Mrs. Lowry and Son

Another on my list of “wanted to watch” is Mrs. Lowry and Son and I’m glad I finally caught up with it.

I was quite surprised to see some sniffy reviews on, what for me, was a brilliantly delivered two hander, based on a BBC radio play it focusses on a small portion of the life of L.S. Lowry just before he finds wider fame and especially the relationship with his bed ridden elderly mother.

The charm about Lowry’s art is its simplicity, trying to show beauty in the grim reality of life in early 20th century northern England mill towns and for me this is captured perfectly in this film, set almost entirely in Elizabeth Lowry’s bedroom and is a wonderful example of two talented actors Vanessa Redgrave’s Elizabeth and Timothy Spall’s L.S. Lowry, captivating an audience for 90 minutes, with limited material and environment to work with.

What we get is an exploration of two people trapped by circumstance but seeing it as very different the mother seeing it as a miserable failure, a son looking to capture the beauty in his grim reality.

It is engaging, warm and humorous and while it never explores much beyond Mother Lowry’s bedroom and the life that exists within it, in the hands of two excellent performers it captivated me from start to finish.

I had a lovely 90 minutes finding joy in this films simplicity.