Mr. Turner

The is a parable surrounding the life of English artist, Joseph Mallord William Turner, known mostly as William Turner. It is a moral fable about a deeply-flawed and supremely-brilliant man and artist, in that order. It tells us of life in late-18th to mid-19th Century England, where class and status were more important than life and death itself. William Turner was not of the upper crust, but was very crusty, indeed. A man who refused any conformity in art, as much as he rejected any station in life, not of his own choosing and making. He was at once revolutionary and profoundly inhibited, sexually, psychologically and physically. At once conceited, and greatly altruistic, he was enigmatic as his paintings, rich with colour and meaning, and yet a maelstrom of feelings, that even he could not comprehend. Scorned by some (mostly at the top echelons of society) and beloved by others (mostly middle-class patrons), he was in equal measure, derisive of false airs, rival artists and businessmen out to market his paintings. He was a sadomasochist, before the term even existed. And he was the greatest English painter of modern times, foretelling the arrival of European impressionism, abandoning in its wake Renaissance realism, which he considered devoid of meaning and lacking any natural elements, a key component of his art: The rough waves of the sea; the hot sun bearing down on a field of grain; the tempest between ship and captain. All elements of no interest whatsoever to the wealthy, who essentially wanted paintings of themselves, while Turner made paintings of the world as he saw and experienced it, and not as he might have wished it to be otherwise. In this, his artistic honesty was unassailable, as much as his marital fidelity was based on the simple principle: "If you can get away with it, why not" ? This led to one and one half wives, several children out of wedlock, and the ill-treatment of his first wife, who waited on him hand and foot, and the slightly better treatment of his lover, who waited on him hand and foot, but was the wiser of the two women. While his final ability to express normal emotion to his lover may be applauded, his callous and abhorrent treatment of his spouse was immoral and deplorable. Again, we have the man as artist and we have the artist as man, neither exclusive of the other. Mike Leigh has surpassed all his other films by a long mile. Each frame, itself, a Turner pastel in rich colours and English inflectional nuance, the musical score kept to a minimum, in order that each character and painting provide the necessary sound. The cinematography, editing and costume design flawless; so much so, you start yourself to speak in middle-English to your spouse. The acting all superb and perfect, but a special note about Timothy Spall. There is NO bad Timothy Spall performance, ever. I cannot even begin to describe the layers of nuance, emotion, sensitivity, pain, subsumed anger, sexual inhibition and sexual depravity, that is displayed by Mr Spall. Either he really IS William Turner or perhaps William Turner was Timothy Spall, in another life. There are outstanding performances and there are performances that will last for generations to come. Mr Spall's performance was, without question, the latter. It is simply one of the finest displays of acting in the last half-century. It is THAT good that Mr Spall deserves NO Academy Award just to entirely validate the Hollywood maxim that no brilliant performance goes rewarded. Imagine Sir Lawrence Olivier as artist, and you get a sense of what I mean. Other than Sir Michael Caine, I doubt any Englishman, removed to Hollywood, would have the slightest clue what Mr Spall has accomplished. This is a long movie, at 2.5 hours, and it is a slow movie, just as Turner was a slow artist, Mike Leigh (like Turner) daring you to sit enthralled and patient, silent with no complaint, as you watch an actor in his prime work cinematic and artistic magic before our eyes, and perhaps before the very rough seas, that informed his work. If you miss this film, you will be at a very great loss.

Someone criticized this film for its "lack of conflict." Not enough action, some others said. Boring! This movie is none of these. The conflict is subtle and not marked by histrionics or dire acts. There is plenty of action, just not of the physical sort that we see too often. Mr. Turner is a superb film for anyone who is interested in art and a marvelous revelation to anyone who, like me, has revered Turner's works for years. The fact that Turner was often boorish and crass in his dealings with others simply points out that his art was his life and anything else was simply a distraction. Like Beethoven, his contemporary, Turner was a genius and a monomaniac whose pursuit of his art ruled his life. In a very meaningful moment in the movie, Turner hears a Beethoven sonata played on the piano and recognizes the music as coming from a romantic much as himself. Indeed, Turner and Beethoven introduced the world to Romanticism through their departing from the establishment and going their own ways. This film is well-acted and a masterpiece of cinematography. So beautiful in fact, that I already want to watch it again and it was just yesterday that I saw it for the first time. As someone else remarked the acting of Dorothy Atkinson as Hannah, Turner's housekeeper is amazing.

