Let's start with the good - it's beautifully shot and acted. That's it. The film lacks any element of storyline. It begins with a shot of Turner in Holland. But why? We're never told. He goes to Margate to paint. But why there instead of some other part of Britain? We're never told. He gets tied to the mast of a ship in a storm. But that's almost a stand-alone scene. His housekeeper has some sort of progressive disease but we're never told what it is or why she had it. I believe that Turner had a fairly contentious relationship with Constable but all we get here is a very brief scene in which Constable walks out in response to what he considers to be a slight on the part of Turner. If the relationship was as acrimonious as I believe it's reported to have been, couldn't Mike Leigh have used this to greater effect?
Overall the film looks as if somebody has been through a biography of Turner, used a highlighter pen to pick out important episodes and they've been stitched together as a complete piece. As a result, the movie is nothing more than a series of largely disjointed vignettes and represents 3 hours in a cinema to no good effect.
Overall the film looks as if somebody has been through a biography of Turner, used a highlighter pen to pick out important episodes and they've been stitched together as a complete piece. As a result, the movie is nothing more than a series of largely disjointed vignettes and represents 3 hours in a cinema to no good effect.