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Review: Mr Turner

★★★★☆
Four Stars

The opening credits of Mr Turner begin in silence over a black screen before a cut to a landscape evoking those painted by the title character and eventually panning to give the first view of Timothy Spall in his latest role — a meditative start to a film that is meditative throughout. Gary Yershon’s eerie soundtrack accompanies a first few minutes dominated by Spall’s grumpy expression before the commencement of any dialogue, setting the scene for a film that is unafraid to take its time.  

Mr Turner depicts the last 25 years in the life of J.M.W. Turner, the celebrated British landscape painter of the Romantic period, following his work, family and relationships up to his death in 1851.

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The character of Turner is interesting and compelling. As visceral in life as his painting style, he is at first difficult to assess, treading the line between friendly and threatening in almost every scene. He grunts his way to the position of alpha male among contemporaries such as Constable, and is something of an eccentric. Tying himself to the mast of a ship in a storm in order to learn how to paint such a scene is the epitome of this. Such commitment to work incidentally recalls the methods of Spall, who had painting lessons for two years in preparation for the role — maybe actor and subject are not all that different.

Family relationships exemplify Turner’s light and dark. His relationship with his father, the other Mr Turner after whose influence on the artist’s life the film could easily be named, is a charming one, with a grown man’s father still telling his son when to have a shave. Other family   relationships are rather more strained and a darker and more mysterious side to Turner is revealed through scenes and dialogue that hint at the fates of those not present, revealing a catalogue of murky secrets as the film develops.  

In terms of both writing and directing, Mr Turner comes right from Mike Leigh’s top drawer. His dialogue brings two and a half hours of effortless flow and tender treatment, with a great deal of humour along the way, while his direction pulls off ambitious scenes like the continuous shot of various conversations in a doorway as Haydon walks away to the river to glorious effect.

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The era of the early to mid Nineteenth Century is created and sustained in a manner that does not feel obtrusive. Aside from the costumes and scenery, the audience is reminded of the times by the less glamorous jobs of families such as the shaving of a pig’s head in preparation for dinner, rather than by the more grandiose clichés that could have been employed, giving a true sense of attention-to-detail. 

Much praise and some awards have already been heaped on Timothy Spall’s performance in the lead role, and it is easy to see why, with his captivating range of facial contortions and the opportunities for deeper emotion in the second half of the film. It was the two leading ladies, however, whose performances caught my eye. Dorothy Atkinson gives little away in the sympathetic role of Hannah Danby, Turner’s faithful housekeeper, while Marion Bailey is particularly accomplished in the role of Mrs Booth, offering a worthy equal to Turner in a believable and endearing romance. 

The generous run-time of Mr Turner is very much felt. It does not, of course, purport to be a fast-paced thriller, and nor should it be. Every scene is well crafted and enjoyable, but there is no getting away from the fact that it takes its time. As a film to be enjoyed with time on your hands to rejoice in each offering of beautiful cinematography and perfect writing without thoughts of when the plot might progress, it is almost faultless, but I wouldn’t recommend seeing it with a busy schedule either side. It needs and deserves full attention in order to be enjoyed in all of its intricacy. 

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