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FEATURES6 7The Nation EYE, Sunday April 25, 2010 The Nation EYE, Sunday April 25, 2010

 BY D INIDU K  ARUNANAYAKE

With his record-holding low-budgetfeatureEl Mariachi,Rob-ert Rodriguez made historyin1992as anambitiousfilmmakerof 24.With a sum of only US$7,000in hand,he provedthepos-sibilityof makingabox-officehitwhichinspired a wholegenera-tionof successiveemergingfilm-makers.Unfortunate ly,Rodriguezdidnotfueltheflameheignited,ashe waswelcomedtothe Holly-woodhigh-budget film industry.However,emulatingthedreamre-alisedbyRodriguez,ayoungfilm-makerduoisready toventureonanunprecedentedmissionintheSri Lankancinema. The Nation talksto Chinthana Dharmadasaand Udaya Dharmawardhanaabouttheirlow-budgetdebutfea-ture HowI WonderWhatYouArewhichis going tobe releasedinthefirstweekof May.

Thiswillbe anunprecedentedmoment in t he annals of SriLankan cinema. On one hand,thisisgoingto bethe first timetwo directors collaborate in asinglemajor production.On theother hand, thiswillbe thein-auguration of ‘thefirstindepen-dentSri Lankancinema’whichisat loggerheadswiththemain-stream ‘privileged’ filmmakingtradition. While unleashinganalternative filmmaking conven-tion,the directorduoisreadytoprovetheirpotentialto illustratethe darkand impenetrablecom-plexitiesof modern, urbanisedhumanlifethrougha low-budgetfilm.Undeniably,thiswillbe ale-thalblowon thecurrent ‘deadly’tradition of ‘cheap comedies’whicharecheapintermsof theirproductioncostas wellasquality.

Inspired bythe worksby WongKarWai (aninternationally re-nownedHongKongdirector)andColdPlay(a Britishalternativerockband),ChinthanaandUdayaaredeterminedtopainta storyof redapple,wineandbloodon thefabricof ahumanlifeina stateof a spiritualdeath. Havingformed

‘TheApril9 Movement’upontheconcept“when cinemabecomesyou,” the twodirectors startednurturing their owntraumaticexperienceswhichare,of course,tauntedwith‘redapple,wineandblood’onascript.

First IndependentCinemainSriLanka

Speaking of their journeyof thelow-budgetfilmmakingtradi-tionwhichistheforemoststepto-

wardsrealisingan ‘Independentcinema,’theduoishighlycriticalof the existent‘mainstream’cin-emaconventionsin SriLanka.Intheiropinion,itisthe “privilegedcinema”whichforthwithannihi-latesthe emergence of newfilm-makerswithno capital.Thereisnosuchthingcalled“acinemain-dustry”inSriLanka,theysay,foritmightnotbeimpossibleforanambitious filmmaker to realisehishopes otherwise.Therearenonetworks,formalof informalwithinthe so-calledSri Lankanfilmindustry,whichare essentialfortheprogressandsurvivalof the industry.

The gross average budget of a film isRs.10 mil lion. Incon-frontation with the seeminglyimpossible challenge of raisingsucha hugeamount,the duode-cided to bidadieuto their “cel-luloiddream:” “Wedidn’thavethekeysto unlockthe doors of thatprivilegedspace.So, wehadtothinkof alternativewaysforour cinematicexpressions. Thebest waypossible wasto decon-struct the stereotypical format.Wehadto planour projectfromthelevelof thescriptin keepingwiththe availableresources.So,weoptedfor theDV technology.Wehadto makeuse of availablelocations, andthe limitedequip-

mentwithinouraccess.Wemadeuseof thenaturallightinnaturalenvironments.Thisisa one-loca-tionfilm,andtherefore,wehadtomake itvisuallypoeticasmuchaspossibleto makeit watchable.Eventrackdollieswereused andeverythingwas filmed withthehand-held camera. However, it

addedanotherdimensionto thevisual treatment.” Significantly,thisendeavoursharesstrongsim-ilaritieswiththe politicsbehindtheFrench NewWave,launchedby legendary figures such asJean-LucGodard,FrançoisTruf-fautandEricRohmerinthelate1950s.Rejectingthe mainstreamaffluent filmmaking tradition,theyinitiatedanovelformof cin-ema via utilization of availableresources.In fact,the hand-heldcamerawasauniquecharacteris-ticof the NewWave.Thematical-ly,the NewWavedirectorsinvari-ablyselectedthe problems facedbyurbanisedFrenchlives, andcomplicationsinrelationships.

