Eternal beauty, everlasting youth, celebrity: Dorian Gray has it all.
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Starring Ben Barnes (The Chronicles of Narnia, Easy Virtue), Colin Firth (St. Trinians, Mamma Mia), Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost/Nixon) and Ben Chaplin (Stage Beauty, The Truth About Cats & Dogs) and directed by Oliver Parker (St. Trinians, The Importance of Being Ernest, An Ideal Husband) Dorian Gray is a gripping adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s infamous gothic novel.
When a strikingly beautiful but naïve young Dorian Gray (Ben Barnes) arrives in Victorian London he is swept into a social whirlwind by the charismatic Henry Wotton (Colin Firth), who introduces Dorian to the hedonistic pleasures of the city. Henry’s friend, society artist Basil Hallward (Ben Chaplin) paints a portrait of Dorian to capture the full power of his youthful beauty and when it’s unveiled Dorian makes a flippant pledge: he would give anything to stay as he is in the picture – even his soul.
Realising his portrait has taken on an evil and disturbing air, manifesting his depravity and debauchery while his own beautiful face goes unmarked by his deeds, it is locked away in the attic. His wild adventures escalate and he is forced by his own actions to flee the country. Dorian returns twenty-five years later, to the surprise of his old friends his youthful appearance is unchanged. Jaded by having found pleasure but never happiness, he is haunted by the monstrous painting in the attic. His fear and paranoia grow as rumours of his misdeeds circulate. As Dorian’s last chance for love and redemption is threatened he is forced to risk his own immortality.
Dorian Gray features a supporting cast that includes, Rachel Hurd-Wood (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer), Fiona Shaw (Harry Potter, The Black Dhalia), Emilia Fox (Flashbacks of a Fool, The Pianist) and newcomer Max Irons.
Dorian Gray is produced by Barnaby Thompson, directed by Oliver Parker, from a screenplay by Toby Finlay and is executive produced by James Spring. Dorian Gray is an Ealing Studios, Alliance Films and UK Film Council presentation of a Fragile Film in association with Aramid Entertainment and Prescience.
Release date: 9 September 2009
