Edinburgh Film Festival to close with Lowry biopic Mrs Lowry & Son

Last week we discovered this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival will open with Boyz in the Hood, a rambunctious action-comedy set in the Highlands. The closing film, announced today, could hardly be more different. Timothy Spall – who has form playing iconic British artists – will play the great Lancashire painter LS Lowry in the biopic Mrs Lowry & Son, directed by theatre director Adrian Noble.

As the title suggests, the film is centred on Lowry’s relationship with his mother, Elizabeth, with whom he lived until her death. “It’s primarily a film about the relationship between a mother and her son,” says Noble. “She suffocates him, slowly and systematically, but he finds release and life through his art and in the streets of Salford.” Oscar-winner Vanessa Redgrave is in the title role.

“The preparation and shoot of Mrs Lowry & Son was one of the highlights of my directing career,” said Noble, whose films include adaptations of A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Importance of Being Earnest. “The opportunity to work with actors, cinematographer, designers of such calibre was a privilege and brought out the very best in all of us.”

We’re told the film follows “Lowry in the beginnings of his career, as he yearns for his work to be appreciated in London. However, his disdainful mother, Elizabeth, actively tries to dissuade her bachelor son from pursuing his artistic ambitions. Elizabeth never fails to voice her opinion at what a disappointment he is to her. This powerful, yet humorous story imagines the impact this obsessive mother and son relationship had on the great artist.”

Mrs Lowry & Son closes EIFF on 30 Jun. Tickets here

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The 73rd edition of EIFF runs from 19-30 Jun. For more information on this year’s Festival visit www.edfilmfest.org.uk