After watching The Picture of Dorian Gray I believe that the message of the movie is simple: do not make youth and beauty the main purpose of your life. That is what Dorian Gray did after his talk with Lord Henry Wotton. After having his portrait painted by Basil Hallward, Dorian falls in love with talented and beautiful Sybil Vane. After he breaks her heart and she commits suicide, Dorian Gray turns corrupt. He begins to act immorally and instead of his actions and age reflecting on his body they instead show up on the portrait. Over the years, the portrait gets uglier and uglier as the sins Dorian commits piles up while Dorian himself remains youthful and handsome. His reputation becomes ruined and in a fit of rage he takes his friend, Basil’s, life. Since he cannot repent of his sins Dorian tries to destroy the painting by stabbing at it with a knife. In a change of events, the painting remains unharmed and Dorian lies dead on the floor the knife wedged in his heart. Dorian Gray was so determined to stay young and handsome that he could not see or feel the effects of all the sins he had committed.
My favorite scene from this movie was towards the middle when Dorian Gray first realized that the picture was changing and that his wish for that picture to take on the effects of his life had come true. I found it interesting that Dorian had even noticed the change. I did not think it was that obvious of a change and if the narrator had never mentioned anything I probably would not have noticed that the portraits expression changed. (I did watch the beginning of the movie again, paying particular attention to the expression in the picture. The second time I did notice a small difference). There was not much dialogue until Lord Henry visited Dorian and Dorian then pointed out the change to him, hoping that someone else would confirm his observation. At first I thought that the change was something that only Dorian would notice; he probably looked at the painting every day, so any change would probably stick out like a sore thumb to him. When his actions became more drastic the world could see the changes. I liked how it became more and more apparent that Dorian Gray was going the wrong direction. This scene I believe is the climax of the movie because it is the turning point for Dorian Gray. He realizes that his actions affect the painting and not his physical body. His soul may be tainted but his handsome youthful body is not. This part of the movie could have also been the turning point. Dorian could have realized how malicious Lord Henry’s suggestions were and instead of turning down the path of sin, he could have repented and led a healthier life. Overall, this scene shows how Dorian treasured his youth and his beauty more then his innocence and purity.
My favorite scene from this movie was towards the middle when Dorian Gray first realized that the picture was changing and that his wish for that picture to take on the effects of his life had come true. I found it interesting that Dorian had even noticed the change. I did not think it was that obvious of a change and if the narrator had never mentioned anything I probably would not have noticed that the portraits expression changed. (I did watch the beginning of the movie again, paying particular attention to the expression in the picture. The second time I did notice a small difference). There was not much dialogue until Lord Henry visited Dorian and Dorian then pointed out the change to him, hoping that someone else would confirm his observation. At first I thought that the change was something that only Dorian would notice; he probably looked at the painting every day, so any change would probably stick out like a sore thumb to him. When his actions became more drastic the world could see the changes. I liked how it became more and more apparent that Dorian Gray was going the wrong direction. This scene I believe is the climax of the movie because it is the turning point for Dorian Gray. He realizes that his actions affect the painting and not his physical body. His soul may be tainted but his handsome youthful body is not. This part of the movie could have also been the turning point. Dorian could have realized how malicious Lord Henry’s suggestions were and instead of turning down the path of sin, he could have repented and led a healthier life. Overall, this scene shows how Dorian treasured his youth and his beauty more then his innocence and purity.
No comments:
Post a Comment