I know just as much about Charles Dickens as I do any modern adaptations of his works (which is next to nothing) but if there were ever a place to start, I feel like it would be Armando Iannucci's The Personal History of David Copperfield. This film is a very interesting, modern take on Dickens' classic story and one that has so many admirable aspects to it but I found myself constantly confused by its eccentric story to the point that I became lost. The performances, visuals, and general aesthetic behind this entire film are all absolutely incredible and while they are thankfully enough to carry it, I was a bit upset by how confusing this plot played out. Again, I know nothing about Dickens adaptations but if any others are as energetic and adorable as this story, then I know I must check them out. This movie was also supposed to premiere at the festival I was interning for earlier this year so it is nice to see it finally gaining deserved recognition.
Orphaned as a little kid, David Copperfield (Dev Patel) grows up living through many, incredible events and meets many incredible characters along the way as well. As he gets older and gains more life knowledge through multiple different jobs, he decides that he wants to become a writer and starts with an autobiography about his own, ridiculously interesting experiences. This script, written by Simon Blackwell and director Armando Iannucci and adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens, is quite interesting and while I think there were plenty of solid attempts at creating an engaging world, not much of it stuck for me. The "life story" type of plot with the framing narrative of the protagonist telling their own story is a trope that has been seen countless times, especially in older such novels and retellings. While I am not usually a fan of protagonist narration, I felt like this was the perfect film to utilize that technique in order to bring a particular, new energy to the story. So many little details that populate this film are fun to watch in and of themselves but I did not ever feel like they blended together well. The pacing and direction of this film from Iannucci were incredibly awkward and there were so many scenes that I feel could have used music or a touch of slower editing to actually get their point across. Many of these ideas are not new but were presented as fresh because of how colorful the script of this film was but I wish Iannucci would have stuck with one, set style. One such example is Copperfield's narration, which was an interesting choice in the beginning and would have been so compelling all the way throughout but since it was so infrequent, it started to blur the lines between fantasy and reality. This goes with Copperfield inserting himself into previous scenes in his life as well: it was such an exciting take on how this story was told but it was not used nearly enough to substantiate its inclusion. Thankfully, this film is chock full of wonderful performances to make it so undoubtedly entertaining; not only from Patel, but Peter Capaldi, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, and Gwendoline Christie among others were all incredible and made this otherwise dull story very humorous.
Going along with my issues with Iannucci's direction, some aspects of his storytelling were way too fast-paced for my own liking and got so the point that it became muddled what the director was trying to accomplish. The story itself was fine but my main issue was how rapidly characters were introduced without giving the audience any time to process their importance. So many of this film's characters are integral parts to Copperfield's family, love life, and work acquaintances but were brought into the story with little to no background knowledge and because of that, it made it hard for me to care about them or their relation to Copperfield. In a film riddled with so many electric personas and diverse personalities, they all had an effect on the protagonist in one way or another but I just wish that I was able to keep up better. I had a very difficult time latching on to any of the subplots and it was far too much to process at times. This also has to do with the unnecessarily frantic editing from Mick Audsley and Peter Lambert, who cut this film just as quick as I got befuddled. It takes quite a while, but once an audience member gets into the swing of things with how fast this narrative plays out, it starts to become enjoyable. The cinematography from Zac Nicholson also annoyed me quite a bit and after a while, it became hard to watch. There was honestly no reason why nearly every shot in this film had to be handheld and the shakiness of the camera became very distracting. I know it sounds like I strongly dislike this film because of how many of its downfalls I noticed but it is actually wonderful! The adorable story paired with the performances make it incredibly unique but my favorite aspects of this entire production were the costuming and set design. Both of these mostly aesthetic elements of the film were absolutely stunning and the way that the artists were able to simultaneously make these clothes fit the time period but also vivid enough for modern audiences is very impressive. The sets were also built so well and I adored how Iannucci was able to build this world within the confines of its fantastical, London setting.
The Personal History of David Copperfield is a perfectly fine and entertaining movie that does a lot of things right and a lot of things quite wrong. While I was consistently confused by its rapid introduction of plot points, everything comes together in the end in such a nice way that I was willing to forgive it for its previous confusions. More than anything, however, this film confirms to my personal beliefs that I believe in Dev Patel supremacy and I am NOT afraid to show it (now if A24 had the balls to release The Green Knight right now, the world would know his true power).
My Rating: ★★★
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