Film: Dorian Gray (2009)

Plenty of films on tv these days - most of which I've seen already, most of the rest of which I have no interest in. But when I saw Dorian Gray was showing.. which I hadn't seen.. I said I'd give it a go. I hadn't heard of this version, with Colin Firth as the suave, nihilistic man-about-town who leads the title character into the life of debauchery that leads to his downfall. Ben Chaplin is the artist who paints Dorian's famous portrait.

Very pretty, this version of London, I have to say - even the squalor is sanitised. And I swear I recognised some locations - I do believe that the pub that he first takes Dorian to is the Viaduct Tavern, the steps outside Colin Firth's house look very like the steps that lead from Waterloo Place down to the Mall, and the theatre where Dorian's first love works is a dead ringer for Wilton's Music Hall, on the inside. All places I know very well. And did it ever make me nostalgic..

It's a bit prettified, as I say, and one review describes it as rather shallow. But I did find it very watchable - Ben Barnes does an excellent job of portraying the young innocent, apparently untouched by the evil he encounters, and Colin Firth is as good as always. I thought they could have done more with the supernatural painting, which (spoiler) ages and shows the ravages of Dorian's actions instead of him showing the same signs - for all the buildup, it's not that scary in the end. But the film turns out to be quite compelling - and effectively depicts the passage of time from 1890 to the period of the First World War. It's quite a jolt, moving from horse-drawn carriages, bustles, and evening gowns to motor cars, cameras, and women's suffrage - but that is what happened, in just over 20 years. Imagine.

Yep, not the best I've seen, but recommended.

Of course, on Wednesday, it was St. Patrick's Day. And what with the pandemic raging harder than ever, of course it was all online this year - at least they had more time to prepare than last year! And they did us proud, with a week's worth of festivities - most available on the festival website, and for free. I hadn't had time to see everything I wanted to, but luckily, it's still there to watch. Which is what I'll probably do tomorrow. That Abair series of storytelling videos is first on my list.