Mr. Turner has been gathering spectacular reviews and almost universal acclaim since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Mike Leigh's epic, vibrant film explores a painter acknowledged as one of the greatest British artists, someone who experimented with style, technique and environment to create visceral landscapes and now iconic pieces of art. Mr. Turner looks at the final 25 years of the artist's life and how he was affected by the death of his father. The BFI London Film Festival played host as Mr. Turner was unveiled as the Time Out Gala at this year's event.
Sporting an elegant moustache and flanked by some of the cast of the film including Paul Jesson, Marion Bailey and Ruth Sheen as well as director, Mike Leigh, Timothy Spall owned the red carpet, waxing lyrical about Turner and the complexities of such a character.
“What sort of man is he? It's difficult to say because it's complicated. He was nice, he was horrid, he was kind, he was mean, he was horrid, he was dismissive, he was incredibly intelligent, he was simian, he was a rough character, he was a man that could have been made out of mud with an arm with an electric rod of brilliance. He was sexually very driven, unconventional in his tastes sexually , he was a man of mystery, he was a man of generosity, a rude man, a horrible man and very nice to children. What else do you want to know? He liked to drink and he was a genius.”
Mike Leigh and Timothy Spall's working relationship spans 33 years and seven films, including Life Is Sweet,** Topsy-Turvy** and Secrets And Lies. Speaking of his director, Spall had nothing but praise.
“Well, it is by far the most proud association of my lifetime to have worked with Mike over all these years. I was a big fan of his way way back before the Boer War when I went to RADA and we used to do inverse versions of characters that he'd created. What Mike does is that he often chooses characters, especially in his contemporary pieces, that aren't in the centre.”
With awards season approaching, many are touting the film for success - especially for Spall's performance and Leigh's direction. However, that's not on the director's mind at all. Leigh commented on the rumours saying “I don't think about that. I mean, if it happens it happens but it's not why we make films.”
**Mr. Turner **also stars Amy Dawson, Lesley Manville, Martin Savage and Joshua McGuire and will be released nationwide on October 31.
*Reporting by Joshua Hammond *
brightcove.createExperiences();