Research: Barthes Codes in Film Openings (Dorian Gray)

Dorian Gray (2009)

Clip up to 6:00 mins

1.  Identify the key actions within the opening - what kinds of actions are included and how is the narrative moved forward?

The first key action is a young man violently stabbing something we cannot see, and blood spurting all over him. We can than assume that time was skipped to the next scene, either back or forwards, when we see a carriage driving someone somewhere, then the same young man arriving somewhere looking bemused and excited, signifying to the audience that he has just arrived in a new place. The camera follows him as he explores this new place, then cuts to an aerial shot of some houses, then moves down to show the young man arriving at this house, allowing the narrative to move forward from him arriving in the new town to settling into his new home. The next action is the young man playing the piano at the house, and the narrative cleverly moves on from this by dissolving this scene into another where he is playing piano at some kind of event. We then see the young man meeting lots of new people, showing us that he is being introduced into society and that time has passed since he first arrived in town. The next action is the young man standing whilst another man is painting him, which is clearly a very key action in this film as it is based on the book The Picture of Dorian Gray.

2.  Identify the enigma codes within the opening - what kinds of questions are posed and how is the audience meant to read these codes?

The biggest question posed is of course what Dorian is stabbing at the very beginning of the sequence, as it isn’t a very normal, accepted action, so that clip is definitely placed there for extreme enigma. The rest of the story, we expect, will lead up to an explanation of who he was stabbing and why, and the audience are meant to wonder this throughout the whole film until the answer is revealed. We are also wondering where he has come from, as he seems very mysterious, and how he now owns this huge house in a different city.

                                                    
3.  Identify key characters and think about what they represent in the opening

We can tell within a few minutes that the main character is the young man stabbing something at the beginning, and we assume that he is the titular character, Dorian Gray. He seems to represent mystery, as he is a new character in town and we know nothing of his back story or why he’s come to London. He also represents someone seemingly perfect with sinister secrets, as he seems very handsome, rich and popular, but from the very first scene we know that he definitely has a dark side. We are also briefly introduced to another key character, Basil, and all we know so far is that he is a painter and a new friend of Dorian. The audience is curious as to why he is painting Dorian, and how much he knows about this mystery new man.

4. Interpret the cultural codes in the opening.  What kind of knowledge is being drawn on? social/historical/political/art and culture etc.  Highlight the 3 most important references in the opening that help with audience understanding.

This film already draws on cultural codes, as it is based on a famous novel written by Oscar Wilde, so most people will already know something about the story, or at least when it’s set, from the book itself.  The only other real cultural code in this opening is when a man says, “Welcome to London,” so viewers will obviously know where London is and immediately associate the places in this film with the London they know about.

5.  Identify key themes and analyse how they are presented visually/technically.

Some of the key themes are secrets and evil, presented to us very clearly in the first scene when Dorian is shown stabbing someone and covered in blood, straight away giving the audience an uneasy feeling. This scene along with the creepy music and the dark mise-en-scene clearly represents these themes. Corruption is also a key theme, and already we can see that by the contrast between the sinister Dorian and the innocent Dorian, arriving in London for the first time, fill of hope and excitement. Another more obvious key theme is art, and the portrayal of people through artwork, and we can tell this straightaway by the introduction of Basil the painter, and the shot of lots of different sketches of Dorian (5:04 mins).