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Sunday, July 16, 2017

Summer Movies 2017: Mr. Turner


Every summer I like to escape the summer heat and activity, and head for the movies, typically selecting something where plants are the movie stars. This summer I've chosen movies that feature artists in the garden. Warning: artists can be an unconventional lot, and so can their lives. If this offends, best to watch something else. Otherwise, grab a lemonade and a slice of watermelon and come join me!

Mr. Turner


Our first movie is Mr. Turner (2014), directed by Mike Leigh and starring Timothy Spall. Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775 1851) was a successful painter in Britain, known as "the painter of light" in his time, and later considered to be a pioneer of abstract art. The movie spans the last 25 years of J.M.W. Turner's life (roughly 1825 1851). Turner was already an established Romanticist landscape painter, and an active member of the British Royal Academy of Arts. The film explores his later years as Turner embraces an abstract way of painting the themes he has painted all his career.


Leigh tells the story in a series of episodes from Turner’s daily and professional life. Many of the scenes give a glimpse into the times, and help establish Turner’s character – his father purchasing and mixing yellow pigment, his gallery, visits to a grand country house for a commission, his appreciation of music. The film also explores the complex relationships with the people in his life the daughters he did not acknowledge; his father who worked alongside him as an assistant (and their shared grief over their wife and mother’s mental illness and death); his housekeeper; the artists at the Academy who provided competition and camaraderie. Turner spent time between his home and studio in London, and the seaside town of Margate where he was inspired by the landscape and light, and enjoyed the company of his widowed landlady, Mrs. Booth, for many years.

I like how the film juxtaposes scenes showing Turner observing and sketching in nature, and remembering or experiencing strong emotional events in his life, with scenes showing Turner bringing together light, color, and emotion in a painting. The film captures the creative process and personality of the painter, and shows how Turner's paintings progress from realistic to more abstract. Many people embraced the change and saw it as genius; critics thought he was losing his eye sight and his mind with age. I recommend this film for anyone who enjoys art and artists, and the beauty of capturing light. I also recommend watching the short feature on the DVD, The Many Colours of Mr. Turner, for additional information.


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