We went to see 'Mrs Lowry and Son'
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (382240)
Rockingham, Australia
January 12, 2020 6:31pm CST
We’ve been attending some of the International Film Festival films and really enjoying them. We are mostly seeing two in a day as we have to travel to our nearby city to see them. Also, we leave for Nepal in less than a week so we have limited opportunities to see the twelve films on offer.
Yesterday, we saw Mrs Lowry and Son. Vanessa Redgrave played Mrs Lowry and Timothy Spall her brow-beaten son. This is a biographical drama and chronicles the life of L S Lowry, an acclaimed British artist, famous for his paintings of matchstick men, women and children. Many of his paintings depict scenes from the industrial areas of North West England, particularly the Greater Manchester towns of Pendlebury (where the film is set) and Salford.
His mother was bed-ridden and had no appreciation for his paintings. The film explored the relationship between them. His mother died just before he had his first exhibition in London. Lowry holds the record for the most rejections of British honours. In 1978, Brian and Michael performed their one-hit wonder ‘Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs’.
In 2016, Arthur Chappell (@arthurchappell) wrote an interesting discussion on Lowry and includes a photo of a statue commemorating his work. You can find it here:
The top image is of Lowry's 'Going to Work'. Attribution is not legally required but it's from Wikimedia.
The famous Matchstick Men artist from Salford was quite a lonely figure so this statue of him sitting alone on a bench in a remote outpost of Greater Manchester...
11 people like this
10 responses
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
13 Jan 20
'tis so nice that y'all can go'n see those. i don't reckon we've anything like that'n these parts? sounds a sad movie, 'tis a shame she passed 'fore he'd that 'xhibition.
one more week 'til yer trip? dang, the time's flown, eh? i bet'cher most 'xcited, 't least i'd be, lol.
3 people like this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
14 Jan 20
@JudyEv so ya got 't figured out, that's good. i 'gree, one less thingy. i'd wondered how that 'twas gonna work, all the gifts they'll be receivin' 'n gettin' all to the u.s.. gotta be purty spendy to ship all their household goods i'm thinkin'?
i'm plum tickled y'all'll be stayin' fer a bit, too. i know there's much ya wish to see :)
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382240)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jan 20
@crazyhorseladycx I gather the groom has been living there so perhaps he has a household half set up. Perhaps we'll learn more when we arrive. It's very different to what we're used to. For instance, Vince was introduced to the girl's father but later she said her father was in hospital. Seems a favouite uncle can be 'like a father' and is then called 'father'. Things like that that are confusing to Westerners.
1 person likes this
@Butterfingers (66603)
• India
13 Jan 20
Good you're trying the international movies. Are you going Nepal for a vacation?
3 people like this
@moffittjc (128837)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Jan 20
I'm not sure if it's a film I would go out of my way to se, but I do appreciate art, so perhaps I would enjoy watching it.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128837)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Jan 20
@JudyEv There’s been a few characters in movies I have seen over the years that I just wanted to strangle!
2 people like this
@JudyEv (382240)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Jan 20
@moffittjc She was so cruel to him. I have to keep saying to myself 'it was only a film' but it's based on fact so that's not much help.
2 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
13 Jan 20
That is a film I would like to see.
3 people like this
@JudyEv (382240)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jan 20
It really sparked our interest and we've now listened to interviews with Lowry. Although he did like to see his work recognised, he didn't care what people thought of his paintings. He just painted for himself. He was quite a complex character in some ways.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382240)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jan 20
It was. We knew about him and the link to the song but until we got there, we didn't realise the film was about the same artist.
