John Constable revolutionised landscape painting and the way in which we see the natural world. Many of his major works are in the collection of Tate, and this film uses those paintings and drawings to consider the artist's life and creative achievement. The canvases and sketches are newly and exceptionally filmed in HDTV from the original artworks.
The film explores the Suffolk countryside of the artist's boyhood and visits other important places in his life. Contable's own thoughts, mostly drawn from his compelling letters, and the critical commentary from curators and historians, are included only as audio elements, so that the film is a lush visual combiantion of art and landscape.