'THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD' COMEDY
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| The movie opened in UK this weekend |
FROM RAGS TO RICHES AND BACK AGAIN
This one has been criticised for forcefully imposing diversity in the casting for a period set movie and for putting quirky humour which did not exist in the original book by
Charles Dickens, but some also praised it for the funny approach to a costume drama. We shall have to judge for ourselves as
THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD is currently playing in British cinemas and will head over to USA and Russia in May. The big screen adaptation re-imagines
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| This is the first movie adaptation of the novel in last 50 years |
Charles Dickens' classic ode to grit and perseverance through the comedic lens of its award winning filmmakers giving the Dickensian tale new life for a cosmopolitan age with a diverse ensemble cast of stage and screen actors from
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| Tilda Swinton is Betsey Trotwood in the period set movie |
across the world. Director
Armando Iannucci lends his wry, yet heart-filled storytelling style to revisiting Dickens' iconic hero on his quirky journey from impoverished orphan to burgeoning writer in Victorian England!
What's The Story About?
From birth to infancy, from adolescence to adulthood, the
good-hearted David Copperfield is surrounded by kindness, wickedness,
poverty and wealth,
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| Ben Whishaw is Uriah Heep in the period set adaptation |
as he meets an array of remarkable characters in
Victorian England. As David sets out to be a writer, in his quest for
family, friendship, romance and status, the story of his life is the
most seductive tale of all.
Who Is In The Colourful Cast?
Beside Dev Patel who takes the lead role of David Copperfield, the cast also includes
Hugh Laurie as Mr. Dick,
Tilda Swinton as Betsey Trotwood,
Ben Whishaw as Uriah Heep, Morfydd Clark as Dora Spenlow,
Aneurin
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| Hugh Laurie takes the role of Mr. Dick in the period set drama |
Barnard as James Steerforth, Daisy May Cooper as Peggotty,
Gwendoline Christie as Jane Murdstone, Rosalind Eleazar as Agnes Wickfield, and Paul
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| The budget of the costume movie was close to 16 million dollars |
Whitehouse as Mr. Peggotty.The movie already won awards for best supporting actor (
Hugh Laurie), best screenplay, best costume and
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| The film premiered at Toronto Film Festival back in September |
production design at British Independent Film Awards last year. Although many consider the casting quite controversial, the movie did score a nomination for best casting at British Film Academy Awards for 2020.
People need to get over colourblind casting. It's here to stay and widens the pool of good actors for plays and movies. This looks like fun. What a great cast!
ReplyDeletePeople need to understand that colourblind casting cannot be selective then, Debra. If Dev can be Copperfield than Judi Dench can play empress of a Zulu tribe or you can play Bill Cosby in his biopic. Or I can play General Mao. If you will not put a white man to play Shaka Zulu you will simply not put a black man to play Zeus. It is as simple as that. Everything else is a disrespect to the writer or a culture which invented the original character or a story.
DeleteColorblind casting can create interesting scenarios but in period pieces it definitely makes you question the accuracy of other things in the story.
DeleteColourblind casting is about creating opportunities for actors from historically disadvantaged communities to work for a living in dramas and roles created when they were excluded. None of that applies to white people. We were never disadvantaged or held back by our skin colour. Pretending now to be the "victim" of colourblind casting is disingenuous and offensive. It trivializes the issue.
DeleteI find that offensive, actually, to the intellect, because you are constantly trying to make the problem superficial disregarding the prime right of the author who created the story to choose how their protagonist will look like. If Dickens wanted David to be Hindu he would have made him so, if Ian Flemyng wanted Bond to be blond he would have made it so. It is an attack and offence on intellectual property. You are trying to make it a race and political issue, it is simply an issue of how the hero was originally created. You trivialize literature, history and culture by such casting. Can't you see that your totally irresponsible way would lead to fully ridiculous situations - Idris Elba could play Ivan Grozni tzar of Russia, just because he is from a, as you say, 'a disadvantaged community', even though Grozni wasn't black. Danny de Vito is white and he also cannot play him simply because he does not look like him. And that is the bottom point. YOU MUST LOOK LIKE SOMEONE IN ORDER TO PLAY SOMEONE period! Where would you put your limit, Debs? Would you also put Gong Li to play Queen Elizabeth, or Jackie Chan to play Prince Charles??? Can't you see how ridiculous that sounds? And what on Earth do you mean that 'white' people were never disadvantaged? Hitler burnt Jews and Serbs in concentration camps just for being Jews and Serbs, we were enslaved, butchered and raped by Turks for 500 years just for being Serbs or Orthodox, just like black people were, so don't use disadvantage as a measure for anything film or TV vise it is ridiculous.
DeleteThe original creator of a character can control that character within the confines of the original work. After that, other people's interpretations of the character are fair game. It's the very nature of the TV/movie business, is it not? It constantly reinvents and reinterprets. Personally, that does not cause me distress.
DeleteNot it is not, it is the very nature of the current ridiculous and deeply disrespectful woke culture which, in its immature egotism, sees only itself and cares nothing of history, authorship, tradition, wisdom from experience etc. They think everything is their to play with because millennials were raised as princes and princesses, thinking the world does not exist outside their own little selfish views. There is no respect whatsoever for anything. Just like I wouldn't want to be played by Idris Elba (because I'm not black) and also wouldn't want to be played by Chris Evans (because I'm not sinfully gorgeous as he is). But if you directed the story of my sad little life you'd put Lizo to play me I bet :) because the poor soul is 'disadvantaged' lol
DeleteYes, I am in talks this very minute with Lizzo to play you in the biopic of your life that HRH is producing. HRH insists on colour- and gender-blind casting, plus straight-washing the script. But at least you'll be pleased to hear that Chris Evans is playing your love interest and Tom Hiddleston will be playing his rival. They will fist fight over you. It'll be boffo at the box office as well.
DeleteI don't want to hear one peep out of you, Dezzy. I'm going to make you FAMOUS!
DeleteMy lawyers will contact you both.
DeleteUm, it looks ... interesting. It'll likely be hilarious for some people while others will be scratching their heads. Napolean Dynamite and Nacho Libre are like that. I laughed and my husband just shook his head, not getting the humor at all.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is definitely not a humour for everybody :)
DeleteI think I said it on a previous post covering this one, it looks a little too quirky for my liking. I'm sure some will enjoy it for what it is though.
ReplyDeleteToo quirky for me too, especially as I find half of the cast not according to my taste, never thought much of Ciapaldi nor Laurie, and Swinton isn't my fave, and Dev isn't either. It is almost as they were choosing the least expressive actors possible, I'm surprised they haven't put Chalamet in it.
DeleteI actually do like Laurie, as House was one of my favorite television shows, but he just seems so ridiculous in this one, I just can't wrap my head around the casting either.
DeleteNot my cup of tea for sure.
DeleteIt seems to have a pretty good cast, but I've never been a fan of Charles Dickens. If I remember correctly, he's one of your favorite authors so I apologize for this in advance. :)
ReplyDeleteMine? Not at all, although I'm a professor of English literature, I've never really cared for it much :) If I had to take my pick out of the writers of such classical novels I'd probably go for Daniel Dafoe, Oscar Wilde, maybe Walter Scott.
Deletehmm, not sure why I thought that. Either way, I'm glad. I was always an avid reader, even in my younger years. Yet, whenever a Charles Dickens book made it's way near me, I used to cringe!!!! Although, my all time least favorite book ever is The Yearling!!
DeleteMaybe you saw Theresa's comments here, her husband loves Dickens.
Delete