Mrs Lowry & Son

As the title indicates, this is very much a film about Lowry's mother Elizabeth, a chronically ill malingerer, housebound and demanding. She despises almost every one of his early canvases, but when she warms to a picture of ships in the local canal and gives him two shillings to submit it to an exhibition in Manchester, she opens the door to his future glory. A showdown at home is the dramatic climax of this essentially domestic and un-dramatic narrative.

Timothy Spall and Vanessa Redgrave give performances which we have seen in other films, subtly shaded to fit this restrained and evocative story. Adrian Noble has directed a slow-burning movie with few "fireworks", but it offers an acting (and painting) master-class.

This marvelous film is steeped in Beckettian tropes and style. The mother son relationship is akin to Hamm and Clov in 'Endgame', or it might be Winnie in 'Happy Days'.

Even the reality of Lowry and his mother is not so far from Beckett and his own fractious relationship with his mother. Vanessa Redgrave even resembles Beckett as an old man with his spectacles.

The film echoes Beckett's maxim, 'to fail again, fail better' almost with the same sense as Lowry follows his own path against the odds and faces years of rejection and hostility, not the least from his mother who lacks imagination and only understands what she sees, not the meaning. Indeed the film has a very strong layers of social history in it as it reveals the neuroses and social anxieties of the period in England.

The excellent script is matched by admirable directing and editing together with technical features to make the 1930s flat and town vivid.

And then there are performances from Spall and Redgrave which are the pinnacle of skill and empathy. It is a consummate and perfectly poised interaction between the two.

If only other films gave their audience as much.

Interesting insight to one of Britain's great artists, and worth the watch to see a master class in acting by Redgrave & Spall. It's not a feel good movie by any means, largely set in Lowry's ailing mothers bedroom. It's clear he loved actually worshiped his mum, and her affect on his life is profound. Even when she finally died. I did enjoy the film, mainly as I said because of the acting and story however be warned it is a biopic, not a feel good movie at all .. enjoy!

This is a gem, precious in every way, and makes you wonder how much longer we'll be able to invest this kind of attention and feeling into film. Half a generation more? I'm beginning to understand the internet, ratings, and what they mean about who we are. They point, just not in the right way.

Timothy spall in particular was fantastic as in fairness he always is in portraying the raw emotion of his character through with Redgrave not far off. In honesty I enjoyed this film but could not get over excited about it as it is ultimately a series of often mundane bedroom conversations between a bitter mother and loving son. The fact it kept my attention in this setting was an achievement in itself. I would personally have liked to seen more focus on the art itself in between or a larger portion of his life but for what it was the performances really maximised it's entertainment level and make it a worthwhile and interesting hour and a half despite its limitations.