Dev Patel’s entertaining role as Charles Dickens’ much-loved character David Copperfield is raising the prospects of another Oscar nomination for the Indian-origin actor.
Patel plays the lead role in ‘Personal History of David Copperfield’, a new film by British director Armando Iannucci, which had its world premiere at the 44th Toronto International Film Festival this week.
Patel, who rose to fame for his role in Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire’, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards in 2014 for ‘Lion’.
In ‘Personal History of David Copperfield’, the London-based actor joins a star-studded cast of Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie and Ben Wishaw. The film, set in 19th century England like Dickens’ Victorian era novel, follows the journey of Copperfield who is born six months after the death of his father. Raised by his loving mother, Copperfield is set on a zigzag destiny as a young boy, moving places at regular intervals.
The temporary abodes of Copperfield prepare him to become a writer, drawing deeply from his personal experience living in poverty most of the times. ‘David Copperfield’ is considered an autobiographical novel by Dickens who went through a similar journey like his character.
Director Iannucci, known for his satirical works, is also an Oscar nominee, having been nominated for Best Screenplay for ‘In the Loop’ (2009), also directed by him. Iannucci also created the award-winning TV series ‘Veep’ and directed the 2017 film ‘The Death of Stalin’, also premiered at the Toronto festival.
The 116-minute film, which has received positive reviews at the Toronto festival, is already talked about as an Oscar contender. After receiving the Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for ‘Lion’, the real life story of a boy who is adopted by an Australian family after he was separated from his family at a young age, Patel is expected to get the nod for Best Actor at the Academy Award nominations to be announced in December. (UNI)
