The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019 Armando Ianucci)

Ianucci and Simon Blackwell's colour blind take on Dickens is innovative, visually inventive and very funny, seizing on the aspect of Copperfield the writer. Dev Patel holds it together well.

Great cast comprises Tilda Swinton, Rosalind Eleazar (a very fresh performance, TV's Howard's End), Hugh Laurie, Daisy May Cooper, Peter Capaldi, Ben Whishaw, Gwendoline Christie and Darren Boyd (the chilly Murdstones), Anna Maxwell Martin, Aneurin Barnard (Dunkirk, War & Peace, Cilla), Paul Whitehouse, Benedict Wong, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Bronagh Gallagher (Mrs Micawber), Matthew Cottle, Ruby Bentall, Anthony Welsh (Ham).

Loved the way the unsuitable Dora (Morfydd Clark) 'writes' herself out of the story.

Betsey Trotwood's house is near Hemel. Other locations included Hull's Old Town, King's Lynn and London.

Zac Nicholson shot it (also The Death of Stalin, Capital, The Honorable Woman, the new Alan Bennett's Talking Heads; before that operator on many Shane Meadows films), sometimes hand held (like the scene where Murdstone goes to beat the child). Also as Ianucci doesn't like visual effects some of the more creative stuff, like the back projections, actually were done in-camera. More here.

Music Christopher Willis. Editors Mick Audsley put the film together, then Ianucci regular Peter Lambert became available and bumped Mick off the project.

It's just great. One of the films of the year (with Parasite, 1917, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, Jojo Rabbit).