The Man Who Invented Christmas is an upcoming film based on a book of the same name, written by Les Standiford. It is directed by Bharat Nalluri, and stars Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, Mirian Margolyes, Morfydd Clark, Jonathan Pryce, and others. The film is produced by Parallel Films and Rhombus Media, and will release ahead of Christmas, November 2017.
A trailer was recently released which shows a young Charles Dickens, whose last three books failed to take off, struggling to write the next big story. He wants to self publish the book which will eventually become A Christmas Carol, featuring the great Mr. Scrooge, and the Ghosts of Christmas Spirit.
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We don’t see much in the trailer which is cut perhaps to pull us into the festive spirit five months before the season. However, glimpses show the writer trying to bring his greatest creation into life. We are sort of told the romantic notion of a writer fighting against odds — having to earn money while making art, battling an indifferent literary establishment even as attempting to engage readers, and having to fight his own internal doubts.
What we don’t see much is the actual writer. Charles Dickens as played by Dan Stevens, is merely the puppet manipulated by his own creation, Scrooge, played by Christopher Plummer. Perhaps we will see more of the writer, and more of the writing, when the film comes out.
Bharat Nalluri, a British-Indian filmmaker, is famous for creating the BBC series Hustle, and for directing Spooks.
Image: Bleeker Street