This is a film well-written, sharp and insightful on class and opportunity. But does feel very theatrical.
It's claustrophobic stuff. Mother trapped in the bedroom, and Lowry in the attic with his unfulfilled dreams. They come from different worlds. Lowry has made peace with the past, seeing beauty in his surroundings. Mother of the belief that her circumstances have made her somehow lesser.
"I haven't been cheerful since 1868, the day of my confirmation," is a line that sums up her contradictions perfectly. She's funny, but not a joke figure. Tragic, but she's not pitiful. Cruel, but she is no monster. Spall holds his own, his face flinching every time she launches into one of her put-downs.
The final reel is jarring as we venture to the (fantastic) dedicated museum in Salford.
It's claustrophobic stuff. Mother trapped in the bedroom, and Lowry in the attic with his unfulfilled dreams. They come from different worlds. Lowry has made peace with the past, seeing beauty in his surroundings. Mother of the belief that her circumstances have made her somehow lesser.
"I haven't been cheerful since 1868, the day of my confirmation," is a line that sums up her contradictions perfectly. She's funny, but not a joke figure. Tragic, but she's not pitiful. Cruel, but she is no monster. Spall holds his own, his face flinching every time she launches into one of her put-downs.
The final reel is jarring as we venture to the (fantastic) dedicated museum in Salford.