The Electrical Life of Louis Wain [DVD] [2022]

I believe that's my first time writing a review for a movie, but this time I was compelled to share my thoughts.Despite drama not being my favorite genre, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain caught my attention because it had Benedict Cumberbatch and cats in it, of course I couldn't resist watching it!It is a very warm, heartfelt movie and a great reminder of how to choose kindness even in the darkest times. The play of the actors is incredible, the storyline and filming are captivating.I'm grateful this beautiful story was brought to life. It's not a comedy though, but well worth watching if you are in the mood for a wholehearted story.

a true story of a great artist

For me, this movie was one of those that impacted me, as I do believe most people will feel the emotions of loss, regret, love, and human kindness. The main character, Louis Wain was an eccentric artist with a very talented hand, but also dealt with mental illness for much of his life. On the way, he learned about cats, who were treated terribly in Victorian London. Without going into spoilers, louis and his wife (they have a whole backstory) found a stray kitten in a downpour, and adopted him and dubbed him "Peter". Peter plays a crucual role in the story, as Wain believed they were some sort of electrical conduits.Peter instead because the muse for Wain. Wain always struggled with money and not only had to support his wife but also his mother and five younger sisters, with varying degrees of mental illness themselves.Yet this movie is so hard to review because there are so many dynamics that it touches on: Cats, electricity theories,mentall illness, british history, art, family, and death. Britian accredits Wait to be the one person who changed the society's opinion on cats, and went on to found several cat charities. In the movie we can truly see the love of Peter.It has happy times and very sad times. I admit as a cat dad I felt the emotions of love and loss, and how special my cat is. But the movie is more about the celecration of life, and how one person can change it through his art. Mr' Wain's story is sad, yet inspirational. Many will feel the tears in this movie, so bring tissue.But as I said, this movie's message is about many things, but the central theme is love, love of family, love of couples, love of animals. Aside from the excellent acting this is what makes this movie so good. It's not boring, it's not suspenseful, its not preachy. It's simply about a man with mental illness who changed the world for the common cat, and make dreary 1880s London into a society that appreciates the them.If you love cats and Victorian England you will love this movie. -Hep

Amazon sold me a great movie that would not play in the United States. By the time I went to show it to friends the return date was past. If we fly to Japan we would be able to watch it. Thanks Amazon for not having human customer service.

