The Personal History of David Copperfield. (PG.)
Directed by Armando Iannucci.
Starring Dev Patel, Peter Capaldi, Ben Whishaw, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Aneurin Barnard and Morfydd Clark. 120 mins
I was at a slight disadvantage at the press screening of this Dickens adaptation: apart from a few Vloggers, I was probably the only person in the cinema who was wondering what would happen in the end. Terrible admission, but I've never read any Dickens.
Many, many years ago I went to see a screen talk given by Withnail & I writer/ director Bruce Robinson. It was very entertaining, full of insight, humour and scabrous gossip, especially about Franco Zefferelli. But the most shocking thing for me though was the revelation that his favourite writer was Charles Dickens: it had honestly never occurred to me that Dickens could be a pleasure rather than a duty or a BBC early evening plod. But after Armando Iannucci's film adaptation of one of his most famous novels, it all seems abundantly clear.
I can't imagine that many films this year will be as much fun as this. Ianucci's take is a giddy whizz through the 600+ pages of the book, a variety show filled with top turns, both comedic and dramatic. It's the usual star studded costume drama cast, but unusually energised and they all get a chance to shine.
Granted, it's possible a few dramatic strands get lost in the compression but the pleasure it takes in the source material is such that I doubt many will feel let down. It is a film that is intoxicated with language and prose.
It is just a little bit meta, a little bit Tristram Shandy, a film of a book within a book. The little directorial flourishes calling attention to this being a film work perfectly. The approach also justifies the many pieces of anachronistic casting. The recent habit of putting black and Asian faces into lace gowns and top hats in British costume dramas has always struck me as ridiculous and counterproductive. Watching them you'd think Britain had always been a multicultural paradise and that Enoch Powell and Brexit were just blips.
This though is a fancy dress party where anyone can come as whoever they want. Dev Patel, who if I'm honest I always thought of as a bit of a plank, makes for a marvellous Copperfield.
Directed by Armando Iannucci.
Starring Dev Patel, Peter Capaldi, Ben Whishaw, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Aneurin Barnard and Morfydd Clark. 120 mins
I was at a slight disadvantage at the press screening of this Dickens adaptation: apart from a few Vloggers, I was probably the only person in the cinema who was wondering what would happen in the end. Terrible admission, but I've never read any Dickens.
Many, many years ago I went to see a screen talk given by Withnail & I writer/ director Bruce Robinson. It was very entertaining, full of insight, humour and scabrous gossip, especially about Franco Zefferelli. But the most shocking thing for me though was the revelation that his favourite writer was Charles Dickens: it had honestly never occurred to me that Dickens could be a pleasure rather than a duty or a BBC early evening plod. But after Armando Iannucci's film adaptation of one of his most famous novels, it all seems abundantly clear.
I can't imagine that many films this year will be as much fun as this. Ianucci's take is a giddy whizz through the 600+ pages of the book, a variety show filled with top turns, both comedic and dramatic. It's the usual star studded costume drama cast, but unusually energised and they all get a chance to shine.
Granted, it's possible a few dramatic strands get lost in the compression but the pleasure it takes in the source material is such that I doubt many will feel let down. It is a film that is intoxicated with language and prose.
It is just a little bit meta, a little bit Tristram Shandy, a film of a book within a book. The little directorial flourishes calling attention to this being a film work perfectly. The approach also justifies the many pieces of anachronistic casting. The recent habit of putting black and Asian faces into lace gowns and top hats in British costume dramas has always struck me as ridiculous and counterproductive. Watching them you'd think Britain had always been a multicultural paradise and that Enoch Powell and Brexit were just blips.
This though is a fancy dress party where anyone can come as whoever they want. Dev Patel, who if I'm honest I always thought of as a bit of a plank, makes for a marvellous Copperfield.
