The Personal History of David Copperfield (Dir Armando Iannucci, 1h 59m)

 
Of Charles Dickens' 15 novels, David Copperfield was not only his "favourite child", but a novel that clearly had a basis in Dickens' own childhood, and whilst there have been several adaptions, stretching back to practically the birth of the medium, this latest adaption, by satirist and comedian Armando Iannucci, (last seen in cinemas with his bleakly funny depiction of the aftermath of the death of Josef Stalin, in The Death of Stalin) may well be the best of the bunch, a film that at once faithfully captures the journey of Copperfield (Dev Patel) from riches to rags to riches again, and feels remarkably forward looking, from its diverse-some may even say entirely race-blind- cast, from protagonist downwards, to its neat mix of theatrical and cinematic tricks in blurring the lines between Copperfield's narrative and the story he is telling, all of which leads to one of the best Dickens' adaptions in recent years, a sumptuous, quick-witted and genuinely fresh take on the author's beloved work.

Beginning, essentially, with Copperfield already an established author, in scenes that neatly book-end the film, so we begin, as with Dickens' novel, with the birth of Copperfield, where the adult David proceeds to break the fourth wall, to appear, as unseen bystander at his own birth, a surprisingly comic scene where David's mother, and the two women that will essentially become surrogate mothers to him, Ms Peggotty (Daisy May Cooper), and the wonderfully sharp Betsey Trotwood (Tilda Swinton) bicker back and forth. These scenes neatly set the tone of the rest of the film, from the comic sensibilities of the film, to its smart visual tricks as the theatre of the prelude gives way to the rolling flat fields of his childhood home-the cinematography throughout is simply, beautiful, from start to finish, from the countryside to the squalor of London.

His birth is subsequently followed by his childhood, including the beaches of Peggoty's remarkable boathouse, and her extended family, only to return to find his mother has remarried to the cruel and despotic Mr Murdstone (Darren Boyd) and his equally cruel sister, (Gwendoline Christie). The young David is promptly packed off to London, factory work, and the care of Mr Micawber, a perennially in debt scene-stealing performance by Peter Capaldi who manages to captures both the patheticness-at one point, Micawber chases bailiffs removing his chicken, bemoaning his lot-and the human warmth of one of Dickens' great character, and the recurring appearances of Micawber as he crosses paths with David, are nothing short of joyously fun moments, particularly after he takes pity on the Micawber family, and they move into his cramped accommodation.

From this, we follow David through the rest of his childhood and into adulthood, through fortune and failure, as he goes from his Aunt's house, and his friendship with her peculiar housemate, Mr Dick (Hugh Laurie), to education and meeting with both his friend, James Steerforth (Aneurin Barnard) and his eventual enemy, Uriah Heep (Ben Whishaw), who slowly transforms from obsequious underling to cruel and cold figure, together with his mother threatening or directly affecting practically all of those close to David, leading to a perfectly wrought finale, bringing together almost all of David's closest friends.

Alongside this narrative is a number of smart moments where the narrative turns remarkably metatextual, where Iannucci plays with the very framing of his scenes, cutting neatly between scenes with a fluttering of the backdrop, or with projected footage of scenes over the filmed action that adds a remarkably modern sheen to the otherwise rather traditionally shot film. Elsewhere, where David the writer and David the character interact, not only in his voice-over narrative, but in the way where the characters upon which he bases his story suggest or edit the text, best seen in the finale, but in a bittersweet scene where his fiance Dora (a double-performance by Morfydd Clark) slowly begins to realise the true sense of her relationship with David.


So far a fairly typical Dickens adaption. But where Iannucci's version neatly steps away, in both a more modern, and arguably more daring way, is the modern take that he brings to the film, whilst maintaining the spirit of Dickens. Nowhere is this seen better than in its cast. Dev Patel is a perfect David, a mixture of warm-hearted, almost faultlessly kind young man who supports those around him, and natural artist-some of the best scenes are him simply imitating those around him-but the fact that Patel is cast in a role that has traditionally almost uniformly been the preserve of white young men, in films that have almost exclusively been populated by white actors and actresses, seems remarkably daring.

This is seen throughout the cast, from Benedict Wong as the well meaning, if heavy drinking Mr. Wickfield, with heavy Midlands accent in tow, whilst his daughter, Agnes, is played, to perfection, by Rosalind Eleazar. Iannucci is not interested in mere tokenism, and seems to, simply put, cast the actor or actress that he seems best in the role. But there is more, hearteningly to this, with Patel himself regarding this cast, in its reflection of the modern Britain that watches it as important, not only to the film-going public, but in introducing Dickens' work to a whole new generation that, to date, have not seen themselves in stories like this. Indeed, far from feeling token, after a while, one becomes, as it seems Iannucci intended the audience to, utterly blind to the race of our hero, and his friends and enemies, seeing modern Britain reflected in Dickens' Victorian tale.

The Personal History of David Copperfield, thus, is a enjoyable adaption of one of Dickens' best works, but, with its choices behind the camera, in both its cinematic and casting choices, gives one a fresh and remarkably exciting version of the novel, perfectly wrought, in its tale of acceptance, connections, and overcoming the adversites of poverty and finding one's place, regardless of your background, it feels perfectly wrought for a Britain that seems ever more divided and insular.

Rating: Highly Recommended.