In Louis Wayne's Feline Worlds, Benedict Cumberbatch draws mustache. And you need to see it

There really are adorable animals here, a bright, and sometimes even acidic picture and many funny cameos. So, the musician Nick Cave, who starred in the role of science fiction writer HG Wells, and the ubiquitous Taika Waititi, without which, it seems, no good project can do, "ran" into the film literally for a few seconds.

But otherwise it is more of a sad story about the breakdown of personality, written in rainbow colors. It will remind you of Tim Burton's Big Eyes and Wes Anderson's aesthetics. You are also more likely to cry right during the session.

A dark tale of personality decay

The eccentric aristocrat Louis Wayne, after the death of his father, remains the only man in the family. The difficult task falls on his shoulders - to support an elderly mother and five sisters. To make life a little easier for his family, the hero hires a governess Emily Richardson. A romance immediately flares up between him and a pretty, educated woman.

But due to the difference in social status and age, Emily does not accept their union in society. In the film, this moment is not specified, but the girl was then a little over thirty, and at that time she was considered almost an old maid. In addition, shortly after the wedding, the newlywed becomes seriously ill and dies a few years later. Wayne's only consolation is her and Emily's favorite pet - the black and white cat Peter, from which the man often makes sketches.

With his drawings of cats, Louis soon became famous as an animal illustrator. But even his talent does not save the family from financial problems. And against the background of more and more blows of fate, the artist gradually begins to lose his mind.

A scene from the movie "Louis Wayne's Cat Worlds"

The authors were faced with a difficult task. It is one thing to tell the stories of Vincent van Gogh or Edvard Munch, whose problems were constantly reflected in their work. And it is quite another to show the tragedy of a man who paints smiling anthropomorphic cats, whose life is also overflowing with grief.

As a result, the director managed to find the right balance: cute portraits of animals are even more tragic and deeper shade the story of a progressive mental illness. The film is shot in the traditional 4: 3 aspect ratio, which makes the image look almost square. Such an artistic technique immediately gives the cinema a certain naivety and charm of antiquity.

Symmetrical shots and deliberate decorativeness of the setting in the first third of the picture cannot but remind of the works of Wes Anderson - and this, in turn, also gives the tape a sense of fabulousness.

But the further, the more the personality of the artist is destroyed. In textbooks on psychiatry, his work is sometimes cited as an illustration of how schizophrenia changes thinking: in Wayne's early drawings, kittens look realistic, and towards the end of his life they disintegrate into fractal patterns.

The filmmakers reflected this moment of the biography with the help of colorful hallucinations: at some point, Louis begins to see people in the form of cats, and then his reality completely dissolves into acid abstraction.

Lovely Cumberbatch and the love of the tailed beasts

It is important that Will Sharpe manages to awaken in the viewer not only sympathy, but also interest in Wayne's personality. Of course, this is largely the merit of the brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch, whose charisma will make any hero worthy of attention. But this does not negate the uniqueness of the artist himself, who was in many ways ahead of his time.

For example, for many viewers it will be a revelation that caring for animals was considered an eccentricity in the past. Therefore, those around him were so surprised that Wayne got a cat precisely as a beloved pet, a companion.

Nowadays, the life of domestic animals is customary to value no less than human life. And all this is not least due to the enormous contribution of the artist, whose drawings were saturated with good irony and endless love for cats. So it can be said without exaggeration that these animals owe much of their popularity today to Louis Wayne.

Electricity in life and in the frame

Another important motive of the painting is the artist's passion for science, in particular, electricity. Even the title of the film draws attention to this: in the original it sounds like "The Electric Life of Louis Wayne."

This theme accompanied the entire life of the illustrator, and he understood it in a very peculiar way. For example, Wayne believed that the electricity that accumulates in the fur of cats pulls them northward like a magnet. By the way, this is reflected in one of the scenes in the film. Eventually these ideas become obsessive and develop into real psychosis.

This motive is subtly emphasized even at the visual level. Attentive viewers will see that there is almost always a blue element in the costumes of Claire Foy, who plays Emily. This shade is literally called "electric blue" in English.

Even if you've never heard of Louis Wayne and his work, be sure to watch this movie. It is unlikely to cheer you up: after all, it is about very serious things. But on the other hand, it will give a reason to think about how over time people overestimate their views, and how important it is to take care of their mental health. And also about that incomprehensible, amazing world that the cat's eyes hide.

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