The Personal History of David Copperfield
“Women generally live to be saved by men.”
Title: The Personal History of David Copperfield (2020)
Director: Armando Iannucci 👨🏼🏴
Writers: Simon Blackwell 👨🏼🇬🇧 and Armando Iannucci 👨🏼🏴 based on the book by Charles Dickens 👨🏼🇬🇧
Reviewed by Alicja Johnson 👩🏼🇺🇸
Technical: 5/5
For many of us, the name “Charles Dickens” summons dreary images of starving orphans who roam the streets of London in misery. Dev Patel, star of the newest iteration of Dickens’ David Copperfield from 1849, admits that his own perception of the “doom and gloom” atmosphere barred him from appreciating the author. Until he was introduced to Armando Iannucci’s vision of the semi-autobiographical novel, that is.
The movie opens with the titular character in middle age recounting his life from birth before a packed 19th-century playhouse. As David begins telling the fictional audience his story, the theater melts into the grassy field surrounding his birthplace and his speech becomes voice-over. We soon learn that David has had a strong affinity for words since childhood, making the narration feel appropriate.
At the heart of Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield is a talented cast that delivers snappy dialogue to perfection. Energetic performances leap off the screen, with each actor fully immersed in their role. Rosalind Eleazar emits sophistication and intelligence as Agnes Wickfield. Benedict Wong shows off his comedy chops as her widowed father, Mr. Wickfield. And Hugh Laurie, playing a man haunted with thoughts of King Charles I, shares many scenes with Tilda Swinton as David’s aunt Betsey Trotwood, to the immense benefit of the audience.
No one overshadows Patel, however, whose performance has already been compared to the likes of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. He flits across the screen, landing every comedic beat with precision, yet also succeeds in the emotional moments of the film. Our story takes David Copperfield from total poverty to the upper echelons of Victorian society and back, as well as from his youth into maturity. With the help of Jairaj Varsani as young Davy, Patel ensures that by the end of the movie, you feel as though you have just lived David’s whole life with him.
In addition to looking beautiful, the cinematography effectively shows us how David takes in the world around him. When he first meets his soon-to-be stepfather, an apparently charming suitor, the man is wearing a white coat and framed by a neutral camera angle. We next encounter the man after his marriage to Davy’s mother, when he literally rips Davy away from his loved ones. The ultra-low camera angle emphasizes the menacing presence the stepfather has become to Davy and his mother, as does the totally black wardrobe he dons for the remainder of the movie. Such tricks reinforce the story-within-a-story device by reminding us that we are seeing events not as they occurred, but rather how David remembers them.
David Copperfield most notably triumphs by demonstrating just how funny Dickens was. Iannucci has taken the author’s satire, wit, and social commentary, and translated them into a format that resonates with a contemporary audience.
Gender: 3/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test?: YES
Though David Copperfield technically satisfies the Bechdel test, its passing moment might just as easily be considered invalid given the ambiguity of what it means for two women to “talk to each other about something other than a man.” During David’s birth, we hear Clara Copperfield (Morfydd Clark) calling out for the nanny, Pegotty (Daisy May Cooper), who responds with multiple cries of “I’m coming, miss!” Unfortunately, beyond this early exchange, women mostly dwell in the periphery of David’s story.
In a story full of satirical characters, only those whom the film spends time with have any kind of depth. Unfortunately, David Copperfield focuses almost exclusively on its men. Iannucci explores the desires and motivations of supporting players like Mr. Dick, Uriah Heep (Ben Whishaw), and James Steerforth (Aneurin Barnard), yet we barely know anything about the two most prevalent female characters, Agnes and Dora (Morfydd Clark).
Agnes begins harboring unrequited feelings for David when he comes to stay at her father’s home during his schooling. Though you might not realize it from her introduction, Agnes is whip smart and has a memorable presence, if only because Eleazar goes above and beyond with the little material given to her in the script. She does however have a critical role in the plot, exposing Uriah Heep’s fraudulent behavior and in doing so, saving her father, David, and Betsey from certain ruin. It’s worth noting that in Dickens’ novel, David’s financially-troubled former landlord Mr. Micawber is the one who makes the discovery. Iannucci’s update makes Agnes a more well-rounded character with some level of agency, despite the fact that she ought to have more screen time.
David’s other love interest, Dora, lacks depth altogether and exists only as the object of his infatuation. In every one of her scenes, she displays utter stupidity for comedic effect. Perhaps her stereotypical behavior wouldn’t be so egregious if we learned anything else about her, but alas, we just know of her beauty and lack of intellect.
Aside from Dora, Agnes, and Betsey (to an extent), women generally live to be saved in this world. In fairness, that may be an accurate depiction of what it was like to be a woman in the Victorian era, but Iannucci chooses not to allow them any sort of identity outside of victimhood.
Race: 4/5
Iannucci knew at the getgo that he wanted the titular role played by Patel, an English actor born to Gujarati Hindu parents. From that point, he decided to adopt full-on colorblind casting by hiring the best person to play each part. Time estimates that “around half the faces in the movie are those of Black and Asian Brits.” It goes without saying that Dickens likely wrote his characters without a splash of color, so the casting choices make the story decidedly more diverse than it otherwise would have been.
And it works. It works very well. Many of the issues in David Copperfield are still woefully present in today’s society. David himself confronts homelessness and poverty, as well as imposter syndrome when he reaches a higher class status. Given that people of color disproportionately experience these ills in reality, it feels particularly meaningful to see a nonwhite individual overcoming them onscreen.
Nonetheless, colorblind casting presents an artificial solution to a deeply-entrenched problem in media: The majority of creators allowed to tell stories are white. When white directors cast “blindly,” without making changes to the character based on the actors’ ethnicity, it merely ticks a box for diversity. Meanwhile, matters of true representation—not just in body but through diverse narratives—“defaults” to a white experience. The casting mostly works in the context of David Copperfield, but the film is still guilty of this flaw.
Bonus for Disability: +0.00
David Copperfield places positive attention on Mr. Dick, a man with an unknown mental illness who lives with David’s aunt Betsey. When David first encounters him, the man is trying to write a petition for improved low-income housing, but his efforts are thwarted by intrusive thoughts of King Charles I. Despite such eccentricity, the people around Mr. Dick treat him with compassion and acknowledge his ample intelligence. Not a bad word is said about him. David himself relates to the character with particular vulnerability, even helping Mr. Dick create a coping mechanism for his symptoms.
Unfortunately, an irresponsible depiction of alcoholism runs alongside the nuanced portrayal of Mr. Dick’s mental illness. Aunt Betsey’s lawyer, Mr. Wickfield, frequently overindulges throughout the film, apparently for comic effect—even when his alcoholism allows his associate to commit fraud, hurting Mr. Wickfield and his loved ones. When a film like David Copperfield humorizes drunkenness, it perpetuates the notion that drinking too much is a personal choice with minimal consequences, as opposed to a destructive disease for which one should seek treatment.
Mediaversity Grade: B 4.00/5
The Personal History of David Copperfield is a delightful way to spend 120 minutes. The vibrant visuals and characters suck you in and can almost make you forget that a pandemic ravages the world outside your door. Though it fails in its depiction of women and alcoholism, it gives talented actors of color the chance to shine in a Victorian-era story that feels fresh.
Like The Personal History of David Copperfield? Try these other films with some of the same talent.
Lion (2016)
Veep - Seasons 1-6
Okja (2017)