"Beauty has the divine right to rule, and whoever owns it is the prince."
- Oscar Wilde
one
"Dorian Gray", a 2009 British film, a beautiful drama. Because it was adapted from Oscar Wilde's only novel, a wonderful work that has written beauty to the extreme and into the bone marrow. Some are amazed, some are contemptuous, those who love it are stunned, and those who hate it are abandoned.
Adapting Wilde's work is a thankless task, and his readers are the hardest audiences to please. Because once the abstract beauty is embodied, there will always be people who feel lost, and the original style is too grand, it is difficult to reproduce it.
There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand eyes, and a thousand Dorian Grays in a thousand eyes. Although the film is difficult to adjust, the consensus is basically reached: the British actor Ben Barnes, who wins with his face, is well-equipped, and highly restores Dorian Gray's shocking beauty.
Wilde's Dorian Gray is the masterpiece of God, who gave him all the good in the world. His face is adorned with ivory and rose petals, his porcelain-like skin is like no other human fireworks, his blood vessels are a noble blue, his eyes are full of brilliance, bordered by black jade, and every time his rose-colored lips are touched, it seems is asking for a kiss.
Wilde said, "I can resist anything in this world, except temptation."
However, the world is full of temptations, beauty, money, and power, all of which deceive people. Old-school English gentleman Colin Firth, played by Lord Henry like Wilde, seduces Dorian Gray, a freshman in Vanity Fair, with a cigarette.
The talented painter sees the beauty of the world and the prosperity of the world. The stunningly beautiful theater actor has seen countless people, and has seen all kinds of men and people, but he has a special liking for him, and his love is deeply rooted. Noble and dignified girls and ladies are willing to become his lovers together, and the elegant banquets of the upper class are staged with unsightly scenes. Not to mention the other Yingying Yanyan who go through the motions, but it is a splendid history of Dorian Gray's love affair in the rolling red dust without even his name being recorded.
An inadvertent pleasure-seeking before the engagement gave Dorian Gray the first taste of the ultimate pleasure of depravity, and completely sold his soul. Behind the indulgence is the abyss of suffering. At the cost of his young and beautiful life, his lover, Sybil, is driving on his depraved and rotten road, but he cannot stop him from falling into the trap of desire.
With his thrilling beauty, Dorian Gray is able to navigate the forest of sensuality and lust with ease. His peerless elegance is unparalleled in the world, both men and women, young and old, all surrender to his impeccable peerless beauty. A man with such a face is meant to lead people to commit crimes and send them to hell. Narcissus was transformed into Don Juan, and everyone in the aristocratic society he lived in was obsessed with his ageless handsome face, and the air exuded a rotten breath, one woman after another, even Basel, who created his moving portrait finally conquered by him.
Feasting and feasting, ferociously twisted. All things in the world are suffering. Humans have original sin, and this original sin is human self, human nature itself. In this sense, everyone is Dorian Gray. Everyone has suppressed evil desires in their hearts. The huge energy of the id is released in a special context, like an atomic bomb dropped on the vast Gobi Desert, and its destructive power is like a mushroom cloud that rises in an instant. Dorian Gray was as beautiful as a poppy. The more beautiful he was, the greater the destructive power of evil. Behind a beautiful body was a pale and bloodless soul. This flower of evil blooms in extravagant materialistic desires, as if knowing that it can only bloom for one summer, so I try my last bit of strength, the more beautiful, the more depraved, the more depraved, the more beautiful it is.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that the plot of same-sex love in the original book "The Picture of Dorian Gray" was tragically abridged when it was published, and only vaguely and implicitly showed the painter Basel's obsession and affection for Dorian Gray; the film "Dorian Gray" "Lian Gray" dared to face it directly, and unabashedly brought Basel and Dorian Gray's love-hate relationship to the screen.
Wilde was a pioneer of the times and a martyr of beauty. Being immoral is just the social norm of ordinary people, and it is always a different matter for geniuses.
