Raymond K. Nakamura

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Mr. Turner

I only knew English painter Turner did paintings with smouldering skies somehow, nothing of his life. This film does not paint a pretty portrait of him, but I loved how it depicts every day details of his life, including the task of buying paint pigments and making paint; meeting Mary Somerville, a rare female scientist who was testing ideas about colour and magnetism; getting his portrait done in Daguerrotype; and interacting with other historic figures I should probably know. I didn't understand Turner's behaviour at all, which perhaps drew me along because I didn't know what to expect next. Intriguing.