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The Personal History of David Copperfield is a new film from the creator of Veep and The Thick of It, Armando Iannucci. The film has had a stumbling release due to the COVID-19 pandemic, having been released in theatres here in Australia, but delayed until later this year in other major markets.

I went to see it last week without knowing much about it other than liking the previous work of its star, Dev Patel. Iannucci is known for his absurdist humour and often cutting satire, and so I wasn’t sure quite what to expect when I realised he was behind this latest adaption of the Charles Dickens novel.

Despite a slow start (maybe I just wasn’t yet used to being back in a cinema, but the first 10 minutes I could not understand what was happening!), it proved to be a thoroughly entertaining and in parts, hilarious and touching film.

Iannucci adopted colour-blind casting for the film, whereby the Victorian-era white British characters are played by actors of all races and ethnicities, with no continuity between families: for example, while Copperfield is played by Patel who is of Indian ancestry, neither of his parents are Indian – a similar theme across the film. The colour-blind casting works nicely to underscore the rags-to-riches (and back to rags and then riches) story of the film, as it serves to emphasise the relative randomness of not only success, but so many things in life.

Hugh Laurie’s Mr Dick, a quirky, kind-hearted kite-flyer with whom Copperfield strikes up an unlikely friendship, as well as his companion and benefactor played by Tilda Swinton, bring a great deal of comedy and warmth.

Iannucci’s unique visual style – constantly in motion, moving through time and space with reckless abandon also serves to modernise and breathe new life into this classic text. By the end, I felt each of Copperfield’s ups and downs deeply.

It wouldn’t be Dickens without a classic morale tale, and Copperfield’s realisation that his downfall has been sped by his failure to confront and indeed his embarrassment of his humble origins works as well as ever.

If you are a fan of going to the cinema, I’d recommend David Copperfield as a nice pallet cleanser to get you back in the swing of things.