Alternative screeningsFromthe pointof scriptingup

toscreening,thefilmpositionsit-self beyondtheoutskirtsof main-streamcinema.Accordingtothe

directors,  How I Wonder What YouAre willfollowanalternativescreening traditioninauguratedby Asoka Handagama with Me Mage Sandai. Interestingly, thefilmis dedicatedto Handagamawhom thedirectorsconsider tobea heroicfigureinSriLankancinema.Theduorejectsthemain-

streamscreeningconventionbe-causeitallowsnoflatformforthecreators to be actively engagedwiththeaudience.Therefore,theyintendtogo intotheaudiencesinvariouscommunitiesaroundthecountry, andthereby to receivetheiroriginalfeedback,aswellastobe networkedwithlikemindedaudience members. Undeniably,inmyopinion,thismovewillbea groundbreaking step towardsbuilding up a cinema-cultureinSriLanka,the absenceof whichisthe rootcause of thecurrentdeadlysituation.

The film willbe screened inColomboforthe publicinthefirstweekof May.ItfeaturesPrasannaMahagamageand PoornimaMo-handiramin theleadroles,whileW.Jayasiri,and MahendraPereraincameoroles.Themusiciscom-posedby JayanthDharmaward-hanawhilethethemesongisbyIndrachapaLiyana ge.

Fallen angels?In2008,the twodirectorscol-

laborated in makingthe musicvideofor t hesongAadarebythe Super StarsingerSanka Dineth. InspiredbyRobert Rodriguez’sSinCity, thevideo featuredtwo

‘fallen angels’ (in a literalsense,becausethe twoloversfallfroma high-risebuildingtobecomeangels), andthis wasalandmarkin theSri Lankanmu-sicvideo traditionin terms of narrative and conceptual treat-ment.

Theobsessionwithfallenan-

gelsis extended byHow I Won-derWhatYouAreandas itstag-linesays:“Angelsdon’thear,buttheypretend.” Thestoryof thefilmiswovenarounda guywhois yearningfor connectivity, ormoreprecisely, heis lookingfor-wardto thearrivalof ‘anangel.’Eventually,an angelarriveswithcelebration, but unfortunately,sheisnotstrongenoughto keepthe celebration alive.Thus, t he filmwill analyset he i nt ri ca -cies of modernlife which area ffl ic te d w it ha bs en ce s, a ndthwarted, unre-quitedhumande-sires. Defying theconventionalcrudedepictionof harshrealities, thefilmwillro-

manticise pain, in linewithitsmissionof initiatinga cinemaof redapple,wineandblood.

Withthe premiere aroundthecorner,the director-duolookstri-umphant.Theyhavesuccessfullymanipulateda ‘hierarchical’sys-tem,andtheyhavea reasontobehappy.Theyare gratefultoChan-naDeshapriyaforprovidingthemwit h t he equipment , and alsoto Endless World,a production

companyfor handling post-pro-duction.They arehopeful aboutthefuture,andalsoareawareof therepercussionsof theiract of subversion: “Forus,this wasasuicidal mission, and from thebeginning,we were readyto becalled‘cinematerrorists.’Wehadtoopt foranalternativewavebe-causewehadno otheroption.”

 

When angels only pretendThe emergence of a cinema of red apple, wine and blood: Will this be the revival we have been waiting for? 

The directors

Udaya DharmawardhanaHaving studied photography under Lal Hegoda,

and later, film-directing under Prasanna Withanage,Udaya studied cinema in India. He is one of the mostprominent local music video directors at present.Currently, he is directing his second film Les Papil-lions Noirs, a French-Sri Lankan production.

