Hello everyone!! Ilaria’s posting!! Luciana is very very busy with her college and I’m glad to help her when she needs a hand! Good luck Lu!!!
So many news for you Barnians!!! Thanks Regys!! The greatest source ever!! ;)

Review 1 – Pue’s Occurrences

The film is saved by the performances of Ben Barnes as Dorian and Colin Firth as Lord Henry Wotton. Colin Firth has the best lines,
Wildean epigrams which he delivers with relish. Unlike the bland and inexpressive Hurd Hatfield of the well-known 1947 version,
Ben Barnes brings charisma, charm and boyish beauty to the role of Dorian Gray. The moment of temptation,
when he accepts the dare to sell his soul for a life without consequences is done with finesse.
In a fleeting moment we see vanity and hubris, when he is seduced not only by Lord Henry’s flattery and philosophy but also
by Basil Hallward’s (played effectively by Ben Chaplin) vision of him in the portrait. Dorian quickly succumbs to a range of debauchery, which to early twenty-first century eyes appears tame, even boring.
Apart from Dorian’s seduction of Basil there is no hint of the homoerotic subtext
which gave the novel such power to shock. In interviews the director has made observations about contemporary
obsessions with youth and beauty but there is little in the film which contributes to the debate. However,
he does include former Bond girl Maryam d’Abo (The Living Daylights, 1987), in a small part, and,
in the scene of Dorian’s return after a long absence, gives her aged but still beautiful face to the camera,
contrasting it with Dorian’s still unspoilt beauty. This was hardly accidental.

Source: Pue’s Occurrences

Review 2 – Get Workingham

Another review from Get Workingham! I’m posting you some quotes about Ben filming! To read the entire artcle click HERE!

It was all “sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll ….

It was all “sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” at a stately home in Lower Basildon last summer when a film crew came to call.
And the female staff at Basildon Park were very keen to volunteer to work on their days off because Colin Firth, playing Sir Henry Wotton, was one of the stars on set.
The film Dorian Gray goes on nationwide release today and National Trust house steward Neil Shaw recalled the two days of filming last summer.
Mr Shaw said: “There was some very interesting scenes filmed here. We had sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.”
Mr Shaw and his staff were there to protect the furniture and fittings of the house – some very old and fragile – during filming.
A sex scene featuring Ben Barnes, who plays Dorian Gray, was conducted in the Crimson Bedroom.
Mr Shaw said: “I’m afraid we didn’t allow them to romp on the bed. It might have been damaged. They had to do all that on a chaise longue at the bottom of the bed.”
Mr Shaw said the young actor Ben Barnes was rather nervous in the seduction scene.
He said: “He had to do eight takes. I suppose that was from nerves.”

A new edition of Oscar Wilde’s novel

On Forbidden Planet they have published a news concerning a new illustrated edition of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. As you may notice, the cartoon Dorian has dark hair!!! =) To see some others pictures from the book click HERE!

It’s a brilliant adaptation, retaining all the wonder of Oscar Wilde’s text and portraying the story in a fresh and new fashion. An excellent read.