Armando Iannucci wanted to “rip up the rules” of costume drama when adapting the Dickens classic David Copperfield, which the satirist says shares similarities with Martin Scorsese’s riotous tale of greed and excess, The Wolf of Wall Street.
“It’s really funny,” he said at a press conference at London film festival on Tuesday where the film has its European premiere.
The satirist said Copperfield’s story was riddled with “status anxiety”, which was something that was still ingrained in modern Britain.
Iannucci and the film’s producer, Kevin Loader, addressed the diverse casting of the film, including British-Asian actor Dev Patel who plays the lead role.