The Man Who Invented Christmas purports to tell the story of how Charles Dickens came to write A Christmas Carol. At the time (1843) the celebration of Christmas had been in decline, and it wasn’t even considered a major holiday. At this time in his career, Charles Dickens was 31, internationally famous thanks to Oliver Twist, and suffering from writer’s block after three flops in a row. He was also heavily in debt which preyed upon his mind as his father had spent time in a debtor’s prison when Dickens was a child. After hearing a young Irish maid transfix his children with stories of ghosts at Christmastime, Dickens is inspired to write a story about a miser who is visited by spirits on Christmas Eve. With little more than an outline and his regular publishers cool to the idea, he borrows more money and decides to publish it himself.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of Man is getting to see how Dickens went about constructing his novels. How the real-life people he meets or the phrases he hears become the material for his stories. Dickens loved to act out his characters. We not only see this but, once the characters are created, how they become a part of his daily life. Cue Christopher Plummer. The actor, who has been in movies since 1958’s Wind Across the Everglades, is the perfect incarnation of Ebenezer Scrooge. His exchanges with Dickens as his character evolves are one of the many highlights this movie has to offer. Dan Stevens, relieved to be done with Matthew on Downton Abbey, has a wonderful time as Dickens. He brings the author’s dynamic personality to life not only through his physical movements, but Stevens has a wonderfully expressive face which he puts to good use.
However, the real star of the movie is the physical look of the film. It’s full of wonderfully theatrical lighting with lots of reds and blues and camerawork that is content to focus on the story rather than itself. It brought back memories of England’s Hammer Films from the 1950s and 60s as well as the 1984 version of A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott. If the look wasn’t a conscious decision, then it’s a remarkable coincidence. If you enjoy a new twist on a familiar story that is well told from a cinematic point-of-view of then check out The Man Who Invented Christmas. Like its source material, it’s full of old-school Christmas spirit.
The Capsule Critic 