I’m not entirely sure how the film ‘The Man who Invented Christmas’ arrived on my wishlist. Perhaps Amazon had recommended it to me based on other films I had rated well. Or perhaps someone else had suggested. In any case, I was pleased to receive it as a Christmas gift, and it seemed like the ideal film to watch towards the end of the Christmas period.
This film is a fictionalised story set in the mid 1840s, based around the writing of Charles Dickens’ classic novel ‘A Christmas Carol’. Dan Stevens is superb as the author, who would have been around thirty at the time. I had only seen pictures of Dickens as a much older man, so it took a moment’s readjustment of my mental images. But I quickly realised that it was probably a very realistic setting.
I didn’t know much about Dickens’ life, other than that he had a happy childhood until his father was thrown into a debtors’ prison, and Charles had to go and work in a factory, giving up his education. It didn’t stop him reading and working as a journalist, and eventually a novelist. But I had no idea about his family life - he was married with several children - nor that for a while he was in debt, and in doubt as to whether he could keep going.
I assume that most of the story involving the writing of his famous Christmas book was in the imagination of the script-writers, but it all feels quite realistic. Charles feels rather worthless after a successful American tour, and feels unable to write, all the more so as his publishers pressurise him and his debts mount. He’s an angry person who has not forgiven his father for his childhood traumas; he is also very angry about the way that the poor are treated. This comes across in several of his novels - Charles Dickens was responsible for raising public awareness about some of the horrors of poverty and the workhouse.
But the film is mainly about the slow progress made on ‘A Christmas Carol’, along with several flashbacks. As the character of Scrooge (brilliantly played by Christopher Plummer) develops, so some of Charles’ hangups also reveal themselves. It’s cleverly done. The story of the novel is so well-known that of course we knew what would be coming, but the way the plot emerged, rather slowly, feels entirely believable.
Morfydd Clark deserves a mention as Charles’ long-suffering wife Kate. He is a man of many moods, and she looks after her household, uncertain when he’s going to fly into a temper, patient about his many quirks. There are several children, and Charles is clearly fond of them; at times he seems to be a excellent father, at others he almost entirely ignores them and his wife.
There’s plenty of low-key humour in the book, including times when Charles hears a new name, or watches a type of person whom we know is eventually going to be put in one of his future books. Dan Stevens has some very expressive looks, too, that say almost as much as some of the dialogue. And there’s plenty to think about too - we see glimpses of cruelty, and poverty, and the hopelessness of those without family or work. But they’re not over-done; there’s nothing gratuitous.
The film title, of course, is hyperbole since Christmas relates to the birth of Christ 1840 or so years earlier, and also the ancient legends of St Nicholas. But apparently the popularity of his book changed ideas about celebrating Christmas in the minds of the general public, in particular encouraging them to help those less fortunate than themselves.
The PG rating reflects the lack of bad language, nudity, violence and so on. But I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone unfamiliar with ‘A Christmas Carol’, nor to a sensitive child who might be upset at the flashbacks to Charles’ later childhood.
Other than that, I would highly recommend this film, which absorbed us fully and gave an excellent insight into Dickens’ circumstances as a young man, as well as some more imaginative fantasy scenes involving dreams and visions.
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