MR TURNER (12A) ON his deathbed, celebrated landscape painter and watercolourist Joseph Mallord William Turner, a divisive figure in the 19th Century art world, reportedly lamented: “So I am to become a non-entity”.

Director Mike Leigh’s impeccably-crafted big screen biopic, which concentrates on the final 25 years of the artist’s career, ensures the genius of Turner lives on.

Anchored by a magnificent central performance from Timothy Spall, Mr Turner is another glorious ensemble piece from the writer-director of Secrets and Lies, Topsy-Turvy and Vera Drake.

Developed through improvisational workshops, the trademark of Leigh’s film-making process, the script melds historical fact with personal interpretation to burrow deep beneath the surface of the characters and expose the desires and fears which drove some to greatness and others to despair.

Mr Turner opens with the breathtaking image of the artist capturing the rising sun over fields in Belgium.

He returns to London and the home he shares with his father William (Paul Jesson) and housekeeper Hannah Danby (Dorothy Atkinson).

The relationship between the two men is sketched in exquisite, heart-warming detail in these early scenes, with Turner warmly embracing his ‘daddy’.

The burgeoning relationship between the artist and Mrs Booth sweetens the bitter pill of William’s passing and Turner continues to clash with the artistic establishment, represented here by Sir John Soane (Nicholas Jones) and his coterie.

Mr Turner is a glorious period piece that offers us a glimpse behind the canvasses of a misunderstood maverick, who notes at one point: “When I peruse myself in a looking glass, I see a gargoyle”.

The 150-minute running time of this film passes all too quickly, holding our attention with ravishing costumes and period detail, not to mention a haunting orchestral score from composer Gary Yershon.

DAMON SMITH