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For Oscar Wilde, there has always been a lingering complex. This Victorian aesthetic master, who pursued beauty as his life career, lived a short life of 46 years, living a pure and noble life.
The British literary world in the 19th century was like a dazzling galaxy, giving birth to bright stars such as Byron, Shelley, Keats, Dickens, etc. Their amazing talents were radiant, but no one was more charming than Wilde. In the world of English writing, his language is at its peak and perfect, especially his enthusiasm and obsession with beauty, which make his writing fascinating and captivating as if full of magic.
"The Portrait of Dorian Gray" was created at the peak of Wilde's life, and he devoted too much effort to it. Regarding the three important characters in the novel, Wilde once said, "Basel is my image in my mind, Dorian Gray is my desired image, and Lord Henry is my image in the eyes of the world."
The painter Basel is as skilled and talented as Wilde. He pursues pure artistic beauty and is the creator of beautiful works; the eternal youth Dorian Gray is the embodiment of Wilde's lifelong pursuit of beauty and the source of his creative inspiration; Lord Henry Bohemian, cynical, radiating wisdom all over his body, often speaking amazingly, revealing the secrets, Wilde chose to use his mouth to preach and express his unique philosophy of life.
The painter Basel, Dorian Gray and Lord Henry are the three personalities split by Wilde, three inseparable aspects of one body. The superego, the id and the ego are struggling in a person's flesh, but the same blood flows, and a complete three-dimensional Wilde is constructed.
When it comes to "Dorian Gray", it is almost inevitable to compare it with another BBC biographical film "Wilde" ("Wilde"). It was clearly a stroke of genius. Jude Law's Percy, the lily of the lilies, is a real-life version of Dorian Gray. He steps out of the portrait to give us another perspective, from which we can glimpse the deeper inner qualities of Wilde's character creation.
Western culture is keen to explore the relationship between soul and body, as did Faust, as did Dorian Gray. The same is true for the relationship between beauty and morality. In this regard, Wilde has a firm attitude and a clear-cut stand. Beauty has nothing to do with morality. Beauty does not need explanation and does not allow doubts. Wilde himself also lived a shocking life in the game of beauty and morality.
Whether in the Victorian era or in 2017, true beauty is a scarce resource, and its preciousness lies in its rarity and inhumanity. And the real secret of life lies in finding and discovering beauty, so it is not difficult to explain how many people spend their whole lives pursuing beauty and obsessed with beauty at all costs.
The tree of life is evergreen, but theory is always grey. No matter how grand the theory is, the works used to explain the vivid beauty and beauty seem pale and powerless. Not to mention Wilde, who flouted the rules all his life, who was almost destined to be laughed at by him. Meanness is the prerogative of the wise. Compared with the tolerant and stupid good-natured man, the sharp-toothed and sharp-tongued man is obviously more attractive. Such as Qian Zhongshu, such as Wilde. Even if his chest hurts from choking on their words, he can't stop the love in his heart and can't resist this strong attraction.
Beauty and genius are outside the rules.
Fiction is art, and film is art. The core of art is beauty, and beauty is the miracle of miracles. Even in prison, in the last days of his life, Wilde was still in the corner of the well, with a bright heart and unswerving pursuit of beauty.
Beauty only means beauty and nothing else. Beauty is no more superficial than thought.
100 years later, Wilde Yuan's tombstone in the Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France, was covered with lips and admiration, like the best footnote for his tragic life. It can be seen how many people in the world love him as much as I do. Beauty is eternal and always desirable, and in any age, there is no shortage of true admirers.
These are enough to explain everything.
About the author: Daomai Qinghua, born in Beijing, master of literature and art, columnist, likes reading books, movies and watching the world. Maybe you say I'm just a dreamer, but I believe that one day you will be moved.
This article was published on the personal original WeChat public account: Daomaiqinghua (daomaiqinghua). Welcome to pay attention!
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