The Personal History of David Copperfield

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Based on Charles Dickens' novel, The Personal History of David Copperfield is the first Armando Ianucci's film I ever watched. I didn't really know much about this movie besides its stellar cast. I'm not the biggest fan of biographical works. Usually, I find them too constricted to the genre's formulas, and if I don't think the protagonist's life is remotely entertaining, then the whole film crumbles. Fortunately, it's not the case of this Ianucci's adaptation. It's one of the most pleasant surprises of the year, I finished it with a massive smile on my face.

David Copperfield's life is portrayed in such a captivating, entertaining, genui...

This has really been a banner year for the period film. We've had Gerwig's spectacular 'Little Women', Autumn de Wilde's wondrous adaptation of 'Emma.', and on television, the bombastic imagination of 'The Great'. Armando Iannucci's 'The Personal History of David Copperfield', even with its flaws, sits beautifully beside them. This film left me giddy with joy, my eyes filled with tears, leaping from my seat with every rapturous surprise and unexpected burst of imagination. It brims over with humanity, humour and heart, and reminds us of the importance of these things for a rich and satisfying life. This is an absolute gem of a film, and one of my favourite of this year so far.

• Daniel Lammin

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I'm not Armando Iannucci's biggest fan so saw this at the Opening Gala of the London Film Festival with some trepidation. Unfortunately, I wasn't pleasantly surprised. Dev Patel does bring some charm to the proceedings, but the attempts at comedy in this retelling of Dickens' classic just don't work for me at all. Ben Whishaw and Tilda Swinton appear to be fish out of water and whilst it is good to see Hugh Laurie back on the big screen it all comes across as a bit of a hotch-potch of ideas and aspirations. The book's original questioning of Victorian values around child exploitation and of more general social attitudes seem to have been largely sidelined, robbing the story of much of it's heart and soul. It is also quite unnecessarily leng...

I'm not Armando Iannucci's biggest fan so saw this at the Opening Gala of the London Film Festival with some trepidation. Unfortunately, I wasn't pleasantly surprised. Dev Patel does bring some charm to the proceedings, but the attempts at comedy in this retelling of Dickens' classic just don't work for me at all. Ben Whishaw and Tilda Swinton appear to be fish out of water and whilst it is good to see Hugh Laurie back on the big screen it all comes across as a bit of a hotch-potch of ideas and aspirations. The book's original questioning of Victorian values around child exploitation and of more general social attitudes seem to have been largely sidelined, robbing the story of much of it's heart and soul. It is also quite unnecessarily leng...