AllMovie

Dorian Gray (Italian: Il dio chiamato Dorian) aka The Sins of Dorian Gray is a 1970 movie adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray starring Helmut Berger. The Italian title translates as A God Called Dorian. Directed by Massimo Dallamano, the film stresses the decadence and eroticism of the story and changes the setting to early 1970s London. The sexual liberation of the late 1960s and early 1970s provides a fitting backdrop for Dorian's escapades in this version, and also the general clothing and fashion style of the era is extrapolated into a 1970s version of the aesthetic, decadent world of the 1890s novel. Critical opinion of the film is decidedly mixed. On the one hand, some consider the film trash and sexploitation, while others point out that the film was shot at a unique time in the 20th century when a new openness about sexuality and its depiction on film allowed showing scenes only vaguely hinted at in the novel and earlier (and also later) movie adaptations. A marked difference between this version and the novel is the final scene. Instead of Dorian slicing the painting with the knife (thereby inadvertently killing himself), he is seen committing suicide with the knife deliberately.