Dorian Gray

Saya · 08-10-2009, 02:29 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY93VUQSMo4

More info here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235124/

I got mixed feelings about this.

HavelockV · 08-10-2009, 09:22 AM

Hmm. This looks like it might be worth a matinee viewing. Even if it falls flat as a film, at least it provides some promise of visual interest. I've enjoyed some of Colin Firth's work in the past and thought that Ben Barnes in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian was rather tolerable in the title role.

Thank you for sharing this. *hat tips*

JCC · 08-10-2009, 09:35 AM

No. It's wrong. It looks wrong, it feels wrong. Bad.

vindicatedxjin · 08-10-2009, 09:38 AM

...bleh horrible.

Still Jack · 08-10-2009, 09:49 AM

Fuck that shit. Like JCC said, it doesn't feel right.

HavelockV · 08-10-2009, 09:57 AM

Indeed, it does have a rather Underworld / League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (movie version) feel to it that prevents it from being a film I would eagerly anticipate. As I said, perhaps worth a watch, but I don't expect it shall be particularly good.

Saya · 08-10-2009, 10:41 AM

I find one thing weird is how the preview shows sexy times with Dorian and women, I wonder if they'll include hints that he's bi like the book did. Actually I saw the 1945 film when TCM was having a LGBT movie month (awesome adaptation by the way), so I'm curious how that'll turn out. I mean even the 1945 version had a hint in there ( "Help me destroy Basil's body or I'll tell your wife our secret, hint hint wink wink").

gothicusmaximus · 08-10-2009, 11:32 AM

Looks awful.

Still Jack · 08-10-2009, 12:33 PM

What peeves me most about it is that the film almost certainly do the book justice at all.

HavelockV · 08-10-2009, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saya

I find one thing weird is how the preview shows sexy times with Dorian and women, I wonder if they'll include hints that he's bi like the book did.

Funny you should mention that. I was showing the trailer to a friend of mine and she noticed that there's a moment in the trailer where you can see a masked man offering Dorian a rose. So, perhaps there will be at least some hint of this aspect of the tale in the film.

The whole thing still looks questionable, though.

Saya · 08-10-2009, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HavelockV

Funny you should mention that. I was showing the trailer to a friend of mine and she noticed that there's a moment in the trailer where you can see a masked man offering Dorian a rose. So, perhaps there will be at least some hint of this aspect of the tale in the film.

The whole thing still looks questionable, though.

Oh hey, didn't notice that. Also, is it just me or does his portrait look like the Crypt Keeper? Thats pretty sad too, the 1945 version was pretty creepy, especially since the rest of the movie was done in black and white, but when the painting was viewed it was all in colour.

I should go rent the one that was done in the 70s and see if that was any good.

HavelockV · 08-10-2009, 07:07 PM

If by 'the one that was done in the 70s' you refer to the 1976 production featuring Peter Firth as the titular character, the legendary Sir John Gielgud as Lord Henry, and the ever-charming Jeremy Brett as Basil Hallward, it seems to be available in its entirety, albeit in ten separate parts, on a certain internet video website of wide renown. *winks*

While I freely admit that I am an ardent admirer of the late Jeremy Brett (who also played Dorian Gray himself in a very rare 1961 television adaptation), I have not yet watched this version beyond a few minutes and am reserving further viewing until after I have completed reading the original novel, which I am undertaking to do as we speak. It is something that I have intended to do for some time now and your posting was the impetus for my action. It is a very satisfying read thus far.

On a related note, the painting you've exhibited from the 1945 film is quite startling in color. It reminds me of those rainbow-hued slicks of oil that one sees on the pavement after the rain. How extraordinary, and made all the more grotesque by the unblemished flowers that adorn the drapery beneath his feet.

Saya · 08-10-2009, 07:23 PM

You haven't finished it yet? Whoops, sorry if I had any spoilers there >.>

HavelockV · 08-12-2009, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saya

You haven't finished it yet? Whoops, sorry if I had any spoilers there >.>

Pah! Worry not. I had already known some of the particulars of the tale beyond the usual "Man sells his soul for youth and beauty" aspect of it. Even so, it was an excellent piece of work. I am almost certain now, alas, that this upcoming film will be unable to do it any justice. However, it will probably be extremely popular with the masses, specifically, the young ladies who are more enamoured of young Mr. Barnes' appealing looks than for the quality of the movie. Unfortunate, but inevitable, I fear.

Lolly PopMuzik · 08-12-2009, 03:02 PM

It's pretty and that's the problem. It's too slick and focused on style rather than the lesson of the original story. But it'll be interesting to see the lines it draws in the Victorian goth camp (pretty and relatable to modern times vs strict faithful interpretation)

It just looks like a hedonist going insane rather than a tale of morality and duality as well as the price you pay for vanity.

XxBloodyrosexX · 08-27-2009, 12:59 PM

wow... You guys have a very deffinate view on the film after only seeing a 2 minute trailer? Like, that deffinate? I'd at least hear the reviews before deciding that I'd never see it. But then again, I may be biased on the singular love I have for the novel... A truely unique and all consuming love, much like Dorian's personality...

Ophelia's Snorkel · 08-27-2009, 01:07 PM

I'm always a bit leery of film adaptations of my favourite novels. PoDG's been a certain way in my imagination for so long that the only way I'd enjoy the film is if it blew all my former ideas away.

HumanePain · 08-28-2009, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saya

Oh hey, didn't notice that. Also, is it just me or does his portrait look like the Crypt Keeper? Thats pretty sad too, the 1945 version was pretty creepy, especially since the rest of the movie was done in black and white, but when the painting was viewed it was all in colour.

I should go rent the one that was done in the 70s and see if that was any good.

That picture is the most beautiful representation I have ever seen, exceeding even my imagination!

WarlockSix · 09-12-2009, 07:53 PM

A pity.

There's a high chance this film won't do the book justice; it is a book I have read many times and is certainly my favourite books.

Oh well.

Amani 愛 · 09-14-2009, 06:31 PM

I loved the novel.
I'm gonna go see the movie not sure if I'll like it or not but I'm gonna re-read the book before I go see it.

Saya · 09-14-2009, 06:42 PM

My spies in Europe say (SPOILER!):

There is apparently a lot of sex in this movie, including bi orgies, but only one gay sex scene...between Dorian and Basil. I'm grumpy with that for many reasons, but wasn't it much better that we didn't really know the whole of Dorian's sins? I don't think being slutty makes you a horrible person. Maybe he does other things but how does he have time when he's sleeping with everyone, apparently? Even before Basil was murdered his painting was horrific. And why Basil of all people? I thought Basil was bitter because Dorian gave him NO attention after he was corrupted. What about that guy who dissolves Basil's body because Dorian blackmails him? Its hinted that Dorian is going to tell his wife about a little something that they did together in the old movie, I can't remember exactly what he says in the book.

I'm going to watch it still but I think this will be a rent or a pirate.

The Divine Ms. M · 09-15-2009, 01:49 AM

I must say Ben Barnes is serious eye candy...

Reiko · 09-15-2009, 02:03 AM

i don't think it's going to be good. I'll just wait for it to come out on video!

Lord Wotton · 09-16-2009, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HumanePain

That picture is the most beautiful representation I have ever seen, exceeding even my imagination!

I saw that at the Art Institute in Chicago, it gave me goosebumps. That and That Which I Should Have Done I Did Not Do (The Door) by the same artist, Ivan Albright, were the highlights for me.

I have a reproduction of the Picture of Dorian Gray on my wall at home.