Among the genres of film, the British excel at is the biopic. Mr. Burton is the latest example I have seen, dear reader. Before he was known as Richard Burton, the actor started out life as Richard Jenkins. Jenkins, as we see, was a badly behaved, wild child from a broken home. His father, while his only living parent, has abandoned him. The old man spends his days drinking. Richard Jenkins (Harry Lawtey) is given to his oldest sister to live with. This is the status quo of young Jenkins’ life, until he encounters Mr. Phillip Burton – played with great breathing discipline by the actor’s actor Toby Jones.
Phillip Burton was a once-famed playwright of the West End in London. He has since taken a position teaching English in Wales. Administering a punishment to Richard Jenkins one day for failing to complete an assignment, he soon learns the boy has a great memory for written words. After football practice one day, Richard offers a halting, badly timed rendition of the opening chorus of Henry V (O for a muse of fire…). Impressed with the aspirations presented in the recitation, Mr. Burton takes on the duty of tutoring Richard in elocution and breathing technique. After Richard performs in a successful local production of Pygmalion, Phillip Burton is left with a quandary. Does he push this young man to become a great actor, or does he allow him to enjoy momentary success before he enters military service in World War 2?
“Before he was known as Richard Burton, the actor started out life as Richard Jenkins.”
Written for the screen by Tom Bullough and Josh Hyams, and directed by Marc Evans, Mr. Burton is a well-told story. Shot on location in Port Talbot, the city where Richard Burton was born and raised. The grime and soot of the mining town is palpable in the very filament of the film cells. The lighting in all instances is spectacular, and the cinematography was fantastic. The acting is the standard for BBC-produced fare. Were one a regular consumer of BBC biopics, dear reader, Mr. Burton might be seen as a staid production. However, in America, where I find myself, I see such films quite rarely. It’s a treat, dear reader, to witness spectacular acting and film production leisurely unveil itself on a screen before you.
Mr. Burton is a very good film. I was most taken with the adoptive relationship developed by Phillip Burton and Richard Jenkins. As Toby Jones portrays him, Phillip Burton is a caring and thoughtful instructor. Harry Lawtey acquits himself well as the young Richard Jenkins. Lesley Manville, in the supporting role of Phillip Burton’s landlady, Ma Smith, is delightful. Evans’ direction is graceful and imperceptible. Mr. Burton is beautifully understated in its staging. I use that term intentionally. Much of Mr. Burton is lensed through both rehearsal and presenting stage productions.
If you’re in the market for a handsome acting biopic, Mr. Burton is a fantastic selection. The travails of a lower-class Welsh kid aspiring to become a classical actor is great and heady drama. This is the sort of thing the British excel at.
"…beautifully understated..."
