Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray is the story of a young man who sees a portrait of himself and wishes fervently that he could stay forever young and that the portrait could change instead. His wish is silently granted by an Egyptian idol, and it changes his life completely.

A naïve and innocent youth, Dorian is taken in by a corrupt man named Lord Henry, who preaches that youth is the only thing worth having in life. Dorian sets out to take in as much pleasure as he can while he is still young, and instead falls in love with a young singer named Sibyl. However, Lord Henry goads him to test Sibyl’s virtue, and when she fails his test, he breaks her heart. It is then that Dorian notices a change in the portrait - a cruel twist to the mouth. Before he can apologize and restore the painting, he finds out that Sibyl has killed herself, and he resigns himself to a life of sin.

Twenty years later he still looks as innocent and young as he did when the picture was made, but London’s high society whisper about the atrocities he is rumored to have committed. Basil, who painted the portrait, cannot believe these rumors, and neither can his young niece Gladys, who is in love with Dorian. When Dorian reveals the changed and malicious portrait to Basil, he realizes the extent of Dorian’s sins and begs him to change his ways. Dorian, unfortunately, is terrified of Gladys learning his secret and kills Basil, further staining the portrait.

Soon afterward, Dorian and Gladys become engaged, but his happiness is short-lived. Sibyl’s brother Jim tracks him down through Dorian’s frequent visits to the seedy underbelly of London, and he is desperate to avenge Sibyl’s death. Jim’s presence causes Dorian to relive his past sins and regret all of the evil he as done. He decides that he will live a life of sanctity and purity, and regain his soul. But first he decides to destroy the portrait, and when he stabs the heart of the portrait his own heart is stabbed. Gladys and Lord Henry burst into the room to find a grotesque old man lying dead on the floor and Dorian’s portrait pure and beautiful.

There are several messages in this story. Of course, there’s the typical “Be careful what you wish for.” Like all movies of this type, the protagonist comes to fully regret their foolhardy wish. There’s also a message that inner beauty is more important than outer beauty, and that those who do evil things cannot hide the evil in their visage. In a way, the movie at once maintains and refutes Lord Henry’s message about youth being the only thing worth having. The film seems to agree that you can never get it back; although Dorian hopes he can make his portrait beautiful again, his good intentions come too late. However, the film disagrees with Lord Henry’s claim that it’s the only thing worth having. Clearly the film shows that love and morality are more important. Finally, there seems to be a message of karma, or divine retribution. His death seems to be punishment for having held off the ugliness that accompanied his evil for so many years. Though tragic, it seems only just that his unnatural life was ended.

One scene that I liked was in the beginning, the scene where Basil reveals the portrait to Dorian. The director chose to film just the portrait in color for a moment, to display it in all its glory. This, of course, is a pivotal moment for both Dorian and the film because it is the moment he comes to envy the portrait. The moment of color really gives the sense that the picture has “a life of its own”, as Basil says, a supernatural and immortal beauty that exceeds even the man it was based on. Lord Henry exclaims, “Look at yourself, Dorian Gray!” and it seems that the painting really is himself. Dorian speaks out loud about how the portrait will stay forever young and how he wishes it could be the other way around. Basil and Lord Henry make jokes about it, but Dorian is deadly serious. It is shortly after this scene that he makes the fateful wish.

The moment of color is very ahead of its time, although I suspect that the reason that the rest of the film was in black in white may have been less artistic and more financial. However, it seems to be a predecessor later films like Schindler’s List in which the majority of the movie is in black and white to accentuate the occasional vivid flashes of color. The effect is very symbolic, poignant, and eye-catching, because as we all know “a picture is worth a thousand words,” so imagine what 24 frames per second can say.