My rating is more of a 4.5Thanks for reading!Genetics-based analysis of how cats became domesticated points to the practice of owning them as cats starting as far back as 8,000 B.C. in modern-day Turkey. Though not nearly as popular as dogs, the most up-to-date statistics suggest approximately thirty percent of households currently own a cat, with an average of two cats living with a given family.𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍, 𝑳𝒐𝒖𝒊𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒕𝒐𝒐. 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 - 𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕, 𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕, 𝑳𝒐𝒖𝒊𝒔. 𝑻𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔.The Electrical Life of Louis Wain is a 2021 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Will Sharpe, from a story by Simon Stephenson, and screenplay by Stephenson and Sharpe;Louis Wain was many things during his incredible life: artist, inventor, entrepreneur and caretaker. After adopting a stray kitten, he went on to paint the extraordinary images of cats that made him world famous.It likely goes without saying, but tidbits of information predating Sharpe and Stevenson's introduction to Louis Wain is formative to the chaotic life of his that transpires on screen. Born on August 5th, 1860, it would not be a stretch to say that Wain was largely denied the ability to formally and fully benefit from a public education and whatever it provides on the matter of socialization; ‘𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒐𝒇 …’ does perfectly fine in illustrating the ridicule and rejection that befell him because of a cleft lip he was born with, but omitted is the extent to which his withdrawn nature can be persuasively credited to decisions that would be framed as neglectful if made in this present time. Afraid his appearance would be an open invitation for ridicule, Wain's parents - William and Julie - voluntarily kept him home as opposed to having him be enrolled in school until the age of 10 at the behest of professional advice.Largely ostracized from his peers in spite of these supposedly protective measures, Louis being the only boy in his family after his father passed away in 1880 comes with an additional blow that aren't important to this cinematic venture on the surface, but further emphasize conditions that would have otherwise bought him some slack as the primary breadwinner for his family. Wain was not only the only boy in his family left to care for five siblings (Caroline, Josephine, Claire, Felicie, and Marie, all born in that order) and his mother after William's death, but was in fact the only 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 boy as Julie gave birth to a stillborn son in 1866. Nonetheless, Wain proved to be rather self-motivated on the educational front: in lieu of being compliant in terms of attendance at the Orchard Street Foundation he attended lectures at the Royal Polytechnic Institution instead on his own volition and did enough on his own to be an assistant master at the West London School of Art by the time he had turned eighteen.On January, 30th, 1884 Louis married Emily Marie Richardson, this being one of many things that caused friction amongst his family on the account of Emily being in a different socioeconomic bracket when they met and yet did not release him from his previously described obligations.Louis was widowed not shortly after this courtship, with Emily’s death on January 2nd, 1887 being related to a diagnosis of Breast Cancer: The ongoing development of this condition, and ultimately the loss of his wife, being in an almost cruel way a jumping point for his eventual popularity.Eager to cope and simultaneously keep his dying spouse in good spirits, over the course of the three years of which he was married Louis illustrations mostly incorporated a stray cat named Peter that was found and kept as a pet by the couple: An oddity at the time as Victorian citizens viewed felines as little more than useful as vermin catchers, often preferring the company of canines due to their grander reputation as affectionate creatures.Emily, in response, encouraged Louis to make his cat related art more accessible to the public, culminating in the first of these drawings specifically to be published in the The Illustrated London News in 1884. Wain’s artwork featuring cats of subjects had a knack for sophistication and sentimentalization especially, but that certainly was not all; much of what he produced can be interpreted or deduced as social commentary, aimed to poke fun at behavior deemed expected in social settings and then some.Unfortunately, and something Sharpes’ feature pivots as a significant source of contention, Wain’s talent and quickly-developed popularity in no way proved lucrative owing to factors that are indicative of little business savviness on his part. There is no definite way to confirm why Louis neglected to copyright his work, except to say some sources mention this in passing as “something he forgot to do” (Which is actually kind of conceivable, as he had been publishing his drawings as early as 1881 and never really “needed” to trademark anything he produced) and a secondary effect of being under constant pressure to work, hence his regular practice of bartering sketches for simple chores and assistance as needed while publishing companies could mass produce his work and not give Wain a single dime in royalties. Needless to say, exploitation on even this scale tells us that Louis had few people in his life that genuinely looked out for his best interest, and it just as much infers that he did not anticipate the relatively ubiquitous nature of his work and as such something that should have been protected as his own intellectual property.As Louis aged his health began to suffer, and the way he was treated for the majority of his adult life was likely influenced by his reputation as an eccentric individual: Known in passing as the unofficial authority on cats, he would regularly lecture about their ability to conduct electricity, and his demeanor in general suggested a general sense of distrust for his neighbors and siblings following the death of his mom, youngest sister (Marie), and eldest sister (Caroline) from 1910 to 1917.About 10 years time passed between an incident that would compromise Wain's potential as a provider for his family and his involuntary institutionalization as it was believed he was mentally ill (Hold that thought): An event brought up in passing in ‘𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 …’ that is given minimal consideration in terms of its long term repercussions, perhaps self-referentially so. In October 1914 Louis fell from the platform of a London omnibus, resulting in him being in a coma and being hospitalized for approximately 3 weeks with the additional order to take a break from working for six months: Needless to say, he could not afford to rest for this long, and the long-term effects of his head trauma wasn't ever really appropriately addressed or understood.Louis was institutionalized in 1924 at the behest of his surviving sisters, having him certified as “insane”, with the previous of Mary being committed to a facility pointing to what could be a genetic disposition for his erratic behavior. Ultimately, it was decided that Wain had schizophrenia, with ‘𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 …’ retrospectively deciding to appropriately focus on his declining mental state without attributing it to anything specific or being overtly clinical.The temptation to build a make-shift timeline with Louis’ art and subsequently use it is as representative of how much his mental health declined over time is not a coincidence, nor can the importance of understanding the timing of his long-term commitment to various institutions be overstated. The symptoms most commonly associated with Schizophrenia had been briefly discussed in medical circles as early as 1890, but it was not given an official name until 1908, much less classified with any sort of nuance.That in mind, Louis did not regularly date his work, and towards the end of his life was still dishing out illustrations of cats that would be considered “traditional” and not inundated with abstract features. It has since been proposed hat Louis’ most obscure pieces of work are really more of a testimony to how much he was willing to experiment with style as a result of his audience and consumers being unpredictable, and thus requiring endless shifts in the aesthetic of his work to appease the market. Furthermore, it’s also completely possible that his most lavish designs were inspired by something particularly simple; His mother and father had previous experience working as an embroiderer and textile trader respectively, increasing the likelihood that Wain was exposed to a variety of colors, shapes, and patterns his whole life and thus found the incorporation of them to be rather intuitive.No matter: In the late 1920s Louis' work was stumbled upon in a shop by a doctor named Walter Maclay, whom for all intents and purposes was an individual who spent a large period of time at a psychiatric facility designed for teaching and research that opened in 1923; most important to note from this is the knowledge that when Maclay found Wain's ‘Kaleidoscope Cat’ collection he was already seeking out examples of work done by artists presumed to be suffering from mental illness in some capacity, which eventually lead him to declare that these images (Which is a collection of 8 cats total, mind you) did fit the contemporary understanding of psychiatric decline. More specifically, it was believed that schizophrenia was hallmarked by a “state of altered consciousness”, and art “produced under its influence was the result of a broken mind” and that Wain was slowly losing his ability to recognize and represent cats with due coherence.Which, to be perfectly clear, just simply wasn’t the case.Wain's descent into poverty led him to being initially institutionalized at Springfield Mental Hospital, which was otherwise known as a pauper ward; this descriptor simply means conditions were abysmal at best and often exacerbated by overcrowding by some margin. In 1925 Wain was actually discovered as a patient by Daniel Rider, who was a bookseller by trade, on an asylum visiting committee, and was shocked to find Louis in such a place. Rider took it upon himself to set up the ‘Louis Wain Fund’, which allowed for Wain to be moved to Bethlem Hospital (And finally Napsbury Hospital in 1930) and additionally provide financial support for his sisters.Notwithstanding the approximate decade of time in which Louis was consequently freed from commercial demands and debt there are no words to describe what he gave in terms of emotional labor, much less his understanding of the remedial qualities that can come with artistic expression.Even while institutionalized Louis took it upon himself to create illustrations that could be used to decorate the facilities of which he was confined, taking that self-appointed responsibility around Christmas especially seriously and motivated by the happiness it brought the nurses who tended to him specifically.All things considered, Wain was undoubtedly strange: Resolutely convinced at times that he was “full of electricity”, and intent on coming up with explanations of his own for things he couldn’t quite understand. Nonetheless, Wain repeatedly demonstrated some grasp of the power art has when it comes to making connections with other people and to some extent its ability to temporarily commemorate and resurrect loved ones that are no longer physically with us.Inundated by grief and responsibility, Louis never really got the chance to have a family of his own; he eventually had a stroke in November of 1938 and died on July 4th, 1939.Unlike the felines he showed abundant love for at a time where it was taboo, Wain had no use for nine lives; He gave the one he had everything he could, and through his art will get to live forever.Thank you for reading if you've gotten this far.To all of my subscribers here, I am vastly aware that this piece is less about this film than anything else I’ve written on this platform, but I couldn’t resist an opportunity to elaborate more on Wain’s life when I got to doing my own research. Life has been a bit stressful as of late and I really needed a positive distraction.The TLDR is that I am not left to conclude that any inaccuracies or the like that can be found in ‘𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆…’ are present due to any bit of malice or pure carelessness, and I do think that is the most important thing to get out of this.This officially concludes my niche and perhaps unjustified rant involving a historical figure that I now adore by the name of Louis Wain: An individual who is often (And unfairly) known as ‘The crazy man who drew the crazy cats.🐈❤️