This film has so much to offer! Truly brilliant performances. Wonderful photography. A look into a world seldom seen - the art world behind the public art world. Quiet, but forward moving, and to me very satisfying. Four stars instead of five because I'd hoped to see a bit more about Turner's work. The uniqueness of his vision. Here we see perhaps some of the 'why,' but little of the 'why it matters.' Worth the time. Worth, I suspect, several viewings.

There really was a time before the clutter of electronic gadgets provided instant communications as well as ease in capturing high quality images of the world around us…over and over again, with less than a second between the changing light, say, of sunset. That is part of the appeal of the Belle Epoque and the Victorian era, which can be recalled sentimentally through a gauzy memory that omits a lot of the downside of the period, like much shorter life expectancy and even a lack of refrigeration. Going back further still, to the very beginning of the industrial era, in England, there were two painters who laboriously captured those images of sunsets, storms and the ocean and so much more, as filtered through their mind, before the time of electrical high-tension lines: John Constable and Joseph Mallord William Turner. I’ve tended to confuse the work of one with the other. This documentary will hopefully lessen the confusion in the future. Mike Leigh directed this well-done biographical drama of the last 25 years of the life of JMW Turner, who lived from 1775 to 1851. It was released in 2014. Timothy Spall plays an impressive Turner. Paul Jesson plays Turner Senior, who would die in 1829. Dorothy Atkinson plays Hannah Danby, Turner’s housekeeper, who is sexually abused in the drama, apparently a possible fabrication since there is no evidence that this occurred. And Marion Bailey plays Sophie Booth, the twice-widowed innkeeper at the seaside resort of Margate who becomes involved with “Mr. Duck” until the end of his life (there is a play on his second name, Mallord, similar to the French “mallard,” which means duck). Like many, Turner is a very troubled flawed man who is also a genius, with a unique ability to capture the three-dimensional images of our natural world, remembering the color just so-so, and rendering them onto two-dimensional canvas so that we stand in awe. It is the land of top hats, those tall black cylindrical hats that were de rigueur for those at or aspiring to be at the apex of the social order. Turner invariably wore one… particularly to the “Hanging Committee,” (no, not of humans, but of paintings, and who got placement). There is a good scene which depicts his regrettable, egotistical rivalry with Constable, mocking his “The Opening of Waterloo Bridge.” In that narrow social apex, it should be no surprise that Turner interacts with other famous historical persons like John Ruskin, when he was brash and young. (I made a mental note that I need to read some of Ruskin, and his depiction of the stones at the cathedral at Amiens.) Benjamin Robert Haydon, another painter of the era, brutally disrupted the august deliberations of the “Hanging Committee.” He would die by suicide in 1846. Turner had his eccentric (crazy?) moments, once being tied to the mast of a schooner so he could get a sense for the ocean during a storm. Unlike Constable, he would embrace the coming modern world with a famous painting of a rail locomotive. One of the more memorable scenes, that speaks volumes about art world “fashion” is when a very youthful Queen Victoria comes to a special session at the gallery and trashes Turner’s work… and thus, so did everyone else, and he fell from favor. In his old age he still enjoyed the comforts Ms. Booth could provide. There was no mention how far after his death that his reputation was restored and/or did it require the death of a very long-lived queen. 5-stars for an informative drama which provided some images that will endure in my mind.

