Joseph Mallord William Turner was a complicated man, revered for his pioneering painting style, but his reputation tainted by his life away from the easel. In typically fluid fashion, veteran British filmmaker Mike Leigh writes and directs a biopic of the artist, which looks at the latter stages of Turner’s life. The great Timothy Spall stars in the eponymous role, and the narrative follows how he balanced his passion for his art with his personal demons. Both Leigh and his regular cinematographer Dick Pope are long-time fans of J.M.W. Turner and this comes across strongly on-screen as the director’s style departs from the zany and improvisational and is executed with great care and precision.
Cinema Perspective 