Have you ever spent too long minutes watching cat videos online? If he had lived today, Louis Wain would undoubtedly have devoted whole hours to this activity. Unless one has studied the history of art – and again, it is often snubbed -, it’s a safe bet that this name does not evoke anything in particular. Published in newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic, Wain’s illustrations were nevertheless very popular towards the end of the 19th century.e century. They had this peculiarity that they put in scene, precisely, “anthropomorphized” cats. Benedict Cumberbatch brings this little-known artist to life in The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (The extraordinary life of Louis Wain), by Will Sharpe.
It is in this case the actor, also producer of the film, who launched the project. “I felt the same towards Louis Wain as towards Alan Turing,” confides Benedict Cumberbatch during a virtual roundtable with his co-star, Claire Foy.
We will remember that The Imitation Game (The imitation game, by Morten Tyldum, 2014), on the life of Alan Turing, had earned an Oscar nomination for actor. There is an interesting parallel between the destinies of the two men. Thus, after having cracked the code of the Enigma machine of the Germans during the Second World War, Turing was ostracized from society because of his homosexuality. His crucial contribution to the Allied victory was not recognized until decades later. For his part, Louis Wain changed neither more nor less the general perception towards cats, at a time when they were initially regarded as useful hunters of mice.
“I have sometimes felt sadness by embodying it, again as for Alan Turing,” continues the actor. But above all, I felt joy. “
Light on a dark life
Fact, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain oscillates between euphoria and tragedy. Contrary to what the title suggests (especially its translation which unfortunately excludes one of the main themes of the film: electricity), Louis Wain’s existence was dark in many respects. When his father died, he became, as a young man, the sole financial support of his mother and his five sisters.
A responsibility he continued to fulfill after marrying the housekeeper, Emily Richardson, who died of cancer shortly after their marriage. It was with her that he developed his passion for cats, and it is for her, again, that he began to draw and paint in order to distract her from her growing pain: an artistic process as unusual as it is poignant.
“Reading the script, I thought they were such beautiful characters, such a beautiful story, that had the potential to help so many people… Then I saw Flowers [série écrite, réalisée et interprétée par Will Sharpe], and I knew it would be an original, unique film, ”recounts Claire Foy, revealed in the successful series The Crown.
Eccentric, Louis Wain was diagnosed with schizophrenia and ended his days in an institution, ruined, for lack of having taken the necessary steps to ensure him copyright on his abundantly copied work. However, in spite of all this, Will Sharpe’s film turns out to be very colorful, very dapper, an explosive crossover in theory, but harmonious in practice, between the cinema of Wes Anderson and James Ivory.
Certainly, a melancholy, even a frank sadness, emanates from key passages, but on the whole, the film induces a feeling of rather astonishing elation given the context.
Will’s vision was so strong it permeated every shot, every second of the movie.
Translate a state of mind
The strong stylization of the staging has a lot to do with it, the director using several artisanal processes for the sequences of nightmares, memories or moments of unspeakable happiness, such as a “cinematograph” effect, kaleidoscopic lens, optical filters, etc. overprinting of images …
To explain the actor-producer: “Will told me about his visual approach upstream, with all these bright, effervescent, amplified colors, which would somehow translate Louis’ state of mind, his situation of moment, his obsession with electricity… It was a question of accessing, by the image, to the gaze of Louis, to his heart […] We discussed how certain events would manifest themselves, such as when Louis has depression and is seen to be literally overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed, and living it “physically” allowed me to better understand Louis. Many of these effects were analog [et non numériques]. “
Benedict Cumberbatch takes the opportunity here to make a distinction between a film like The Electrical Life of Louis Wain and Marvel productions, in which he participated as Doctor Strange. “I did not play in front of green screens by giving the answer to small balls stuck at the end of sticks in the place of human beings or monsters. It’s nice, it’s a game, and it’s a different kind of focus, but having all of these elements present, physically, when filming, that helps. “
A symbiotic platform
Claire Foy was very impressed not only by the aesthetic approach, but also by the concerted effort behind the scenes. “The amazing thing was that all departments – art direction, photography, costumes, hairstyles – were aware of and working on this aesthetic. Of course, it’s the norm for departments to be in tune with the filmmaker’s vision, but in this case, it was special. It was symbiotic. Will’s vision was so strong it permeated every shot, every second of the movie. “
Benedict Cumberbatch nods, admitting at the same time that he had a little trouble “leaving” Louis Wain once the filming was finished. “I missed him afterwards. I learned a lot from him. He was a special being, a free spirit, and he didn’t apologize for it. He was himself. Moreover, we were careful not to be peremptory on the issue of his mental health. He had some mental health issues and nowadays he might be considered neuroatypical, but I don’t believe he was schizophrenic, as the diagnosis was then. We live in a more open and tolerant time in this area, and I like to think that it would flourish more nowadays. “
Between two cat videos, that goes without saying.