Even if you are not a cat 🐈‍⬛ person, this is a very beautiful love story to watch. If you are a cat person, you will enjoy it even more. Someone might say it’s simply a biography of an eccentric, talented illustrator who attempted and somehow barely succeeded to financially support his many sisters, and who, all the while, was barely able to keep his mind and mental capacity intact. It is this story, as well as a beautiful—purely visually and exquisitely portrayed—love story. Many of the scenes, some of which are not even essential to the plot, are rich, intricate, glistening, efflorescent, and elaborately detailed mosaics of what was the everyday, mundane, middle-class family life in Edwardian England. The eccentricities of not only the main character, but those of everyone else—the sisters, the governess, and, not to mention, the mind-blowingly silly eccentricities of the societal conventions of that era—give the story depth and authenticity, which stabilize the kaleidoscope, fairytale-like visions of that idyllic, envisioned place.

Excellent achat, DVD tout à fait conforme à la description donnée, envoi rapide et à un coût raisonnable, merci !

The tale of an underdog who rose to the top drawing cats.

Es lohnt sich, den Film für Benedict zu sehen. Sonst ist er eher schräg bis langweilig. Aber wunderschöne Bilder und viele Katzen

I had wanted to see this film for some time being a cat fan too but like many Studio Canal releases there are frequently many audio syncing issues (not related to the disc itself). I tried it on a 4K player (that obviously plays blu-rays too), a Playstation 3 then a PS4 etc etc and the simple trick is to just change the audio settings from the film/disc menu itself not on your player. For some reason Studio Canal releases seem to default to a setting that renders audio an issue for many players regardless of make or age. Obviously some audiophiles may not like the setting that actually allows us to enjoy this wonder film but I'm just glad I can rewatch it now without it seeming like a badly dubbed 80's HK flick...

This seemed to have all the ingredients of a good film, but spoils itself with rampant political correctness.The main character is an upper middle class white Victorian of the 1880’s and noticeably all his closest friends are either coloured or Asian, which is unusual for the era and is not explained. He travels to the USA and the first person he meets is a rich, well-educated lady who is coloured. Considering how awful the USA has been in its treatment of its coloured inhabitants up to the 1960’s this seems anachronistic and is not explained in any way. It’s as though the film-makers have little understanding of racial-history but have decided to make a historical film regardless.Mr Cumberbatch and the Claire Foy give fantastic performances and seem to feed-off each other as their on-screen relationship develops, but when the female character expires the story seems to lose its momentum and interest. I think it would have been much better to keep focused on them for longer and have her expire towards the end, as the audience would better understand more how terrible this was for him, sparking his rapid decline.I’d have liked to have seen more about H.G Wells and how he gets involved in the story too, rather than just a brief mention and snippet.All-in-all this seems a missed opportunity and I felt disappointed.