Chinthana Dharmadasa Agraduate of the Peradeniya University, Chintha-

na began his career as a film critic and script writer.He also studied cinema under Prasanna Vithanage.His first short film Afterwards , He Fell Sleep won hima one-year scholarship of filmmaking at highly reput-ed Lodz Film School, Poland. He is also the co-scriptwriter of  Alone in a Valley  by Boodee Keerthisenawhich is in post-production at the moment.

Unprecedentedmoment

This will be an unprecedented moment in the annals of Sri Lankan cinema.On one hand, this is going to be the first time two directors collaborate in 

a single major production.On the other hand, this will be the inauguration of Âthe first independent Sri Lankan cinemaÊwhich is at loggerheads with the mainstream ÂprivilegedÊ filmmaking tradition 

U dayaDh armawardh an a C hinthanaDharmadasa ( Pix byRukshan Abeywansha)

With the onset of the month of May starts the wedding season.With million and one things that go into the preparation for the dream day for most young women, making gold jewellery takes a foremost place.As the purpose of gold jewellery in a marriage ceremony has a traditional significance beyond its purpose of decoration and beauty.The Nation took a walk down Sea Street, Pettah better known as the gold capital of Colombo 

 All that glitters…

 BY P ETER M  ARSHALL

Onlypartof Richard’s careerwas spent in thefeaturefilm industry- discussedin thelastedition-mostlyasa scriptwriter.Afterbecomingdisillusionedwithfeaturesdueto trickeryand bloatedegosas heputsit, heturnedto whatwasactuallyhis favouriteformoffilm-making,thedocumentary.Before work-ingin featureshe had,around1970,attendedaBrit-ishFilm Institutecourseon documentaryhistory.Asfatewouldhaveit, oneof theclassicsscreenedwas‘Songof Ceylon’byBasil Wright,whowas present.Richardquizzedhimon what itwas liketo filmin

Ceylon,unawarethatin 18months time hewouldbeworkingon theisland with LesterJamesPeirisontheGod-King.HesaysSongofCeylonwasthedocumentarythat greatlyinfluencedhis perceptionofthegenre:“Ihave vieweditdozensoftimes,giventalksonit tofilmstudents,andwrittenaboutit exten-sively,”he said.

“Igotmarriedto Sharmini,the veryfirstnewspro-duceratRupavahini,in 1984andsubsequentlyshesetup a specialistdocumentary productioncom-pany. Over a periodof 10yearsshedirected andI scripted documentaries to serviceUN-affiliated

organisations,foreignand localNGOs,educationalestablishmentsand governmentdepartments. Oneofmyfavouritesis Dr.R.L.Spittel:Surgeonof theWilderness , made in 1987forRupavahini. ItwasthenthatI gotto knowSpittle’swonderful daughter,Christine,whounfortunatelydiedrecently.”

 Adecadeof workinginthisfieldwasenoughfor Richardandthethird phaseofhis careerwasloom-ing.Hesaidhe wantedtoconcentrateonmore‘pure’writing- which scripting films anddocumentariesdidn’tinvolvedueto themedium’sstrictures.

“I’d wantedtobe a‘pure’writersincechildhood.

Infactattheage offourteenIwonsecondprizeintheBrooke BondNationalTravel ScholarshipsandEducationalAwardsin Englandfora shortstoryre-gardingan anacondaanda Mayantemple.Rather likeSongofCeylon,thiswasanotherpointerto myfuture,foryearslater Iwrotean essay, “TheAna-condaof Ceylon” ,which includesa spuriousreportofa giantanacondafound onColombo’soutskirts.PublishedinScotlandin 1768,thisfantasyprovidedthefirstinstanceof thenameanaconda,later be-stowedonseverallargeSouthAmericansnakesbutprobablyderivedfromtheSinhalahenakandaya ,the

namefora smallSriLankanspecies.“Myfirstcommissionasan author,in 1988,was

abooktitledB.PdeSilva:RoyalJewellerofSouth-EastAsia,whichrelatesthelife ofde Silva –fromMagalle,Galle–who migratedto Singaporein1872andbecametheleadingjewellerinthecity.Thebookalsodocumentsthe historyof thecompanynamedafter himthat is locatedtodayin Singapore andColombo, butwhichis nowmoreassociated withwatchesthan jewellery.”

