Review of Mr. Turner (2014) by Alan W — 04 Nov 2014

Mike Leigh's film about the British painter JMW Turner is exactly how you would expect it to be. Bypassing the use of more glamorous British actors and actresses or an overarching dramatic story in its narrative, the film opts for older and more ordinary looking faces, befitting the Victorian era it portrays and as for the narrative, adopts a more sketchy, bullet point approach to the last 25yrs of his life which somehow manages not to feel episodic or incoherent.

Timothy Spall as Turner is wonderfully gruff and monosyllabic and he does a splendid job conveying emotions and thoughts with gestures and real immersive acting. The rest of the cast is equally solid and save 1 or 2 familiar faces, comprised not so much a who's-who but a who's-that? of British character actors.

As expected from Leigh, this is a beautifully composed film, not only replicating meticulously Turner's paintings on the big screen but incorporated them intelligently and poignantly into a narrative composed of snapshots of the subject's life but which together paints a picture of a British master who maybe a genius in his works but otherwise flawed when it comes to his relationships with the people around him, especially the women folk.

In the end, the film belongs to Leigh and Spall and at 150 mins long, it probably feels a little on the long side but it is educational as well as entertaining, though I must confess it is my respect and admiration rather than my love or adoration for the film that command me to rate this film so highly.

A tremendous film, then, had I been more into the art of this era (or a regular member of the Royal Academy of Art) but it is nevertheless a great point of entry for anyone who wants to know more about the artist or just British art history in general.