Mr. Turner
Director: Mike Leigh
Talent: Timothy Spall, Dorothy Atkinson, Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson, Lesley Manville
Release Date: 31st October 2014
The film begins when J.M.W. Turner (Timothy Spall) is already the toast of the town: wealthy, famous and able to do as he pleases. For that reason this feels more like a character study than a powerful plot. Things happen, but they do so more for Turner to turn his squinting eye on than for their own inherent worth, yet here lies the strength of the film. Timothy Spall excellently brings Turner to life in what may be a career defining performance. It’s especially fortunate because, surprisingly for a Leigh film, this suffers from a real lack of subtlety or grace. From the wherking class accents to the lisped, effeminate Ruskin, it occasionally feels like a cinematic hodgepodge of Dickens and Hogarth. There’s a more powerful Turner film waiting to be made, but for those interested in this most incredible painter this will certainly do.
Words: Eoghain Meakin
