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Mr. Turner poster

CAST
TIMOTHY SPALL
DOROTHY ATKINSON
MARION BAILEY
PAUL JESSON
KARL JOHNSON
LESLEY MANVILLE
MARTIN SAVAGE
RUTH SHEEN

WRITTEN BY
MIKE LEIGH

PRODUCED BY
GEORGINA ROWE

DIRECTED BY
MIKE LEIGH

GENER
BIOGRAPHY
DRAMA
HISTORY

RATED
AUS:M
UK:12A
USA:R

RUNNING TIME
150 MIN

MR. TURNER (2014)

Mr. Turner is an absorbing biopic led by a terrific Timothy Spall and directed with methodical brilliance by Mike Leigh.

Of the many great things that writer/director Mike Leigh accomplished with Mr. Turner, two stands out: the first that it introduced those of us who are art novices to a brilliant yet notorious artist; and the second that it gave excellent character actor Timothy Spall a leading role which he can consume with all of his skills.

Beginning in 1826, Mr. Turner chronicles the last 25 years in the life of eccentric painter Joseph Mallord William Turner, whose revolutionary landscape and maritime paintings were celebrated and lambasted by the public, the aristocracy, and even Royalty.

Turner is portrayed as a man dedicated to his work, always out in the world and enthralled by the beauty of creation before him which he sketches onto his pad. Included in the film is a legendary event in Turner’s life, when he was strapped to the mast of a ship so he could observe a snow storm in action. Also included is the bronchitis that followed and nearly killed him. For Turner, there was no limit to his artistry.

It’s his personal life that is of greater interest, and in many ways Turner was as repugnant a man as he was charitable. Where he had time for his fellow artists from the Royal Academy of Arts and a kind word for strangers, it’s those closest to him that got the cold shoulder, such as the two daughters who he refused to acknowledge, or his faithful housekeeper Hannah Danby (heartbreakingly portrayed by Dorothy Atkinson) who Turner exploited sexually but never returned the love she had for him.

Spall plays both the sentimental and repugnant sides of Turner’s personality with a gruff charm. His ability to make a grunt say a thousand words, to contort his unique face from a dead as nails scowl to a pained smile and to all matter of facial expression in between, and to play heavy emotion struggling to break through a wall of stubborn resistance, all results in one of the year’s most unique and best performances. It probably won’t mark Spall’s transition from character actor to leading man, but it does remind of his immense talent.

In Leigh’s portrait of a great artist, he himself has created a stunning work of art. Excellent production design is enhanced by the exquisite, dense cinematography by Dick Pope. Combined with the performances by Spall and the rest of an excellent cast, and Mr. Turner becomes the best kind of period biopic, that transports the viewer into its world and right beside its subject.

****
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