Mr. Turner

Director: Mike Leigh Mike Leigh

Overview

Acclaimed director Mike Leigh examines the twilight years of celebrated British painter J.M.W. Turner (portrayed by Timothy Spall) in this lavish period drama detailing the landscape artist's close relationship with his beloved father, his impact as a member of the Royal Academy of the Arts, and his tender romance with a lonely widow and owner of a seaside inn in Chelsea.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/05/2015
UPC:	0043396452497
Original Release:	2014
Rating:	R
Source:	SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMT
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:30:00
Sales rank:	47,395

Special Features

Commentary with director Mike Leigh; Many colours of Mr. Turner; Deleted scene

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Timothy Spall	J.M.W. Turner
Paul Jesson	Actor
Dorothy Atkinson	Hannah Danby
Marion Bailey	Sophia Booth
Lesley Manville	Mary Somerville
Martin Savage	Benjamin Robert Haydon
Ruth Sheen	Sarah Danby
Sandy Foster	Evelina
Karl Johnson	Mr. Booth,Young Lady Singer
Amy Dawson	Georgiana
Richard Bremmer	George Jones
Niall Buggy	John Carew
Fred Pearson	Sir William Beechey
Tom Edden	CR Leslie
David Horovitch	Dr. Price
Jamie Thomas King	David Roberts
Mark Stanley	Clarkson Stanfield
Clive Francis	Sir Martin Archer Shee
Robert Portal	Sir Charles Eastlake
Simon Chandler	Sir Augustus Wall Callcott
Edward De Souza	Thomas Stothard
Roger Ashton-Griffiths	Henry William Pickersgill
James Fleet	John Constable
Karina Fernandez	Miss Coggins
Alice Orr-Ewing	Second Young Lady
James Norton	Clarinettist
David Ryall	Footman
Sylvestra Le Touzel	Ruskin's Mother
Stuart McQuarrie	Ruskin's Father
Fenella Woolgar	Lady Eastlake
Richard Cordery	Dinner Guest
Tom Wlaschiha	Prince Albert
Marcello Magni	Colourman
Mark Wingett	Mariner
Sinead Matthews	Queen Victoria
Nicholas Woodeson	Gentleman Critic
Michael Culkin	Gentleman Critic
Eileen Davies	Lady Critic
Elizabeth Berrington	Lady Critic
Terence Hardiman	Gallery Visitor
Nicholas Jones	Sir John Soane
Richard Dixon	Mr. Manners
Michael Keane	Rev. Prendergast
Nicola Sloane	Brothel Keeper
Kate O'Flynn	Prostitute
Joshua McGuire	John Ruskin
Eleanor Yates	Ruskin's Wife
Gary Yershon	Composer

Technical Credits

Mike Leigh

Mike Leigh	Director,Screenwriter
Georgina Lowe	Producer
Norman Merry	Executive Producer
Tessa Ross	Executive Producer
Gail Egan	Executive Producer
Peter Kersey	Special Effects
Sarah McBryde	Production Manager
Nick Wilkinson	Stunts
Lee Sheward	Stunts
James Clarke	Special Effects
Robert Farr	Sound Effects
Tim Fraser	Sound Effects
Lee Herrick	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

Filmmakers can capture the essence of painting more easily than they can most other art forms. There are, after all, natural similarities between looking at a picture and looking at a picture that moves. Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner, a biopic of landscape painter Joseph Mallord William Turner, manages to get inside the head and heart of an artist, details what made him such a distinctive figure in art history, and gives film lovers a chance to stare at some of the most beautiful cinematography of 2014. Timothy Spall stars as Turner, a gnomish man whose speech patterns usually (though by no means exclusively) consist of grunts and growls. He's already an established painter by the time the film opens, and the movie focuses on the final years of his life. During this period, he falls in love with Sophia (Marion Bailey), a widow who runs a boarding house he frequents during his inspirational trips to witness dramatic seascapes. He also lives through the death of his beloved father, negotiates his fractious relationships with his daughters and their mother, and carefully controls who buys his work. The plot, as is often the case with Mike Leigh's work, matters less than the characters. Famously, the dialogue in Leigh's movies is formed over the course of months of improvisation with his actors. That approach certainly suits this material, as the director and his collaborators aren't so much interested in a narrative as they are in showing us an artist whose gruff exterior hides a grandly passionate and complicated inner-life that spills out onto his elaborate and powerful canvases. There is little drama to be found in the movie; you will not be on the edge of your seat, wondering what's going to happen next. However, from the very first image of a sun-dappled field, you will marvel at the glorious visuals provided by Leigh and his longtime cinematographer Dick Pope. That's not to imply that they tried to make the movie look like Turner's work, just that Leigh felt he had to live up to the artist's legacy, and he created a stunningly gorgeous, painterly film as a result. Timothy Spall gives a theatrical performance that employs broad physicality and vocal tics to indicate the feelings Turner often leaves unsaid. However, in those moments when Turner allows himself to speak passionately and articulately, you can understand how specific Spall's acting choices have been. It's a very good leading performance from someone who looks and sounds nothing like your typical leading man. Make no mistake, this is an arthouse film through and through, and the lack of a plot makes it feel even longer than its two-and-a-half-hour runtime. Some movies, however, aren't about telling a story, but the sensory experience of watching them. Mr. Turner teaches you how to appreciate what you're looking at.