Review of Mr. Turner (2014) by Jonathan B — 27 Mar 2016

Telling of the final 25 years in the life of revolutionary English artist J.M.W. Turner this is a terrific movie from Mike Leigh. Turner, played by the marvellous Timothy Spall is shown as a brooding and cantankerous character who is as dismissive of his admirers as he is of his critics.

This is a tour-de-force performance by Spall and the period setting of late Georgian-early Victorian England is grittily and realistically bought to the screen by the uncompromising Leigh. This is certainly not the normal costume drama and we see the seedy side of life.

There are some great scenes where we see the inspiration for some of Turner's most famous works such as him seeing the battleship Temeraine being towed to the wrecking yard and marvelling as an early steam train thunders past him.

Leigh is a master at depicting the everyday and socially awkward moments that fill life and this film is no exception. It lays bare the dysfunctional marriage of Turner and shows the complete contempt his estranged wife has for the man and he for her.

It also portrays the dreadful way in which he treats his cousin who acts as housekeeper. However, there is also a great deal of tenderness in the film. Turner is shown to be very respectful and close towards his father, the man who first pushed his son into the arts and recognised his genius.

He also develops a touching and loving relationship with a Margate landlady, a relationship that becomes increasingly important to him in his latter years. The art world is shown as fickle and transitory and as fashion and tastes change, Turner's reputation begins to falter.

Eventually, he becomes the subject of ridicule, a situation that causes him great pain. This is a really good if sobering biopic about a man widely recognised these days as being ahead of his time. As with many such people, I'm not sure I would have liked to have met Turner, but I can appreciate his work and feel that I understand him and his motivations a little better than I did thanks to the performances and production values of this worthwhile and interesting movie.