The Picture of Dorian Gray

Being a great fan of Duncan Roy's "AKA", I was very excited to see this work at the Miami filmfest. Sad to say, I was pretty much embarrassed to have brought my friends to "Dorian Gray." Where to begin? The film was plodding and in great need of editing. The dialog was unnatural & postured..even to the point of being silly. And plot...was there one? The split screens effects were interesting at times and more gimmicky at others. Even cute eye candy could not make you care about the characters or this sophomoric, unoriginal endeavor, for that matter . Most of the audience started shifting around & checking their watches halfway through the film...their thoughts mirroring mine of "when will this be over?!"

Duncan, please go back to narratives

I really liked it although it's not going to please the multiplex crowd. David Gallagher is stunningly good as Dorian in this updated version of Oscar Wilde's tale of decadence and debauchery. The authentic whiff of contemporary corruption and depravity of the New York art world is chilling. Perhaps some of the other reviewers aren't that familiar with Wilde's text but I think Duncan Roy has created something that has the authentic spirit of the 1890s.Wilde's witticisms and jibes at morality sit very well in a contemporary setting.

I was also in the same screening and the audience warmly applauded at the end.

This is a relatively low budget production but it looks like great. I loved the fact that the portrait is a video installation too.

At the Outfest screening in July 2007, the director told us "If you haven't read the book, this picture will make no sense. For those of you who have read the book, I sincerely apologize." He also said "This is a difficult film." We thought he meant difficult to make, but after seeing it we realize he meant difficult to watch. He said his intent was to remake "The Picture of Dorian Gray" with the gay undertone highlighted. For whatever reason, he chose to throw out conventional film narrative style and make an experimental film. The result is dream-like, confusing, and disjoint. It's a hard film to make sense of, even if one knows the story well. If you aren't already familiar with the story, you'll have no idea what is going on.

The film does succeed in making explicit the gay subtext of the story and previous adaptations, but don't expect a conventional film.

Just saw this picture at Outfest and I absolutely loved it. Don't have a clue what the folks here are talking about. But as they say an opinion is like an ass, everybody has one and there are too many pretentious ones here who believe to be the worlds film critics. The film was eloquent,lyrical, poetic and very artistic. I saw and loved Duncan's previous work AKA and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have seen several versions of Dorian Gray and found this one to be original, entertaining and disturbing. I applaud the filmmaker for his innovative choices and I know, not hope, that this film will get distribution and released in theatres for I happen to work for a film distribution company, so most other distributors would be doing us a favor if they choose to go with the other negative comments here. I'd be more than happy to bring this version of Dorian Grey to screens. I look forward to Duncan's future great works.

I agree with the first poster. I was also in the audience last night and expected far better than what was shown. If the director hadn't said the film took place in 1990, one would have never known. (Besides, the art scene in Manhattan was over at that point, having peaked before the market crash in the late 80s). And to equate AIDS with getting old is an insult. The acting was uneven and some of the musical choices weren't inspiring. It was just plain dull! I think the applause was polite, out of respect for the director and actor in attendance, but I agree it was a mad dash for the exits..... Certainly not a movie for the multi-plex or the art houses, but one to go straight to DVD.