timrossminister

This rich, vibrant film is hopeful and beatiful. The message behind the music is one that needs to be heard in a world where, still far too often, judegments are about about who you are purely on what you look like on the outside. Beyonce cleverly weaves different genres of MOBO together with traditional African music to show that the concept album is not dead and still has a place in the music industry, providing a platform for speaking out. She does this quite masterfully with stunning visuals, using the framework of The Lion King story to empower, uplift and show you the strength that can come from inner truthfulness and self-hood. It will be telling if this doesn't get nominated for film industry awards - particularly for production, costume, photography . . . and so many others. The music, from hip-hop to Afro-beat, sung by carefully-chosen names in the industry tells the message well. The climax song 'Rise Up" could well become an anthem for Black Lives Matter, but also giving hope and strength to a wider spectrum of those who need to find strength in themselves.

The creative, retro tv style of telling this story is very effective, lending a sense of originality to a genre of sci-fi which has been re-hashed to the point of being a hackneyed cliché. The effect is that you will wonder if it is based on real events. I won't give away what it's all about, although you'll pick up on it pretty quick, but one thing this isn't is hackneyed. It is fresh and clever, and although it does build to a somewhat clichéd conclusion, it does so in a tense and gripping way which kept my finger well clear of the stop button on the TV remote. I suppose what I am saying is, yes, you know the story, but you don't THIS story, and it is told so darned well.

Coming to review this, I find myself in two minds. I love Dickens and I liked the story of David Copperfield, so I was not surprised to find that fans of Dickens and David Copperfield did not like it or were annoyed by the handling of story. If the director and writer were trying to make a faithful retelling, then they failed, miserably. The thing is I am fairly certain this is quite deliberately NOT a retelling of David Copperfield. I don't think it was even meant as an adapatation (at least I hope not.) What you need to know is that, for Charles Dickens, David Copperfield was not only one of his favourite stories, it was also semi-autobiographical. In telling the story of Copperfield, he wound in many elements and characters from his own life. When Dickens became a success, he toured the country giving very popular readings of his books, which is where this film opens. The story of David Copperfield is also, to some extent, telling the story of Charles Dickens, and that is what I think this film is doing. It is BOTH Dickens telling the story of David Copperfield but it is also about how his story (David Copperfield) tells us about Dickens. You really need to know both these facts for the film to make any sense at all. In a nutshell, what I think the film REALLY is, is the director telling the story of Charles Dickens telling the story of David Copperfield telling the story of Charles Dickens. If you have read the novel and are expecting a faithful screen version, you will be immensely disappointed, many of the nuances of the characters and their relationship to Copperfield, which is the heart of the book (the heart of any Dickens novel, in fact) are completely lost. If you have not read it and know nothing about Dickens, it is going to seem shallow, rushed and a little weird. If you are fascinated by Dickens and are able to view this NOT as the story of David Copperfield, but as a film about Dickens and his journey to being an author, which so happens to have that name, you might find it interesting, entertaining, and at times, fun.