flingebunt
A great biopic tells the story behind the story so that we learn about how things came to be. Instead what we see in the story of Mr Turner is a collection of well known stories linked together with no exploration beyond these onto the screen.William Turner created some of the greatest landscape paintings that inspired generations after him. We know the stories, in particular how we was lashed to mask in storm so that he could be inspired to his fabulous Steam Boat in a Storm painting. Except we know that story. We know the painting. It is interesting to see it on the big screen, but the movie contributes nothing to our understanding of this event.In the same way it contributes nothing to the whole story of Turner's life other than some little snippets that are loosely linked together. We don't see his youth, his inspiration, his great struggles. This is nothing but a collection of anecdotes rather than a story or a movie. .
nqure
Not usually a fan of Mike Leigh's work, but thoroughly enjoyed this film, which is slow-paced & impressionistic, with distinct scenes that seem apparently unrelated, but which harmonise into a whole. Leigh's film echoes Turner's approach to art: both take an unorthodox approach. Leigh's film does not possess a linear narrative, but is a series of impressions that hang together (like pictures in an exhibition) to form an organic whole. A cynic might wonder if Leigh views himself as a latter day incarnation of Turner as an artist (misunderstood).The film (three hours) is structured around Turner & his relationships, firstly with his beloved father & loyal maid-servant Danby in London; secondly with a landlady he meets on his painting trips to the Kent seaside; & the final strand, about the ageing painter with his contemporaries, nascent art criticism (Ruskin's intellect contrasts with Turner's intuitive, instinctual approach), with the public (ridicule) & royalty, a man seemingly out of touch with new movements (the pre-Raphaelites) , fearful of being forgotten though still retaining faith in his own distinctive artistic vision ('it will come': understanding), whose genius is appreciated by the few (the compassionate doctor), a man ahead of his time anticipating the new French art movement to come.The film is the study of an inarticulate man but one with a very deep instinct & artistic vision, a man fuelled by both a passion for art & the sensual. There are echoes of Hesse & his multiplicity of selves, in the way Turner is a man both of sublime vision but also of powerful sexual drives (his sexual exploitation of his long-suffering maid-servant). He is a visionary but also a loving son, socially awkward, moody & grunting assent yet capable of deep feeling & passion (his faltering yet moving rendition of Purcell). These multiple personalities are reflected in how those around him address him: to his father & estranged mother of his children, he is simply 'Billy', to his contemporaries (Constable) 'William' & 'Turner' & in the upper echelons as 'Mr Turner'.'Mr Turner' is also about his relationship with those around him, in particular, his beloved father, 'Daddy', Mrs Booth, the landlady with whom he finds content & loving understanding of the whole man, the unfortunate Danby, loving but neglected & Benjamin Haydon, a fellow artist.This artistic relationship provides a fascinating strand to the story & a real undertow of tragedy for we know history saw Turner vindicated, but what happens to the artist who is mediocre & whose sacrifice proves vain? Haydon, too, is a man of passion, anarchic, angry at being derided & whose outbursts provide vitriolic black humour. He is, sadly, a rebel without a cause. (Researching Haydon's life following the film, he committed suicide. Dickens, usually so compassionate in his books, made a caustic appraisal of Haydon's work).Both Haydon & Turner are marginalised & misunderstood by their contemporaries, though one is ridiculed for a lack of talent ('Self portrait of an ass'), the other for being innovative, respected but regarded as veering off into his own eccentric direction (the scene in the RA where he apparently ruins a picture, but then smears over the paint). Such relationships throw a kind of chiaroscuro, light & dark, (tonal contrasts) over proceedings so that we see Turner in different kinds of light (light being central to his work as an artist). Turner's talent allows him to flit between the social worlds of aristocratic salons & the brothel.Thank heavens for Film4 +1 as one scene completely left me befuddled & yet after watching it again, this challenging scene is probably the emotional key to understanding the film & the man. This is the scene with the experiment regarding colour & light undertaken by Mary Somerville (Lesley Manville), a scientist. The experiment about the magnetic pole & spectrum of colours reflects both Turner's personality (artistic, sexual, a man of contradictions) & the impressionistic nature/vision of the film itself, contradictory elements that harmonise into a whole. It is also a scene where the normally inarticulate Turner is voluble as if the nature of science justifies his vision of art, of capturing light & shade.The final scene, of the artist out in the open air as seen through the loving eyes of his companion harks back to the opening one set in the dusk of the Dutch countryside, of a free spirit out in the open air.
murrap
The Bad Either I am watching an attempt at an accurate biographical account or I am not. Leigh inventing a story line that traduces Turner's character because it "felt right" is an important step too far. Not that he appears to have been a saint. Turner was sacrificed for Leigh's craft. It also did not tell a tale, more a series of barely related events, which themselves were not followed up eg. Haydon. Turner's father looked in some ways younger than Turner with more of a twinkle in his eye, so a very questionable portrayal. I also could not hear what was being said at the beginning of the film; maybe this was intentional but let's have a few subtitles to poke fun at this stupidity. The Good. Beautifully shot and great atmosphere.
lebewohll-78626
As Mr Leigh has attempted to promote a cultural and economic boycott, I believe that behavior is appropriate for would-be viewers of his work. Mr Leigh's blatant anti-semitic rants and behavior obviouslyundercut his work. I must pass on patronizing the work of a Nazi bastard. From the look of things, most of the UK is rapidly becoming more accommodating to this nastiness. It won't help their cultural exports nor much else from the UK. If Mr Leigh loves the bloody Muslims so much, why doesn't he move to a Muslim 3rd-world country, and then try there to express his thoughts, and try to get his movies produced there?
