"Whether I turn out to be the hero of my story, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these moments must show."
— David
The Personal History of David Copperfield is a dramedy adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield by Armando Iannucci. It is the first live-action theatrical film adaptation of the novel since David Copperfield (1935).
Dev Patel stars as the titular character, who is telling his life story to an audience. It begins with him as a young boy who spends his formative years in the company of his kind but childish mother Clara (Morfydd Clark) and devoted nurse Peggotty (Daisy May Cooper). When Clara remarries to the cruel Mr. Murdstone (Darren Boyd), David is sent away to London to work at a factory. Following his mother's passing, David's wealthy and eccentric aunt Betsey (Tilda Swinton) agrees to take him in, and thus begins his journey to becoming an author and a gentleman. Now at a formal school, David meets the charming Steerforth (Aneurin Barnard), the alcoholic Mr. Wickfield (Benedict Wong) and his lovely daughter Agnes (Rosalind Eleazar), the sycophantic Uriah (Ben Whishaw), and a host of other characters whose actions, lives, and fortunes intersect with and influence the young man.
Rounding out the cast are Gwendoline Christie as Jane Murdstone, Peter Capaldi as Mr. Micawber, and Hugh Laurie as Mr. Dick.
Following its debut at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, it premiered in the United Kingdom on January 24, 2020.
Tropes in this film include:
- Adapted Out: Many minor characters from the novel are excised, like the stagecoach Mr. Barkis, David's teacher Dr. Strong, Agnes's friend Martha, and David's friend Tommy Traddles (who is mentioned by Mr. Dick).
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: Instead of many of the supporting cast moving to Australia and David having a long and fulfilling marriage with Agnes, the film ends with the characters celebrating David's novel at Aunt Betsey's restored house, with David and Agnes having their first child.
- Adaptation Distillation: This film condenses much of the source material.
- In the novel, David is first sent to school, then to work at the factory after his mother dies when he is a young boy. This film combines the two experiences, with young David working at the factory until he grows into Dev Patel, then his mother dies. This also means that Steerforth is not introduced until David's young adulthood.
- The love triangle in the novel is toned down; Dora has a reduced role (even ending their engagement instead of dying of a miscarriage after their wedding) while Agnes has an expanded presence.
- The two visits to Yarmouth while David is an adult are condensed into one.
- Babies Ever After: David and Agnes have a baby in the ending.
- Berserk Button: Betsy is driven into a rage whenever donkeys show up in her field.
- Betty and Veronica: David's two love interests are the sweet and innocent Dora and the smart and witty Agnes.
- Black Vikings: The film presents a Victorian England that's much more racially diverse than it was in reality, even indulging in Colorblind Casting where the ethnicities of family members don't match up.
- Book Ends: The first and last scenes of David's recollection begin the same way, with a baby hazily looking up at its caretakers.
- Colorblind Casting: The film uses deliberately colour-blind casting, allowing characters who were implicitly white to be played by actors of a variety of different backgrounds regardless of their role. The protagonist is played by Dev Patel (of Indian descent) while his mother is played by Morfydd Clark (white), the Wickfield father-daughter duo are played by Benedict Wong (East Asian) and Rosalind Eleazar (mixed race), and Ham is played by Anthony Welsh (black).
- Composite Character:
- Mr. Mell's role, as a kindhearted teacher who is bullied and driven out of his job by Steerforth, ends up going to Mr. Micawber in one of his many failed attempts at finding a successful career.
- Mrs. Steerforth takes on a few elements of Rosa Dartle, most notably the facial scar from Steerforth having thrown a hammer at her in a childhood rage.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance:
- Dickens would be very happy to learn that child labor has been all but eliminated in the western world since he wrote the book.
- David's mother loses control of her household and custody of her son once she marries, allowing her new husband to send David away against her will.
- Dumb Blonde: Dora has golden curls and is rather dim, making her rather unsuitable for the big thinker David. She does manage to realize that David has been trying to propose to her, and in the end realizes that they are not a good match in spite of her affection for him.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: David's two love interests: The blonde Dora is rich and slow on the uptake; the practical and down to earth Agnes is black-haired.
- I Have This Friend: Aunt Betsey sees that Dora is all wrong for David and tries to coax her out of the engagement by talking about her marriage to an incompatible man in her youth. Dora misunderstands and leaves the conversation sure that she and David are right for each other.
- Impoverished Patrician: David comes from the gentry but winds up penniless and working in a factory. The other child laborers snicker at his educated vocabulary.
- Innocent Soprano: In this version, the lovely but naive and childish Dora is shown practicing singing in the soprano range.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: During the denouement with Heep, Dora scolds him and Mr. Dick asks in confusion "What is she doing here?", as a nod to the fact that Dora wasn't in this scene in the book, but rather at home dying by inches.
- Percussive Therapy: After the Murdstones break the news that David's mother is dead and buried and that he missed the funeral, David wrecks many glass bottles in the factory in response.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: The novel's Betsey Trotwood is David's paternal great-aunt. Here she's explicitly his paternal aunt, as she tells Mr. Dick that David is her brother's son.
- Running Gag: People in the Trotswood household charging out at donkeys in the field, banging pans and attacking the riders.
- Shown Their Work: Dickens loosely based the life of David Copperfield on his own, and David is shown writing in front of a mirror and imitating the mannerisms he's trying to describe. This was a habit that Dickens himself practiced.
- Significant Double Casting: Morfydd Clark plays both Clara Copperfield and Dora Spenlow, perhaps hinting that David seeks to regain his lost mother in his future wife.
- Spared by the Adaptation:
- Instead of a shortlived marriage that ends in a miscarriage and her death, Dora instead breaks off her engagement to David and even asks him to write her out of his life story, presumably living to see another day.
- Steerforth still dies by drowning, but Ham survives his attempt at rescuing him.
- Wicked Stepmother: David gets a wicked stepfather who beats him and quickly sends him off to work as a child laborer in a factory.