In1990Richardwasaskedtocontribute to Ser-endib, thein-flightmagazineof whatwas thenAir 

Lanka,andhas beenwritingfor thevariouseditorsthathavecomeand goneeversince.Of course,ev-erytypeof writingrequiresdifferentmethods,differ-entapproaches,and hehad tolearnthenuancesoftravelwriting.Thisknowledgewasof tremendoushelpwhenhe becameeditorof themagazine trav-elsrilanka in2003atitsinception,ashehada teamofenthusiasticscribeswho hadlittle experience of travelwritingandneededtobe quicklysteeredin therightdirection.The magazine ceasedpublicationinlate2008due tofinancialdifficulties.

 ApartfrombeingEditorhealsowrotesome150

articlesin fiveyears, whichexhaustedthe Editor,and possible the subjectmatteralike.However,Richard’senthu-siasmseemstohaverekindledoflateandhetoldmeofhisinterestin editingasimilarpublicationin thefuture,whentourismflourishes. Fortunately DileepMudadeniya,ManagingDirectorof theSri Lanka TouristPromotionBureau,recognisedthe strengthsof themaga-zineandnowthe textof all59 issuesof travelsrilanka isavailableon theSriLankaTourismwebsite.

Inthe mid-90sRicharddecidedthat hewantedtobecomearegularfeaturecontributortoanewspaper toshowcasehisworkfora SriLankan readershipanddecided on TheSunday Times. “Whoknows,”hesaidto mewithasmile,“todayI mayhavechosenTheNation! ”Since1996hehasbombardedthere-silientFeaturesEditorwitharticleson virtuallyeverySriLankansubjectimaginable.

From 1999 to2005 hegainedvaluable experi-ence inreviewingbooks- particularlythosewithaSriLankaassociation - forthe prestigious Times

HigherEducationSupplement inLondon.Bookssuchas Christo-pherOndaatje’sWoolfin Ceylon, Yasmine Gooneratne’s analysisofTheVillagein theJungle, JohnFalconerand IsmethRaheem’sRegeneration: A Reappraisal of Photography in Ceylon, 1850–1900,D.J. McConnell’sThe For-estFarmsof Kandyand Other  Gardens of Complete Design,and JamesL.A. Webb’sTropical

Pioneers:HumanAgencyand EcologicalChangeintheHighlandsofSri Lanka,1800–1900.

In2000theEditorofthe TimesHigherEducationSupplement  forwardedto Richardan appealfromtheOxford EnglishDictionaryfor volunteers to as-sistwiththerevisionof thesecondeditionthatwouldresultin thethirdedition.He answeredthe callfromColombowiththerequest,readilyaccepted,thatherestricthis researchto wordsofSri Lankanoriginor association- SriLankan English.In2001 and2002hereadmanydescriptivebooksandnovelsaboutSriLankafromRobertKnox’s AnHistoricalRelationof 

Ceylon toMichael Ondaatje’sAnil’s Ghost,search-ingfor referencesto the90-oddSri LankanEnglishwordsinthe OxfordEnglishDictionary.Histaskwastoprovide a greater rangeof illustrativequotationsfromliterature,suggestrevision of definitions, anddiscoverantedatingquotations that provedwordswerefirstusedpriortothe dategiveninthediction-ary.Tenyearslaterheis still involved– infactthework isprojectedtolast36 years,so he’ll needtopassthebatonto someoneelse, sometime!

ItwasRobertKnox, ofcourse,whowas theorigi-natorof Sri LankanEnglish.Twenty-oddwordsin-troducedto theEnglishlanguagebyhim appearinthedictionary,themost recogniseduniversallybeingBuddha,poojaand rattan.RichardBoyle’sresearchresultedin thebook– althoughit’smoreof aglos-sary- calledKnox’sWords:Astudyof thewordsof SriLankanoriginor associationfirstused inEnglishliteraturebyRobertKnoxand recordedin theOxfordEnglishDictionary.Itwaspublishedin 2004.

