Dorian Gray (2009 film)
| Dorian Gray | |
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British promotional poster
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| Directed by | Oliver Parker |
| Produced by | Barnaby Thompson |
| Screenplay by | Toby Finlay |
| Based on |
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde |
| Starring |
Ben Barnes Colin Firth Rebecca Hall Ben Chaplin Emilia Fox Rachel Hurd-Wood |
| Music by | Charlie Mole |
| Cinematography | Roger Pratt |
| Edited by | Guy Bensley |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Momentum Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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112 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $22,410,097 |
Dorian Gray is a 2009 British fantasy-horror drama film based on Oscar Wilde's 1890 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.
This version is directed by Oliver Parker, written by Toby Finlay (his first screenplay), and stars Ben Barnes as Dorian Gray and Colin Firth as Lord Henry Wotton. The film tells the story of the title character, an attractive Englishman whose image is captured in an enchanted painting that keeps him from ageing. His portrait becomes tainted with every sin he commits, while he remains young and handsome.
The film, which was released in the United Kingdom on 9 September 2009, competed in the Official Fantàstic Competition at the 2009 Sitges Film Festival.
When a naïve young Dorian Gray arrives in late Victorian London, by train, to inherit an estate left to him by his abusive grandfather, he is swept into a social whirlwind by the charismatic Lord Henry Wotton, who introduces Gray to the hedonistic pleasures of the city. Lord Henry's friend, society artist Basil Hallward, paints a portrait of Gray to capture the full power of his youthful beauty. When the portrait is unveiled, Gray makes a flippant pledge: he would give anything to stay as he is in the picture—even his soul.
Gray meets and falls in love with budding young actress, Sibyl Vane. After a few weeks, he proposes marriage to her. Lord Henry tells Gray that having children is "the beginning of the end", and after the two men visit a brothel, Gray leaves Sibyl. Heartbroken, the young woman drowns herself. Gray learns of her death the following day from her brother, James ("Jim"), who also reveals that Sybil was pregnant with Gray's child. Enraged, Jim tries to kill Gray before being restrained and carried off by the authorities. Gray's initial grief soon disappears as Lord Henry persuades him that all events are mere experiences and without consequence. His hedonistic lifestyle worsens, distancing him from a concerned Hallward.
Gray returns home one evening to find that Hallward's portrait of him has become warped and twisted, and he soon realises that his off-hand pledge has come true; while the portrait ages, its owner's sins manifest as physical defects on the canvas. Before long, the curse imbued within Gray's portrait begins in earnest, resulting in Hallward's brutal murder after the artist reveals his secret. Gray dismembers and dumps Hallward's body in the River Thames, although the remains are soon recovered and buried.
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