David Copperfield
by Simon Curtis
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Maggie Smith; Daniel Radcliffe; Ian McKellen; Bob HoskinsDirector: Simon Curtis
Brand: WGBH BOSTON VIDEO
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 180 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-10-01
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: WGBH BOSTON
Movie Reviews of David Copperfield
Movie Review: Bleaker than nature
Summary: 5 Stars
This story is such a classic that anyone must know it without having ever read it, just like me. Peggotty has been an old friend of mine since junior high school but never had I opened the book, though I have the complete works of Charles Dickens in my library, and never had I seen any screen adaptation of it before tonight. So I just discovered this fine story in my old age, and in a way I regret it.
Of course there are orphans and in this case even, David Copperfield is orphaned before his birth. Of course there are step parents who are absolutely obnoxious and brutal. Of course there is a school for boys who are treated like dogs and beaten like trash. Of course there are strict and painful social situations that lead to prison, begging, being robbed and whatever you can imagine, especially when you are a nice young boy, too pure to be true and too naļve to be serious.
But even the factory in which David Copperfield is forced to work at the early age of ten or eleven looks like paradise when compared with the stepfather and his dear sister, two goal-keepers and nothing else. And that's the miracle of Dickens. He transforms an absolutely bleak situation into a rose garden, or if you prefer the crazy crushing life of a boy into a school for gentility and success.
That's the mystery and miracle Dickens cultivates in all his books. No matter how horrible life may be, and be sure he remained discreet about the worst details, he turns it into a happy ending and a success story. And that's how a forlorn and abandoned orphan will be able to cut a position for himself under the sun and in society.
People could say Dickens was a blind optimist, but he was not blind at all and knew about the sinister life we live in. We could say he is a hypocrite writing stories about the dregs of society to sell them to and make money from the rich and wealthy minority that could read and afford the serials or books, and what's more to cover up with happy endings the terrible fate of most working people and children in this Victorian society. And we would be wrong.
Dickens' books are a testimony of what Victorian society was and a great lesson given to those who had and still have the power and the money necessary to change things that change cannot be stopped because there will always be a few who will be strong enough or lucky enough to climb up to a position from which they may influence the world. In fact he thinks he is one of these and he is telling us book after book the same story of the enterprising young man who will change the world with his words and mind.
It is optimistic for sure but heart warming even more, and this BBC adaptation is just perfect as for that brittle equilibrium between social criticism and human advancement.
Dr Jacques COULAREDEAU
Summary of David Copperfield
The classic David Copperfield was not just Charles Dickens' favorite work. It has been the most popular of his books since it was first published 150 years ago. Micawber Peggotty Betsey Trotwood Uriah Heep Mr. Creakle Mrs. Crupp and Mr. Dick... never were so many of Dickens' famous and vest-loved characters gathered together in just one of his works.They are all brought to life by a world-class cast including Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) Oscar-winner Maggie Smith (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) Bob Hoskins (Hook) Nicholas Lyndhurst (Bullshot) and Pauline Quirke (The Elephant Man) in this sparkling adaptation.The most autobiographical of Dickens' work David Copperfield often echoes the writer's own life. It tells a moving story of David's journey from birth to maturity a journey which inextricably links his life with some of Dickens' most colorful and extraordinary families.Special DVD features include: Cast list; Masterpiece Theatre poster gallery; access to David Copperfield Web site featuring production notes interviews with the cast and crew a Dickens timeline a guide to the featured characters and more; scene selection; English audiotrack; and closed captions.One one DVD9 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: Widescreen (Anamorphic)Runtime: 180 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 783421365094 Manufacturer No: WG36509A year before he played his first Quidditch match as Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe cast his spell on audiences as young David Copperfield in this stellar British miniseries based on Charles Dickens's classic novel. Vastly superior to the 2000 American-made miniseries (which gave us Michael "Kramer" Richards as Micawber), this impeccable production, originally broadcast on ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre, is an embarrassment of riches, with a cast that includes Oscar® winner Maggie Smith (Radcliffe's Potter costar) as the indomitable Aunt Betsey, Oscar nominee Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings) as sadistic teacher Mr. Creakle, a wonderful Bob Hoskins (Oscar nominee for Mona Lisa) as the debt-ridden Micawber, Trevor Eve as David's loathsome stepfather Mr. Murdstone (he believes in "firmness" with a vengeance), and Nicholas Lyndhurst as the scheming clerk Uriah Heap. Holding his own with this formidable ensemble is Ciaran McMenamin as the adult David, whose soap opera existence spans an idyll-shattered childhood, unscrupulous villains, tragic romance, and a hard-won happily-ever-after. Rich with incident and populated by some of literature's most memorable characters, this production does full justice to one of Dickens's most beloved and oft-told sagas. --Donald Liebenson
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