Daleks Sent In Against News International

MP's send in the troops against Murdoch and his cronies to make sure they appear before comittee on Tuesday.

Addendum - Rebekah has been arrested by police today!

A Gray Day

This morning I download some e-books onto the laptop, a PC style Kindle platform, that mimics a real Kindle device. All out of copyright and hence free , such as Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and Mary Shelley's “Frankenstein”.

Last night downloaded some mixes and cool free music from the web, some of which I will play at the Northern Lights gig this coming Friday.

On TV last night watched the documentary on Impressionism, and downloaded the music documentary of classical composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davis, which I watched afterwards.

Today I watched the 2010 DVD release of “Dorian Gray” , which I borrowed from Phil at the Dover Castle.

I have read the Oscar Wilde book once, and I know that this not a word for word faithful adaptation of the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” ,however it is very true to the heart of the novel and the meaning and purpose of it. The character portrayals are perfect and accurate. All changes are purely superficial. I know Ben Barnes as Dorian does not resemble the character of the novel however he does resemble Oscar Wilde himself, and since Oscar Wilde saw himself in Dorian, I felt this was a brilliant use of visual symbolism in Wilde's own relationship with Dorian Gray.

I know that some people have complained about the adding of the character Emily Wotton, whom does not exist in the novel. What people fail to remember is that nearly all film versions of The Picture of Dorian Gray have this 'redeemer' character. In the 1940s movie her name was Gladys. In the 1973 version of The Picture of Dorian Gray her name was Beatrice. In most versions she's Basil's niece or daughter but in this version she was Lord Henry's daughter.

What many don't know is that this character does exist in the novel. She's mentioned briefly near the end as a country girl named Hetty. Her part in the novel isn't as big as in the film adaptations but she does still exist and she works to add sympathy to Dorian's character.

You cannot see the inner workings of Dorian's mind in a physical medium like films or plays as you do with the novel so you you need a new way to see his moral struggle. And this is done through the presence of Emily.

Colin Firth was incredible as Lord Henry. That was the best portrayal of Lord Henry since George Sanders. This version of The Picture of Dorian Gray has more of Oscar Wilde's witty epigrams than any other version before it. The only line missing that I wish was in here is Lord Henry gives Dorian a cigarette case. In this one it's just inscribed with Dorian's name. In the novel it reads 'The World has changed because you are made of ivory and gold. The curve of your lips re-write history.

The only character of the film I did not like was this version of Sybil Vane. (Sibyl in the novel). In this version Dorian seduces her into sleeping with him before marriage (as he does in the original film with Angela Lansbury in the role).
When Sybil starts talking about having a family Dorian argues that it is too soon, much thanks to the ideas planted in his head by Lord Henry. When this Sybil kills herself it gets revealed that she was with child. This takes away from her sympathy. It's true having a child out of wed lock was frowned upon in the Victorian era but it did happen. And it did not mean the end of the world. Look at the character of Fantine in Les Miserables. It was selfish of this Sybil to kill herself because she did not just kill herself, she killed herself and the unborn baby.
Sybil does kill herself in the earlier incarnations but at least she had never done it while carrying a baby and knowing she was carrying the baby, and having wanted to raise the child. It's hard to sympathize with this version of Sybil, especially since you know her brother Jim would have taken care of both her and the baby if not Dorian.

Basil, however, was very sympathetic. One thing I'm glad they cut was that in most versions Basil didn't just disapprove of Dorian's relationship with Sybil out of jealousy, he also had told him not to marry beneath his class. Basil doesn't do that in this version. Basil is the most sympathetic of Dorian's Victims in this film.

Dorian himself is played exceptionally well though my favourite character portrayal in this version is Lord Henry. Dorian goes from ruthless and cruel to sympathetic and tragic in a heartbeat. The struggle is perfect. You can see his conscience, and not just with the painting. He is fighting against his own darker instincts which adds to making him sympathetic.
I feel that they have captured the spirit of Oscar Wilde's intent. This was the best version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, with a true sense of the Gothic..