Sincethemid-1990sheworkedtowardsthecom-pilationofathemedcollectionofpreviouslypublishedarticles, revisedand expanded.It tooka longtime,forSindbad inSerendib:Strange talesand curious

aspectsofSri Lankawasnot publisheduntil2008.Itconsistsof 15essays.The title essay,“SindbadinSerendib”,exploresSindbadthe Sailor’saccountofSerendibin the1001ArabianNights.Remarkableforitsdetail andaccuracy,Sindbad’staleshowsthatlong-distancesailors andtraderswere familiarwiththeislandin antiquity.

“Horace Walpole, Serendipityand The ThreePrinces” examinesa 16th-centuryVenetiantalethat,althoughitunfolds inIndia ratherthanSerendib,in-spiredWalpole’s1754 coinageof thefashionable-indeedhackneyed-wordserendipity.

“Mulgirigala:Rockof Ages” revealsa hithertoun-documentedportrayalofa gravestonereferredtoas Adam’sTomb,drawnaround1766.This tomb,sup-posedlylocatednear Mulgirigala,is inscribedin anunknownlanguage, thus providingarchaeologistsandepigraphistswithapeculiarmysterytosolve.

“TheAnacondaofCeylon” hasalreadybeenmen-tioned.There’salso anessayon a giant squid.In1874,the LondonTimes featured a first-hand ac-countof anattackbya giantsquidontheschooner Pearl,whichhadsailedfromGalle,offthe island’seastcoast.Yetalthoughthe incidentwaswitnessed

bythose aboarda passingsteamer, “TalesofGiant Squid” revealsthat,strangely,norecordof thePearlhasbeenfound.

Theconcludingessay, “C.G.Jung’sFieldof Vi-sion”,bringsusinto morerecenttimeswiththe psy-chologist’s 1934visit toSri Lankaand subsequentnear-deathexperience,in whichhe imaginedfloat-ingin spaceabovethe island.AlthoughJungwrotehisautobiographybeforehumankindenteredspace,hisconvincingdescriptionofearthorbitforeshadowsastronauts’ accounts.

Duringthe past twoyearsRichardhas beena

regularcontributor ofSri Lankamaterialto Book-dealermagazine in theUK andthe subconti-nental publicationHimalSouthasian,whichisheadquarteredin Kathmandu ofall places.Buthismainaimatthistimeistocompletetwonewbooks.Thefirstis a collectionof revampedfilmessaystitledThereShould Have Been Ghosts,butWeren’t.

Moreimportant,though,is acollectionof BritishinteractionswithCeylon/SriLanka– imaginary,bio-graphicaland historical– tentativelytitled ZeylanicaBritannica .This work,Richardhopesto publishin

England.It containssome essayson fascinatingcharacterssuchasthe “GreatBeast666”,theoccult-istAleister Crowley; theVictorianactress andmis-tressof GeorgeBernardShaw, FlorenceFarr;theinfamous“Bloody”MaryPalliser;andhis greatfriendMikeWilson,whobecameSwamiSiva Kalki.

 Allinall, RichardBoyle’scareerhasbeenas di-verseas ithas beeninteresting,thoughthroughouttheman’srecollectionsof hislife’swork,onethingaboveall elseis clearlyevident.Thefactthata manbornin England, isnow,as much asanything

The life and times of a self-confessed Lankaphile: Part Two

At theannualart competition held amongemployeesof thePeople’s Bank,organisedby thePeople’sBank Art Circle,SunandaKodagodaof the People’sBank West ZoneIIwonthe award forbest lyricist forhis song,‘Budunwandinaath osawadepa wandimiamme.’Healsowona specialaward forthe‘VinodaRasanga’publication.

People’sBank’sAnnualArt Day washeld recently at theElphinstoneTheatrewiththeparticipationof itsChairmanW.Karunajeewa,CEO/MDP.V.Pathirana andotherofficialsof theBank.

Onthat day,the winnersof thevariouscompetitionsconducted by thePeople’sBankArt Circleto select theBest Lyrics,BestPoem,Best Short Story,Best Drama,BestArt,Photography,etc.,were presented withawards.

Sunanda wins ‘BestLyricist’ award

 BY S ARASI P ARANAMANNA 

Gold hasbeen thesymbolof wealth and successthroughout history and wearing gold jewellerymeant that apersonis of statusand classin oldentimesand,in fact thecrownof themonarchwhichsignifiessovereignty and supremacy of the statewasmadeout of gold.

