The Man Who Invented Christmas #FilmReview #BriFri
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Last week, I recounted how I learned to stop worrying and love The Great British Baking Show. Tina enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, including descriptions of British meals. Jean got something different in A Child From the Sea than she expected, but liked it anyway. Gaele reviewed the audio version of The Abbot’s Tale by Conn Iggulden, a story from tenth-century Britain.
I watched The Man Who Invented Christmas last summer but I was determined to see it again during the season. It’s even more fun to enjoy the beloved characters of A Christmas Carol as they come alive in Charles Dickens’ imagination and on screen.
A fantastical story of how A Christmas Carol was brought into the world
Don’t worry; there are female characters, too.
Morfydd Clark plays the loving, and occasionally exasperated, wife of Charles Dickens. I’m looking forward to seeing her in another Dickens story. The Personal History of David Copperfield wrapped up filming months ago but I can’t find a release date. I’ve been excited about that film since I learned that Dev Patel would play the title character. Morfydd Clark will be lovely as Dora Spenlow.
Anna Murphy doesn’t have a Wikipedia page yet, but I thought she was delightful as the Dickens’ Irish maid who entertained the children with ghost stories and served as a sounding board for Charles while he struggled with his story.
The settings give us Victorian London in a suitably stylized way, given that the characters of A Christmas Carol wander among them just like the historical people. My favorite spot, visited several times in the movie, was an idealized Hatchards, London’s oldest bookshop. Hatchards shows up in pretty much every Regency novel that features any character that loves books, which is quite a lot of them since writers tend to love books. Hatchards plays a pivotal role in the plot of The Man Who Invented Christmas.
Happy Christmas and God bless us, everyone!
This year we watched the George C Scott version but I am adding this version for the holidays. One of my favorites is with Alastair Simms. This sounds delightful, and God bless us everyone!
This has been on my list for ages! Glad to hear it’s so well worth the time.
One of my favourite Christmas tales ever – probably ever since took part in a dramatic version at school. We watched ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’ recently – and it’s fun. You even wonder whether some of it might be true! I smell a potential future classic – perhaps not in the league of ‘Scrooge’ or ‘It’s a wonderful life’ – but not bad, not bad at all. In return, I’m offering you a summary of everything about Christmas in Britain. And (for the moment) it’s free. I ask you, what can you get for nothing threse days?
I’ve been on a Christmas book binge – not so many films – but tied to Dickens is Dickensian – it’s been running on PBS here – it’s a mash up of ALL the Dickens books – and the murder of Marley is a featured element in the earlier scenes. I’m still of two minds on it -but it’s been interesting to spot out characters from his work.
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