Guess what? I’m one of those people who has no previous interaction with the story of David Copperfield. I’ve never read the books, never watched a play or a film adaptation. So, when the gods of TIFF asked me if I wanted to watch a rendition of this story staring Dev Patel and directed by Armando Iannucci (In the Loop) I answered a resounding yes.

I’m here to tell you that I don’t even know what I watched.

David Copperfield is Ianucci’s most beautiful film to date. With his previous works feeling more like The Office style comedies made for television, where sudden zooms were used on befuddled faces to accentuate their ineptitude, here we have a steady hand that utilizes some very interesting art direction and transition work to make a remarkably stylish film. This feels like Veep by way of Paolo Sorrentino and Martin Scorsese combined.

At the same time the narrative was sadly lost on me. While I could enjoy the moment to moment the overall narrative structure of Copperfield’s history and the way he’s retelling and rewriting it within its own story left me somewhat lost at times. It isn’t so much that I feel it was misused or inappropriately managed, but rather I wasn’t able to properly grasp it all within this one viewing experience. Characters like Mr. Dick (Hugh Laurie), Jane Murdstone (Gwendoline Christie) and Mr. Micawber (Peter Capaldi) shined brightly whenever on screen. However, as one entire piece it seemed off. Even the chapterization that the film used felt off to me.

This felt like a film that deserves re-examining rather than any swift write-offs. I look forward to doing as such. However, this film remains the most interesting thing I’ve seen this festival so far and I look forward to more… please…