You can watch my youtube review HERE!!!
The main problem with biopics is that in order to be a film they have to convert the events of a life into a plot which can often make for a contrived watch. Mike Leigh manages to avoid this and crafts a rather unique and engaging portrait on the later years of an artist's life. Mr. Turner is of course about the rather eccentric and famous romantic landscape painter J. M. W. Turner starring Timothy Spall in the title role. The rest of the main cast includes Dorothy Atkinson, Paul Jesson and Marion Bailey.
Mike Leigh directs the film with a light touch letting the character slowly come through to the viewer rather than forcing him upon us. There's no semblance of a plot in Mike Leigh's script, instead we just get vignettes of the artist's life with no clear through line or message but that is the intention. There's no need for narrative push, contrived drama or the journey of a tortured artist, Mike Leigh just wants to embrace art and life in all its beauty even in its insignificant moments.
Timothy Spall is absolutely perfect in the role and rightly won best actor at Cannes earlier this year. Though the script doesn't explain the character to us you get a sense of who he is though Spall's performance and its a delightfully warm one though the artist himself is rather distant. Also the fact the Spall spent almost two years learning how to paint for the film creates even more of a truth in the performance.
The stand out achievement of the film though is its gorgeous cinematography from Dick Pope. He captures truly breathtaking compositions that could rival Turner's paintings. All caught digitally on the Arri Alexa though it fooled me into believing it was shot on film (which believe me is a hard thing to do). The score is also beautiful but also haunting with a beautiful string section and though the film is two and a half hours long I was constantly engaged and never bored.
Mr. Turner is a lovely film but also a very slow one so it won't be for everyone. There are no grand revelations or thrilling drama but just a man whose art spoke more words than he did; capturing the beauty in the world around us whether is be a simple countryside, steam boat or storm. With gorgeous visuals and a great performance there's a lot to love in the film even though it did not blow me away.
4 out of 5 stars.
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