However,with changing of timesgold jewelleryhasbecome anessential itemfor joyousoccasionsand SeaStreet,being thegold smith’sstreet inPet-tah,hasbecomea populardestinationfor jewel-lery loversin SriLanka.

InSouthAsianweddingsgold is themost valu-able and important aspect as the very bond be-tweenthecoupleis signified throughgoldenwed-ding band and everyonewhocomes tothe occasion

expectsthe bride tobe festooned and adorned ingold jewellery.Withthe wedding seasoncoming ahead in the

monthof May many peopleare looking forwardto purchasegold jewellery and theSea Street be-comesa busy hustling placewith the growing de-mand.Hence, TheNation visited SeaStreet tofindoutabout thisglitzy trade.

Best dealWhenwalking along theSeaStreet passing bou-

tiquelike jewellery storesand grand showrooms,onecan seethe busy businessmenand shopperswandering about going from store tostoreto getthe best deal.Mostly,these shopperswho admirethemagnificent worksof art underthe brightlylit fluorescent lightsare theladies whohavecometopurchase jewellery forbrides and thesalesmen

exhibit the jewellery that are neatly placed in velvetcasingswith intricatedetails, showing excellentwork-manship.

Theart of making gold jewellery hasa history inSriLanka.According to thetraditionalsystem,the gold-smithhastoput thegold ina crucibletong inordertomelt it.The goldsmithsheat it untilthe melting pointarrivesand they pourthe melted gold intothe ingotmould to get thedesired shapeand workonthe jewel-lery todrawdesigns.

However,the processhaschanged withthedevelop-ment of technology.

ErandaSilva the jewellery designerof Muthukaru-panChettiyarexplained howthelatestsystemof gold

  jewellery making works.Nowwith thenew tech-nology thegoldsmithsareawareof themeltingpoint ingold and accordingly they heat thegoldunderthe melting temperature of 1945ºF. Thecasting isdone by an electronic systemand thecasting machinepoursthe melted gold intoawaxmould and by the rolling millor by hammeringthey get aspecific shapeto designthe jewellery.Thenewelectronic systemallowsthetraderstoproducejewellery withlower timeconsumption,wastageand it givesthejewellery afinefinishingtouch. Eranda Silva told usthat the gold jewel-lery ismachinecut and the craftsmanaddstherefined designsby hand toadd morequality and

lustreto thejewellery.Malleable goldThe purest formof gold is24 carat which

meansthe24 partsin gold arepuregold withoutany tracesof othermetal.Speaking toThe Na-tionErandaSilvasaid thatthemost popularoneis22 caratin SriLanka.22 caratgold being 91.3%inpurity is popularin jewellery making becauseintricatedesignscan bebeautifully carved asit issoft and malleable.Eventhoughit issoft, 22 caratgold jewellery doesnot get damaged quickly andcanbeworn foryears.Thesoftestt ypewould be24caratgold and the hardest would be10 carat goldasit has 41.6 percent of gold and therest isother

kindsof metals usually harderthan gold and itisthesemetalthat givesdifferent coloursto thegold (whitegold,rosegold).Howeverthe Euro-peansprefer 18 carat jewellery whilethe MiddleEasterncustomersgo mostly forthe 21 carat gold

 jewellery.Being one of the oldest jewellers inSeastreet,Muthukarupan Chettiyarwhichhasbeenestablished in1933 servesalltypesof cus-tomersand hasbeen inthetradelong enoughtoknowthetastesof thecustomers.Inthemonthsof May and June the demand fornecklaces andringsrise and according to Eranga, Muthuka-rupanChettiyar hasa big demand fornecklaceswhichhaveelaboratelustrousdesigns during thewedding season.

Part of dowryThe Tamil customersmostly purchase gold

 jewellery forweddings t o adorn t hebrideaswellasto present the dowry. They alsodemandglamorousBombay designsfort heir“thali kodi”(bride’snecklace).According to a Hinduritual,the bride’sfamily buysjewellery on an auspi-ciousday whichis called “akshayatinitiya” and

thisyearit has fallenin May and thegold jewellersareexpecting fairbusinesson the auspicious dayasmost brides-to-becometo Seastreet on that day.TheMuslim community purchase“savadi”for theirbrides and the Sinhala customerschoosealluringdesignsforthe brides’necklacecommonly knownas“KaraMalaya.” 

