Mr. Turner * * * *

Mike Leigh and Timothy Spall are a combination that should not fail.  A pair of old English professionals dedicated to their craft and not much interested in sensationalism - a bit like the subject matter of this biopic.  The English painter Turner was a genius but far from a tortured and neglected genius.  If he wasn’t understood it was mostly to do with his eccentric conduct rather than his art.  This big and generous film is a beautiful telling of the last decade of Turner's life and his long affair with Mrs Booth of Margate.  Costumes, streetscapes and interiors are all excellent recreations of the time with much care given to lighting - as is appropriate for a film about Turner.  It’s one of those films which make you glad that it exists.