The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)

Poster Description: David Copperfield (Dev Patel) stands beside a turquoise-panelled wall where the film title hovers. Copperfield wears a high white collar, a blue silk cravat, and a dark jacket. He inclines his head with a small smile as loose illustrations float around him.

At the risk of sounding like a total snob, I have enjoyed some classic literature throughout my life. JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth stole my heart and imagination as a child, and Charlotte and Emily Brontë fed my teenage brain with brooding landscapes (and, ahem, male “heroes”). Likewise, I reclaimed my love of Shakespeare as an adult with my grandad’s copy of his Complete Works, BBC’s The Hollow Crown, and my beloved acting group. There is, however, one author I have yet to truly explore.

With his finger firmly on the pulse of social injustice in 19^th-century society, Charles Dickens should be right up my street. But, studying the first few chapters of Great Expectations in high school, Pip’s over-stuffed explanation for why he was so named turned me off completely.

Then a film premiered on Channel 4 a few months ago, The Personal History of David Copperfield. Directed by Armando Iannucci, it may have changed my mind about not delving into Dickens’ work.

With a kind mother, and a devoted nanny, David Copperfield (Ranveer Jaiswal) has a happy start in life. However, it all changes when his mother marries the menacing Mr. Murdstone, who ships young David to his bottle factory in London. We follow David as he grows up (now played by Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire) and the strange variety of people he meets along the way.

My local news was excitable during its filming in 2018 because The Personal History...was shot around rural Suffolk and Norfolk. Coupled with Suzie Harman’s costumes, there is a certain quaintness that doesn’t feel old-fashioned. I particularly enjoyed the decision to introduce flashbacks and montages through projections on a sheet or screen. Not only was it pleasantly reminiscent of the narrative tools used in the Paddington movies (I thoroughly recommend them, by the way), it suggests the ease with which the film could be shown on stage, which I have never seen before. In keeping with recent costume dramas like Bridgerton, we have a colour-blind cast, but it doesn’t detract from the characters.

Patel is charming as Copperfield, and while it is frustrating to watch our hero lie his way into high society, you don’t stop rooting for his happiness. As for the other characters, they’re all weirdly wonderful, and the casting choices are spot-on. Mr. Dick (played by the ever-brilliant Hugh Laurie) is burdened by the thoughts of King Charles I in his head. Though perhaps suffering from an undiagnosed mental health issue, Mr. Dick is treated with care and respect by the people around him. Even Tilda Swinton’s Betsy Trotwood, impatient and hilariously neurotic whenever donkeys are concerned, cares for him as a family can – looking fabulous in a homemade bee-suit while she’s at it. With Copperfield’s help and ingenuity, Dick regularly writes down Charles I’s thoughts and takes them for a ride on his kite. David’s Nanny Peggotty (Daisy May Cooper, The Witchfinder) knows how to turn a phrase, and most bewilderingly, Morfydd Clark plays both David’s mother and his love interest, Dora Spenlow.

In keeping with the film’s contemporary vibe, costume designers Suzie Harman and Robert Worley avoided the usual styles of most Dickens adaptations. Instead, focusing more on the book illustrations from Phiz and Cruickshank, they were inspired by the photographic process widely used in Dickens’ time and the more eccentric fashion choices in America. The happy consequence is one of colour and chaos.

The plot is predictable (hey, it was written in 1849), but its rags-to-riches story is timeless. I could write all day about how much I love all the characters! Any film that opens my eyes and changes my mind is a treasure. Along with a mental note to watch Blackadder again, The Personal History of David Copperfield has encouraged me to seek out its source material. Who knows? It might make me a fan of Dickens yet.