Louis Wain was an English artist who lived from 1860 to 1939. He was a lover of animals, and got his living doing animal sketches and portraits for local newspapers. After he and his wife rescued a stray kitten from the rain, Wain became fixated on cats as an artistic subject. His first cat paintings were realistic, and then they progressed into anthropomorphic, and eventually psychedelic like this one. Most of his psychedelic work was done when he was in a ||mental hospital||. When Wain was alive, in England, it was considered odd for people to view cats as companion animals, but his paintings and his open love for cats encouraged others to keep cats as pets. His first cat, the one he found in the rain, was called Peter. Wain was born with a harelip and was kept from attending school until age 10. People think he may have been autistic and/or schizophrenic. If he was autistic, I find it fitting that he had a fascination with cats and learned about the world through observing them. I just changed my cover photo on FB to one of his psychedelic cats.
Has anyone seen this yet? I was able to stream it through Lord Bezos platform and liked it a whole lot more than I thought I would! Besides crying maybe 10 times which was a bit more than I signed up for, I found it perfectly splendid and original which is so rare now a days! Benedryl Cucumber is a marvel as always and Claire Foy is my mother.
Would love to hear other people’s thoughts on the movie! I’m a cat lover and my own mom died of cancer so I’m still hesitating to suggest it to my father who is widowed and a full blown cat dad now. I bet he would love it but it’s a bit right on the nose!
I hadn’t seen any posts on here since the movie actually came out and figured it deserved some discourse. Any other movies you can suggest like this? Anything completely original and whimsical would love to hear them.
Personally I had a few big criticisms that held it back but overall I thought it was pretty great with the score, makeup, production design, performances, and editing. I’d only give it a 6/10 but still a good film.
DAness: Solid 8 out of 10
An eccentric English illustrator, the essential Grandfather of LOLcats, introduces cats to popular culture as creatures of whimsy and fun instead of merely useful pest control or sources of superstition. His eccentricities are soothed by an unlikely romance with an understanding woman and his pet cat. The loss of both cause him to go into a downward mental spiral and fame does not help him in his duress.
Louis Wain is an interesting example of Tortured Artist; creative, not quite up to the task of functioning in Normal Society, insecure, sweet, and naive while having depths of anxiety and fears that feed his art. He related to animals better than people and eventually honed in on Cats. He wanted to be known as an inventor and puttered around ineffectually with electricity, which also informed his philosophy about life and art.
Given his mental health difficulties it would not be surprising that his security as an illustrator could not last; he was a lone Victorian man trying to earn money to care for his widowed mother and five sisters and he did not have a lick of common sense when it came to money.
I found it an enjoyable watch and bang on for DA aesthetics.
Time Period: Victorian and onwards.
Costuming: Good stuff. Cumberbatch actually wears an entire suit made out of corduroy in one scene. Claire Foy gets a spectacular blue printed bustle dress. It's a really tweedy sort of movie.
Set Design: Tortured artist who thinks he's an inventor studio in crumbling Victorian environs. Tea is taken. Pianos are played. Candlesticks are used. Horses and carriages still in use. There are some scenes where the actors are on green screen and their backgrounds shift into a painterly style that seems to reference Wain's artistic way of perceiving the world.
The Darkness: Wain's mental health deterioration over time includes hallucinations that caused erratic behavior to the point of a psychotic break that causes him to be committed into mental institutions. The natural passing away of his cat causes him to go into a severe "years long" crying jag. He's widowed early; his wife had an incurable illness. One of his sisters is diagnosed with schizophrenia and sent off to an asylum and his entire family is socially shunned by fearful bourgeois neighbors. His money troubles cause his family to move into ever shabbier accommodations.
On Amazon Prime
Has anyone else watched "The Electric Life of Louis Wain"? It's on Amazon prime and is about an illustrator in the late 19th and early 20th century who was instrumental in promoting cat ownership. (At least that's how the movie puts it.) Also, he shows signs of being on the spectrum. It's a good watch but have some tissues for parts.
I've just finished this film and I'm still processing it so I thought I would share this immediately after. To me this is a film of contrasts: joy and despair, light and darkness, conventional and brave, brilliant and frustrating.
The use of colour is brilliant, and most of the bold choices in filmmaking pay off. I was quite emotional at a few points during the film, but I can't help but feel this was somewhat ruined by the narration. I think it isn't needed and would be a far stronger film without it.
Ultimately it's a beautiful and touching film with some incredible performances.
If any of you haven't seen this film on Amazon yet, you'll be pleasantly surprised like I was to find a small bit played by Nick Cave. Also, if you're a sap like me when watching films, you might find yourself shedding a few tears in this one.
