Universal is typically the delivery vehicle of Christmas films every year. This film came out during year of my Movie Pass and rushed to see it simply to utilize my free films. I came away knowing this was possibly one of my favorite adaptations of the oft-filmed novella “The Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens.
The Man Who Invented Christmas is a meta-tale that parallels the familiar tale with Charles Dickens own biographical information. After Dicken’s original commercial success with “Oliver Twist,” his followup novels were a disappointment. Dickens is in need of a hit to dig out of debt and return the good graces of readers. He decides to risk it all on a book about the redemption of a mean miser on the holiday of Christmas…which at the time was a secondary holiday in London.
Dickens introduced in his ghost story the notion of charity and good will to your fellow man. The traditions of Christmas of the time, borrowed greatly from Germany due to the ruling of William IV of the House of Hanover. With the success of this story, Dickens codified such terms as “Merry Christmas” (and its opposition “Bah Humbug”) among other less trivial items.
The book is possibly Dickens best and mostly considered his most popular work. Dickens in this film is portrayed as a manic optimist predisposed to emotional whims and swinging foul temper when his father is involved. This is, no doubt, referring to a theory that Dickens may have been a bipolar personality.
For a man so negative about his time and surroundings, he also stowed in his heart a bright light of optimism that has lit this season for two centuries or more ever since.
Obviously, I love the subject of this film…but the movie is also fantastic.
Dan Stevens leads the cast in a wonderful turn as Dickens, playing both ends of his spectrum with equal enthusiasm. The equally wonderful Jonathan Pryce, who is one of my favorite actors ever since I first saw him in Brazil, plays Dicken’s ne’er-do-well father. He plays the character, with all his faults, with such realism that you can actually see his heart break when his son sends him away. The most showy part, that of Scrooge himself, is played late in the life of Christopher Plummer. Plummer was born to get a shot at the role, and I am so glad he was granted this opportunity.
The production is beautiful, yet gritty, to view and the direction solid. Bharat Nalluri hasn’t made a film since this one, which was no doubt a financial disappointment, and that is a shame. We need to see more from this artist.
For what is created here is that most hackneyed of all cliches: the instant classic. This is a movie to savor every Christmas. So I urge you to catch it as the season wanes… Above all the film highlights the theme of forgiveness and creativity which has always been such a large part of the story of a miserable miser and his redemption after his spooky visitation. It’s a theme that I think we could all use these days.
Merry Christmas and God bless us, everyone