The film deals with the last 20 or so years of Turner's life. You may know him for his seascapes and stormy oil paintings. He was a deeply patriotic artist and also a man of mystery. A man of England. The films chooses to let us get to know his family first and foremost. For an unknowing audience member, perhaps Turner is just a man with a hobby, not the country's most prolific and infamous artist of the time. We meet his father, a man who has grown in age and come to work for his son as an assistant. We meet Turner's housekeeper, a drastically plain woman who feels as though she has Turner's heart and devotion.
The story follows a very episodic nature, as we find Turner both coming to terms with his life as well as profession. The film takes a smart approach in that we are merely observing, as though a play. There is little sympathy to be found in Turner throughout most of the film, and there are times he is plain cruel. We are perhaps meant to reason how a man becomes a man, or maybe how art can be influenced by it.
The film is lucky to have a man like Timothy Spall as its star. To American audiences he is known as one of the main villains in the Harry Potter franchise. He is, in reality, one of the most versatile actors in the industry, able to transform himself in a performance with remarkable ease. He is an easily recognizable actor, with his large stomach and prominent smile- but what he manages with Mr Turner is to create a wholly realized person- not a protagonist, but a man. He talks deep and grumbles through the back of his throat, and yet never is there a time when watching the film that we doubt anything he says or does.
The other star is the films cinematography. Gorgeous and lush, the camera moves throughout the cold interiors as though a ghost. Our beautiful landscapes and exterior shots are vibrant, framed perfectly, and almost mimicking the style of Turner's paintings, themselves.
Plot wise, there isnt much to take in. The film steps along at a 2.5 hour running time and yet there isn't a scene out of place or a dull moment to be found. Its difficult to imagine how such a film can or would end, and Mike Leigh finds the perfect note- a series of 3 masterful shots that encompass all that Turner has achieved in his life, the beauty of his work, the power of his personality, and the cruelty of ultimate loneliness.
I've thought quite a bit about this film after it ended, and in the days following. It left a mark on me that isn't easy to understand. Yes, it's amazing to see how an artist creates and the lengths by which some of these 19th century painters went to achieve greatness. In the end, what's all the more gripping is the subtext that lies underneath everthing. There's so much more to a work of art than surface level alone.
(Awards potential: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Spall), Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, Best Original Score)
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