The rape scene by Turner of his housekeeper was really not necessary and to show a close up of Turner making his distinctive grunting sounds during the act was the worst form of audience manipulation by director Mike Leigh. I'm sure it would remind us all of the bestiality that primitive human beings evolved from. These were all top notch actors but no worthwhile script. Best scene: Martin Savage as Benjamin Haydon when he tried to repay his loan with a 10 £ note. All in all, a terribly long and disappointing movie. Mr. Turner did NOT have an "endearing" relationship with Mrs. Booth or anyone else for that matter. He was a loathsome human being by all accounts. If you believe the incredible scene about the rich American buyer who wanted to buy everything Turner had then I have a bridge in Brooklyn I would like to sell to you. Don't expect to see any of Turner's paintings in this film. I don't believe he painted all of his works "…for the British People…." A bunch of claptrap for sure. <Turner> [Exiting] "…<grunt>…<snort>….well, I, <grunt> have to go! <snort>, <grunt>, <grunt>.

It is NOT a film about Turner's art or his paintings. For a long time, I didn't like Turner's paintings. Then, I watched Simon Schama's series The Power of Art on paintings that changed the world; one of those was Turner's painting of the slaves thrown overboard. I don't like that painting at all, but after that I really looked at Turner's work and came to like it very much. The word here is simply LIKE. I also knew from Simon Schama that Turner was more or less just a guy. This film shows that very well; he's liked by his fellow academicians. He has a great relationship with his father .He's lovable to women. He's tender hearted and generous and gruff; he's an ordinary person. He clearly (in the film) loves to paint and has exactly the eye that would engender the paintings. I thought it was a reasonable, possibly even realistic, depiction of Turner but told in disjointed snapshots. There is no plot. The second time around, I found it tedious.

The film explores the last quarter century of the eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) who had risen from the streets to become the toast of the aristocracy. He travels, paints, rubs elbows with the gentry, visits brothels, and is a contentious member of the Royal Academy of Arts. At one point, he has himself strapped to the mast of a ship so that he can paint a snowstorm. In life, he was both celebrated and reviled by the British establishment. One adoring magnate offered him 100,000 pounds for his entire body of work, but Turner refused. Turner’s personal life was as eccentric as his artwork. He was secretly loved by his housekeeper, even though he exploited her sexually. He abandoned his first wife and then formed a bigamous relationship with a seaside landlady in Chelsea. He maintained two or three false identities. This is a strange, haunting, and beautiful film. It lacks a plot or storyline, but the excruciatingly beautiful scenes and the impeccable acting keep you enthralled. It’s like spying on the 19th century from a time machine. Every frame of the cinematography looks as if it were shot by Vermeer. The sun becomes a character in the film just as it did in Turner’s paintings. Two things do fail the film, however. First, the episodes are stitched together like disjointed vignettes, and second, Gary Yershon’s musical soundtrack is a disaster. Despite this, Timothy Spall as Turner and Dorothy Atkinson as his housekeeper give academy award level performances. Dorothy in particular is simply mind boggling as she stands silently to the side of the action and yet steals the scene with her subtle expressions. If you like splendid acting and glorious painterly scenery, you will enjoy this movie. It is actually ‘a work of art’. As Turner says on his death bed, “The sun is God! Ha ha ha!”

Fantastic movie. I loved every minute. Spall won best actor at Cannes for his performance and deserved it. I had never heard of Turner before the movie, I'm obviously not an art historian although I love art museums and learning. Don't expect an edge of your seat action film however I think anyone would enjoy learning about an artist who some think is the first impressionist. Rather than words Spall's dialogue often consists of knowing grunts but when combined with his facial expression and body language or what ever actors call it he can communicate deep understanding, insight, emotion and story telling so clearly it cuts right to the bone emotionally. I wish I had seen it on the big screen, maybe it will come around again but see it now, I think it is going to be one of those films we keep hearing about. Not for kids, the sex scenes are rather I guess unforgettable, not a lot of skin but not for kids. I love Timothy Spall and it is about time he got the leading role and the recognition he deserves. Hope he gets more. PS He was also great in Enchanted which is for the kids and under rated.