The Man Who Invented Christmas

Dir: Bharat Nalluri

2017

*****

The Man Who Invented Christmas is a curious title for any Christmas film and I am embarrassed to admit that, along with the poster, it did little for me and I didn’t go to see it at the cinema. More fool me. The title and poster bother me even more now, as after watching it I can declare without any doubt that it is one of my favorite Christmas films of all time. I absolutely loved it. But who is this man that invented Christmas? I’m sure traditionalists and Christians would dismiss it and argue that surely Jesus invented Christmas by being born. The title will provoke touchy Christmas fanatics (and there are a lot of them about it seems) who will totally overlook what the film is actually all about. I admit I overlooked it, but only because I thought it looked twee. After viewing it though, I would argue that, although Santa does not appear, it features the ‘spirit’ of Christmas more than any other film. Indeed, it is the origin movie of the ‘spirit’ of Christmas. No one is of any illusion that Christmas isn’t a celebration of the birth of Jesus, although many don’t realise just how pagan our celebrations really are - I’m not getting into that in this review – but as The Man Who Invented Christmas states, Christmas was never the same after Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol on the 19th of December 1843. The way people looked after each other changed dramatically and the rise in people donating to charity was dramatic. When we talk about a time for giving, we really do have Charles Dickens to thank for it. The film follows Dicken’s inspiration to write the book, mixing fact and fiction with wonderful attention to detail. The characters of his story come to life and certain truths are twisted but by and large there is a lot of truth to the tale. The influence Dickens’ father had on the tale is the main focus. The story begins two years after the success of Oliver Twist, Dickens (Dan Stevens) is suffering financial hardship from the failure of his last three books. Rejected by his publishers, he sets out to write a new book to restore his finances. Seeing inspiration around London, most notably a rich man's funeral that is largely unattended, he begins writing A Christmas Carol, due in six weeks in order to be published by Christmas. As Charles begins to develop his story, he interacts with the characters he is writing about, most notably Ebenezer Scrooge (Christopher Plummer). Helping Dickens is one of his servants, Tara, an Irish immigrant who is literate and able to provide advice. While writing his book, Charles is greeted by the arrival of his father, John Dickens (Jonathan Pryce), whom Charles views as immature and fiscally irresponsible. Charles' relationship with his family is increasingly strained as he struggles to finish the book in time, as he is unable to resolve Scrooge's story. Hearing that Charles intends to let Tiny Tim die, Tara suggests a resolution for Scrooge by having him save Tiny Tim instead. Charles rejects her help, and soon sends her away from his house in a fit of rage. Additionally, Charles has a falling out with his father and sends him away upon learning that he has been selling Charles' signature. It is revealed that much of Charles' animosity towards his father is from his childhood embarrassment of working in a blacking factory after his family was taken to debtor's prison. Returning to the long-abandoned factory, Charles is forced to confront his own insecurities through Scrooge. Charles realizes that his story should be one of redemption, and races home to finish his manuscript. As he leaves to submit it to his illustrator, he encounters Tara, and invites her back. His wife suggests he do the same with his father, who is about to board a train to leave London. Reconnecting with his family, Charles submits the manuscript in time for publishing before Christmas. The film ends with the Dickens family celebrating the holidays, while a title text explains the overnight success of A Christmas Carol, and its lasting impact on the Christmas holiday. This origin story of the book actually follows the fictional story rather well as we see Dickens’ haunted by ghosts of his past and the real inspirations behind each fictional character. It is by far the best reworking of A Christmas Carol bar none. Dan Stevens is great as Charles Dickens and Christopher Plummer is so perfect as Ebenezer Scrooge that I’m surprised he’d never played him before. Jonathan Pryce is wonderful as John Dickens, Dickens' father and strong support comes from a brilliant cast including Simon Callow, Miriam Margolyes, Justin Edwards, Donald Sumpter, Ian McNeice and Miles Jupp who is brilliant as William Makepeace Thackeray. Many of the cast have appeared in Charles Dickens’ adaptations before (Annette Badland has played Mrs. Fezziwig before; she was cast opposite Ian MacNeice as Mr Fezziwig in the TV adaptation of A Christmas Carol with Sir Patrick Stewart as Scrooge; Christopher Plummer previously appeared as Ralph Nickleby in "Nicholas Nickleby" in 2002; and Miriam Margolyes has had a long history with the life and works of Charles Dickens. She has appeared in two adaptations of the author's most famous works Oliver Twist in 1985 and Little Dorrit in 1987, appeared in a parody of A Christmas Carol - the TV short Blackadder's Christmas Carol in 1988, presented the documentaries Dickens in America (2005) and The First Fagin (2012), and portrayed the older version of Dickens' wife Catherine in the three part docudrama Dickens in 2002. In fact, I think every cast member over the age of 40 has been in a Dickens adaptation). This added to the authenticity somewhat, although it is all about the brilliant script and performances. The detail is exquisite and, after some research, is rather accurate. It mixes the magic of Dickens' writing with the ever important issue of charity at this time of year and it does so with wonderful theatrics and a bit of cinematic magic. It mixes both the fantasy elements and realism of everything we love about Christmas. I had no idea that Dickens influenced the season as much as he did and it was a wonderfully humbling experience learning that he did. It is instantly one of my favorite Christmas films ever.