Mr. Turner - Turn Down For What?

"Mr. Turner" is one of those typical "pretty looking films" that get nominated for all the traditional visual categories at the Oscars. Cinematography, costume design, and production design. And even one for original score. A British film with such a great cast set in Victorian era England (at least mostly) is almost always guaranteed to get a costume design or production design nod. But how was the actual film?

The first time I saw the trailer for "Mr. Turner" I thought it looked mind-numbingly dull. Yet another typical old-timey film about gloomy characters in Britain of yesteryear. But, as I do, the moment I saw it received nominations at the Academy Awards I wrote it down on my list of films to watch. And I do not regret it. Despite its long 150-minute run time (I only watched six films longer than that in 2014) and lack of any significant action it managed to hold my interest throughout its entirety. Just watching Timothy Spall, who did a better job here than Steve Carell did in "Foxcatcher", was worth the trip on its own. And if you don't think that might be enough to keep you entertained for 150 minutes, you might not want to watch this.

Because there is no real plot to speak of in this film. It is truly a slice of life picture. We go through the waves, as it were, of the last 25 years of Mr. Turner's life. Whatever happens happens. At times it can feel more like a miniseries than a film. The characters are so well-established, and so quickly, that it feels like you've been watching them for several installments not even halfway into the film. The characters are what keep it interesting. Seeing how they react, what they do, and most importantly how they interact. There is a clear progression from start to end. Characters can show up at various points of the film, and even though you feel like Mr. Turner hasn't changed much as you've watched him, you suddenly realise he has when you see him deal with the same characters in a different manner than before. It's like life itself, you never really notice yourself changing until you look back at how you once were.

It does drag on a tad towards the end, however. It's not so much that we know how it's going to end for quite some time, but more that they don't portray it rather interestingly. The film stops up, it changes directions in how it tells it. In one way it's fitting, as it shows how life slows down when you get older, and you have a different perspective on things. But no film is long enough for something like that to have the desired effect, instead you notice the difference rather quickly, and if it's not done well it can throw you off. It's not so bad that it renders the film worse, but it's bad enough that you wish it was better just for the sake of a more satisfying impression.