Mr Turner Review

The unconventional painter Joseph Mallord William Turner begins his tale in London, 1828. Following his success as a child prodigy, he now situates between being dedicated to his art and father. Turner travels to gives lectures and guidance on how to successfully paint. His life accentuated by the peripheral women he wrongly treats. His loyal handmaiden Hannah is fuelled by lust and loyalty. Mrs Dean is stern and despises Turner for the poor treatment to his two adult daughters. Following the death of one of his estranged daughters and his father has fallen ill and died, Turner is now longing for a new connection.

As Turner`s success is highlighted through his Academy recognition and is offered a lump sum for his collection, the audience recognises his attributes through the refusal of the offer. The opposing classes attitudes towards him are reflective of his artistic decline. Character`s which were a part of the national landscape and Turner`s life are introduced such as Mr Ruskin and Benjamin Haydon.

In his search of a new connection, he returns to Mrs Booth who accompanies Turner in committing an affair through his secret trips to see her and moves into a Chelsea home. Hannah, still loyal but now ill herself follows him to discover his happiness lies there. While his personal affairs occur, his work affairs situate comedy and jealousy amongst those who spectate his work as his eyes appear to deteriorate.

JMW Turner now revived with an alternative medium than canvas. The depiction of J.M.W. Turner juxtaposed with the thoughtful father, William Turner (Paul Jesson) which is used as a device to reflect Turner`s emotional spiral following his death. JMW Turner was renowned for being one of Britain`s greatest painters and has now constructed by one of Britain`s contemporary greats. The landscape painter with the romantic imagery of his subjects met with Mike Leigh`s brutally realist character portrayals which explore the personal tragedies which burden one`s life. Romanticism is not a feature of this film, for the most part, even his relationship with art itself is one which he openly abuses to the confusion of the characters and the audience. Sounds of moans and grunts accommodate Mr Turner (2014). The biopic of Joseph Mallord William Turner is portrayed as a sophisticated analysis of his personality following his early success, being a member of the Royal Academy by the age of fifteen. Mr Turner is excellently personified by the well-researched Timothy Spall who collaborates once again with the director Leigh. This narrative explores the pities of a cockney born painter in the Victorian era covering approximately the last twenty-five years of his life to 1851, the year Turner died at the age of 75

Mike Leigh although making a period piece has managed to utilise contemporary social issues and subtly remark them in the dialogue between characters. In an exchange between Turner and Lord Egremont at Petworth house, they compare the flavour of an ox in his later life to that of a horse when debating its efficiency as a worker. Although released a year following the horsemeat scandal of 2013, it cannot go unnoticed when regarding the horse as far from tasty in any part of its life. The subtly of the excerpt echoes the subtle use of close up shots to capture nonverbal communication to which drives the narrative.

Mike Leigh`s attention to realistic characters does not stray despite this being his second, period piece, before the third - Peterloo (Leigh, 2018). The development of characters in this narrative is one of the most successful devices beyond the excellent use of cinematography by Dick Pope commonly reflecting the artwork produced by Turner during the setting through colour and the shot employed. This film reveals the problems of his earlier films which explore working-class characters trapped on the ladder of upward mobility (Jaehne, 1998). The cinematography begins the movie as open and is flooded with bright yellow either seeping through windowpanes or reflected on rivers. As Turner`s apparent mobility halted in his later life class entrapment is revealed through Turner`s alienation. Highlighted through a musical play which mocked him, showing his condemnation from that class but also Queen Victoria even classifies his painting a yellow mess` in the latter half of the film. After this condemnation, scenes heavily filtered with a blue overtone which highlights the protagonists` psychological state.

Mr Turner in the film met with a fascination for the technology that is due to supersede his art form. Turner`s slow demise is matched with the acceleration of technology to surpass him. The use of the train and the later use of the camera reflect the characters fear but also the fascination with the future of technology. Although Turner was unaware that he was going to initiate the period of impressionism in art, he is aware that technology is going to surpass him as he acknowledges the birth of a camera is going to revolutionise landscape art. While brush strokes enabled Turner`s work to blend, the use of sound in this film makes a smooth transition through the episodic narrative as the years pass without any marker visual marker.

While this period piece is an in-depth character analysis of J.M.W. Turner, anxieties regarding technology surpassing you resonates with the viewer whose society is transforming throughout their lifetime. Timothy Spall`s character acting could give life to a natural object. Mike Leigh, as a director, creates a romantic tale which is reflective of the mood of the protagonist but goes beyond this as to replicate the feeling of the artist himself during the period, reflecting on the artwork he produced and tries to replicate the framing, while Spall attempts to replicate moans and grunts.