The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021), directed by Will Sharpe.
An Emotional Portrait of the Superstar Cartoonist
by BK Munn
There aren't many serious films about cartoonists, are there? My wife and I have been lifelong admirers of the delightful cat art of Louis Wain, collecting old postcards and children’s books with his images for decades now, so it was a no-brainer that we would rush to see this film, despite our general antipathy towards biopics in general, and twee British artist biopics in particular. I have to say, though, contrary to our misgivings, the film proved to be a moving chronicle of Wain’s unique hardscrabble life and transformation into the superstar cartoonist of Victorian England, his efforts as the sole supporter of a household of five precocious sisters and their mother, his generally tragic circumstances, and his later descent into a form of madness. We were teary-eyed through much of it. Benedict Cumberbatch continues his streak of portraying lovable British eccentrics and geniuses, but I found I could forget about his fame and get lost in his character here. Claire Foy is also affecting as Wain’s wife Emily. It’s a bit too precious at times for what is essentially a tragedy, but the film’s overarching “life is beautiful and silly” theme is solid and quite in keeping with the nature of Wain’s art.
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We saw the film after a day browsing antique shops (we bought an old British children’s annual (the 1923 Pip and Squeak) with some cat cartoons, although none by Wain. The world really could use a collection of Wain's comic strips, like those he did for Hearst's Journal-American and associated papers.
