The Man Who Invented Christmas
DVD - 2018


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The best-selling bloody author in the history of English bloody literature. Three of his books you have published in the last year and a half. Three!
-So where's the money?
Mr. Forster, like you, we are as puzzled as the Egyptians in their fog.
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What did they say?
-"Dull, vapid, and vulgar. Not a single character capable of exciting the reader's sympathies." I certainly didn't think it was vulgar.
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I'm sick of London. It's overcrowded, overpriced... You love this town. No place for a man without money. Not to mention the bloody fog.
-But it's your inspiration, your what-do-you-call-it... your magic lamp.
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Christmas is, or ought to be, the one time of year when men and women open their shut-up hearts and think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave and not another race of creatures altogether
Well, you have to learn to say no.
-How can I say no if I can be useful, if I can lighten the burden of another?
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I'm just sick of writing tooth and nail for bread, that's all.
-Hmm.
Should've become a journalist.
- You hate the press.
Or a lawyer.
- "The law is an ass." I believe you wrote that.
A hairdresser, then, in the Burlington Arcade. Do you know what I should have liked to be? An explorer, paddling a canoe somewhere in the wilds of Canada in a pair of buckskin breeches, all on my own. No nappies to change.
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Only a story my gran used to tell us, sir, back home in Ireland. She used to say that on Christmas Eve the veils between this world and the next thin out, and that's when the spirits cross over and walk among us.
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What is it you particularly object to in my books?
-Pickpockets, streetwalkers, charity boys. Those people don't belong in books.
"Those people"? You mean, the poor?
Stand up tall. Blood of iron, heart of ice.
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I'm happy wherever the weather. But your mother is of a more delicate sensibility.
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Humbug!
- What is?
Christmas.
-What about it?
Well, what is it but an excuse for picking a man's pocket every 25th of December?
-Yes. Keep going.
A time for paying bills without money. A time for finding yourself a year older and not an hour richer. If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with "Merry Christmas" on his lips should be boiled in his own plum pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart, he should.
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Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business. Charity... mercy... forbearance, and benevolence were all my business.
You sound just like Father. How is the old reprobate?
- "This morning I had 25 shillings in my hand. And now, observe the vacancy."
He means no harm.
-It's not enough. He bobs around like a cork on the surface of life. Not a thought for the future.
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You hardly pay him at all.
- Fifteen shillings a week.
For a man with a family, not to mention a sick child?
-That's the market rate.
Do you really believe that every inch of existence is a bargain across the counter? Observe this family. They don't have much, but they're happy, grateful, contented with their lot. Whereas you are miserable and content with nothing.
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He has a heart, doesn't he?
Oh, don't be daft. Now, come on, your wife will be worried sick.
-Who? Kate? She doesn't understand me.
I've got news for you, Charles. None of us understand you. You're... You're a freak of nature.
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It's a Christmas book. Shouldn't it be hopeful? mean, isn't that what... what... what Christmas is all about? The hope that in the end, our better natures will prevail?
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What is so evil about him?
- Well, he's a miser.
Well, that doesn't make him evil. It just makes him cheap.
- He worships money. It's the only thing that matters to him.
Why?
-He has nothing else.
No friends? No family?
-No one he trusts.
Why?
-Because he's afraid.
Of?
-Being found out.
I say a lot of things that are nonsense when I'm working.
- Charles...
You know how ideas take possession of me. You knew what I was like when you married me.
- Yes. I did. But you have no idea what it's like to live with you. Always walking on eggshells, trying to guess your mood, to know which of your commands are a whim and which are in earnest. You know, sometimes I... I feel your characters matter more to you than your own flesh and blood.
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If you never read the book or watched the films, then – spoiler alert:
Stave five.
"The End of It."
Yes. And the bedpost was his own, the bed was his own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the time before him was his own to make amends in. Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all and infinitely more. And to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. And so, as Tiny Tim observed, "God bless us, every one."
The end.
What's your name, Constable?
-My name? Copperfield, sir.
Copperfield.
-Any chance of a new book soon?
New book. New book! Wait. New book. Merry Christmas!
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That is beautiful.
-Isn't it? The Germans call it a Tannenbaum. It's a tree for Christmas. A Christmas tree, I suppose. Now the royal family have got one, it'll be all the rage.
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I wish you all many, many happy Christmases and friendships, and great accumulation of cheerful recollections and heaven at last for all of us. In the season of hope, we will shut out nothing from our firesides and everyone will be welcome.
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"It was a blessed inspiration that put such a book into the head of Charles Dickens. A happy inspiration of the heart that warms every page. It is impossible to read without a glowing bosom and burning cheeks, between love and shame of our kind."
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Add a CommentMagnify the importance of creativity; this story can ignite viewers of all ages that their thoughts as outlandish it may be have "significance" from day to day life to others; as Charles Dickens came about the birthing of Christmas carol a ghost story.
Keep those imaginative minds working...must see.
Wow. This movie is as good as Christmas Carol itself. I don’t know how true the story could be, nevertheless it is a great movie. Memorable. Highly recommended.
This is an imaginative take on how Dickens went about writing A Christmas Carol. It is by turns humorous and darkly dramatic, mirroring the book itself. The only noteworthy actor is Christopher Plummer, playing the imagined character of Scrooge, appearing to Dickens as if her were real and following him around as he completed the book, almost like an alter ego.
A very dark docudrama that looks at Charles Dickens childhood (hint he didn't have one) and how he was sold to a hellish sweat shop by indebted parents. This was horrifically command at the time as child labor laws were non existent and most parents simply had too many kids, no money and no future to look forwards to. And it builds this up to a rather disturbing real life version of the famous book. Highly recommended!
We really enjoyed this film. I did a little research afterwards to check for historical accuracy and it was a pretty good fit with reality, particularly when speaking of 'how' he wrote the book (with the help of the characters!). They did make Dickens a little 'flighty', but I can forgive that as it also made him endearing. A fun watch.
A feel-good holiday treat that follows Charles Dickens around the time he wrote A Christmas Carol. From writers' block to finally finding inspiration from the friends and strangers he encountered, we see that even his personal life finds its way into the holiday classic. If you are a fan of A Christmas Carol, (personally, I never miss the Patrick Stewart version), you'll truly enjoy the real-life story behind the classic. 4 stars.
I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Dan Stevens is always wonderful, and Christopher Plummer was great as Scrooge. What I really loved was the way the movie portrayed Dickens' relationship with his characters. I love how they pestered the author, making him listen to what they had to say about the story. All in all, this was a fun Christmas movie and I might even watch it again.
I was surprised at how much I loved this! I was afraid it was going to be a slow-moving story about how Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" but it was actually much more than that. It was like watching a biography and the "Christmas Carol" movie at the same time. I loved Christopher Plummer in the role of Scrooge and Dan Stevens was perfect as Charles. Actually the whole cast was just wonderful. It's kind of a dark movie in terms of color so it's not very bright but it's a perfect story for Christmas. Everyone should see this to appreciate "A Christmas Carol" even more.
Not really a biopic, but more a creative imagining of A Christmas Carol as it evolved through Dickens interactions with his own present and past.
Good and family-friendly entertainment. A bit slow but Christopher Plummer perks it up with his surly Scrooge. Worth a look.