To complement our screenings of ‘Turner & Constable’, we present this much lauded biopic, exploring the last quarter century of the great, if eccentric, British painter J.M.W. Turner's life.
Turner (Timothy Spall) lives in London with his doting father (Paul Jesson) and equally devoted housekeeper Hannah Danby (Dorothy Atkinson). When his father dies, he travels to Margate to paint, and meets Sophia, who succumbs to the artist's charms long before she finally discovers who he is, and why everyone else thinks he's so damned important. Meanwhile, Turner mingles among the aristocracy and rules the roost at the Royal Academy. The work is an astonishingly detailed and richly enjoyable recreation of the era, but one that's also immediately familiar as another slice of director Mike Leigh himself - class-conscious, awkward and affectionate. Leigh's long-term collaborator Spall is astounding as Turner and delivers a tour de force reminiscent of Charles Laughton in his prime.
UK 2014 Mike Leigh 150m
