old painting of Dorian when he first arrived in London, we see what he was and what he could have been.
I would have to admit that it was merely Ben Barnes and Colin Firth's performances that kept the film alive and moving for me. Lord Harry Wotton was my favourite character as he was complex and somebody that you love to hate, he was everything what was wrong but stood for things that were also right. Although he was calculating and devious he was very upfront about the way he was with people and did not pretend to be something he wasn't.
Verdict: A film easily lost amongst others.
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