Gold jewellery and Asianweddings arebonded to-gethervery wellbecauseasa socialnormand tradi-tionthe bride’snecklaceismade out of gold and with

theintegrationwestern culture theexchanging of wedding ringshas giventhe gild jewellera good op-portunity and withdemand fornecklacesthedemandforwedding bandsalsorise during the wedding sea-son.Ladies,eventhoughthereisnowedding,willal-wayslookforward to apairof earringsora pendantbecausejewellery istheir best friend.Thus,the everdazzling tradewillnot go archaic as long asladieswillhavean eyefor glitterand glamour.

 BY P ETER M  ARSHALL

Theonly novelOscarWildeeverpenned becamea classicalmost onpublicationbackin1890.Overtheyearsit hasbeenadapted tofilmnumeroustimes.This latest adaptationisby DirectorOliverParker andfeaturesa star-studded cast,including anOscarnominatedturnby ColinFirth.

Thetimeless retelling of whatisessentially aFaustian taleof amanwhosellshissoultothedevilonly towishhe could buyit back,starsColin Firth,BenBarnesinthe titleroleand BasilHallward.

Thefilmisset inVictorianEngland whereFirth playsthedevilsadvocateto DorianGray’spleasant,wellmannered andhandsomeyoung man.SlowlyFirth,as Lord Henry,beginstowork onhis subject,persuadinghimthat alifeof libertineviceisfarpreferabletothe‘dull’alternativeof goodnessandvirtue.The only twothingsworthhaving,he proclaims,areyouthand beauty.’SoonGray ispartaking inheavy drinking andvacating brothels,despite beingengaged toa young lady at thetime.

Meanwhile,Dorian’sfriendBasilHallward,an artist,paintsaportrait of thehandsomeyoung man,aportrait thatallDorian’sfriendsagreeisaperfect likeness.Thecrux of thestory isthat afteran off-the-cuff comment about throwing awayhissoul forpleasure.As Dorian’sspirit becomesmoreand morecorrupted and rottenby hislifestyle,it isthe painting thatrepresentsthe corruptionof hissouland thedecomposition of hisspirit,whileheisunaffectedby hisactions,eventothepointof not aging withtime.

PerhapsDorian’sgreatestmoraloutrage,apartfromataparty whenheseducesayoung girland thenher mothersomemomentslateriswhenheviolently killsBasil aftertheartist realisesthetruthof what ishappening,t hendumpshisdismembered corpsein the

RiverThames,desperate tokeephissecret.

It isyears later,whenDorian’sold acquaintanceshaveall agedbut Dorianof coursehasnotaged at all,that hefalls inlovewithLord Henry’sdaughterEmily Wotton,played wellbyRebeccaHall.Lord Henry,amanwho may havetalked likealibertine but wholacked thecourageto followhisconvictionsisnow horrified that themonsterhe’screated hasdesiresforhis child.

Theperformances aresolidenoughthoughthemainfailing of the filmisthefactthat themoraleof thetaleisalltoo obvious,that unbridledhedonistic excesseventuallybringsabout therevellersdownfalland that thisnewrenditiondoesn’t offerenoughof a newdirectiontoaddanything that theaudiencedoesn’t expect.On theplus side,thespecial affectsare refreshingintheeconomy of theiruse;audienceshavegrown soused tofilmsbeing drivensolely by thequality of theCGI content it willcomeas arefreshing surprisetohavea filmthat usesitsvisualwizardry tounderpin thefilm,and not makeit. That said,themid sectionof thefilmdoesdrag

alittle and wholething hasthefeelof a novelthat could havebeenwrapped up adequately inashort story,

Not asgood astheclassicnovel,but stillanexciting pieceof cinema(nonetheless)withsomeadequate performances,and onegreatoneby ColinFirth.

The Pictureof DorianGrayThe Classic Oscar Wilde story’s latest incarnation on film