Mr. Turner (2014)

Mike Leigh captures the ferocious physicality of British romantic painting through an uncompromising portrait of J.M.W. Turner. Timothy Spall snorts, spits and grunts as he attacks canvas with raw pig fat, charcoal and saliva, treating fine art as an exhausting tactile confrontation with natural elements. The resulting film honours painting not as detached aesthetic contemplation, but as an all-consuming manual discipline driven by insatiable curiosity.