The Personal History of David Copperfield
Directed by Armando Ianucci
Review written by Owen Selby
To be perfectly honest, when I first heard about The Personal History of David Copperfield I thought it was a film about the magician, having never heard of his literary counterpart. But if ever there was a film to inspire me to brush-up on my Charles Dickens, then this is it — a fantastic dramedy which is superbly directed by Armando Ianucci (The Thick of It, The Death of Stalin), and possesses an array of talented actors who are all clearly having a lot of fun with a fast-moving script that contains plenty of laughs and peculiar characters.
The plot covers the topsy-turvy life of David Copperfield, who is born into a well-off family. Raised by his mother and family maid, David has a happy childhood up until his mother remarries to a cruel business owner who has ideas over the place of a child which contrast wildly to what David is accustomed to. From this initial conflict, David’s life sees him move between being rich and poor, living in London, going to boarding school and visiting a literal boat-house on the sea, all the while honing his creative abilities as he tries to be a writer, with his tales being greatly inspired by the various life experiences he has gone through.
Dev Patel is wonderful as David, and as the role calls for him to continuously imitate other characters’ mannerisms and speaking style he does so effortlessly, making it feel like an organic part of David’s character and seamlessly slotting these impersonations into scenes and conversations. Patel is excellent at being consistently likeable as we see his character get tested, and having to endear himself to others in order to be able to adapt and thrive in whatever situation he finds himself in. In a supporting cast which includes the likes of Tilda Swinton, Ben Whishaw, Gwendoline Christie and Benedict Wong, all of whom are on top form and give life and depth to their characters even though they don’t have that much screen-time, Hugh Laurie was the stand-out to me. Laurie’s character is an eccentric who is of the belief that the thoughts of the deceased King Edward have transplanted themselves into his own brain. Laurie’s performance is constantly heartfelt and hilarious, and his delivery of dialogue is splendid. Similarly, you can almost see Peter Capaldi literally chewing up and spitting out Dickensian lines which seem perfectly made for an actor of his qualities. Finally, I’ll give mention to Aneurin Barnard as Steerforth, who isn’t a particularly big name but I’d say is definitely destined to be regularly popping up in award-winning films in future years, building off the back of his role in this and Dunkirk.
Whilst not doing a deep dive into every one, the film touches upon a number of themes which I’m sure are carry-overs from the novel, and the fact that it contains so much speaks to why it’s a literary work still worthy of adaptation today. Central to the story is class, as David experiences both poverty and wealth, and most interesting in my opinion is the question of identity. David accepts various nicknames given to him by different individuals who want him to fit into their world, and it is left somewhat ambiguous as to whether or not David is happy to fulfil these different ‘roles’ in order to be accepted, and a big question is whether or not this hampers his ability to form a strong self-identity. Depression and typical Victorian-era child abuse are present, but Ianucci’s directing style ensures that whilst these moments aren’t glossed over the film doesn’t get bogged down in melancholy, preferring instead to continue zipping along to the next situation, humourous or otherwise. It’s a balancing act, not only tonally but also with the large group of characters, and for three-quarters of the film the balance is flawless. The ending is a bit rushed though, as the film scrambles to tie up all loose ends and put a nice bow on everything for the ending. This was the only disappointing aspect for me, as the film lost the breathing space it had possessed earlier on, and as a result I didn’t find some characters’ resolutions satisfying, particularly the romantic aspect which isn’t allowed to naturally reach a resolution, but is almost treated as a footnote in a closing montage.
Overall, I highly recommend this film, and it’s definitely one of the best theatrical offerings right now. The film zips along from place-to-place, character-to-character, never letting up with the humour and wonderful dialogue. Ianucci was the perfect choice to adapt this literary tale, and to me the film’s tone really did reflect life — although at the present moment, it’s a lovely bit of escapism which side-steps the depressing aspects, yet rarely cheapening the emotional beats and character moments. That’s a really difficult balance to pull off, and Ianucci deserves a lot of credit for his work here.
Verdict: 4.5/5
The Personal History of David Copperfield is out now in theatres.
