Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN [Toronto International Film Festival 2021 - Virtual]

The aspect of peculiar personalities when adapted on-screen reflects in how they see the world and what dictates, necessitates and reflects their ticks. In "The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain" [Gala Presentations]. Benedict Cumberbatch takes on this man who became renown for his uplifting portraiture of cats when they were considered more vermin than pet in the late 1800s. Wain is the provider for his sisters after their parents died. His sister Caroline (Andrea Riseborough) tries her best but can't handle it. Like him, she is on the spectrum perhaps in a different way. His life falters from his own frivolous but innocent art pursuits when Emily (Claire Foy) is brought in as a governess. Something goes off in his head but the love is encompassing though he has a hard time off conveying it, not because of coldness but awkwardness. The path is fraught in many ways but the love is never questioned (though the chemistry seems too come and go between Foy and Cumberbatch) . Director Will Sharpe makes the film lyrical but almost overtly so as the style does range from place to place. What keeps it level technically actually is the music of Arthur Sharpe (perhaps Will's father) whose almost Elmer Bernstein-style score lurks at something beyond. We never quite get consistently there but the film breaks brilliant in different ways at times that one wouldn't think.

Scenes that one would think are more effective are not, since Cumberbatch almost is slightly mugging to the camera. However one point later in the film with just him in frame, no camera moves, no FX, not even psychosis, just inherent sadness and lost of control is some of the most brilliant acting I've seen from him though it lasts only a couple seconds. The reflection of the film as impressionism reflects also in one image and poise on a lake as colors swirl around the characters which the film points to later. The best of the film is still those still images that relate the characters even in motion. Again later in the film, covered in prosthetics, Cumberbatch has another great moment of still that contrasts the heartbreaking moment described earlier in a NYC hotel. In this later scene, the camera just rests on his eyes on a medium. Maybe Cumberbatch has still to do his masterwork but there are sometimes his brilliance is overwhelming but it is in moments (think those moments he tells Tony Stark the pinpoint of the universe). Foy, as a comparison, has a luminescence but serves more like an accompaniment despite her strength ( much like Felicity Jones who fared better in a similar role in "The Theory Of Everything"). "The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain" shows an interesting play of a life and stumbles upon brilliance at certain points but without a lightning rod to contain it save for some subtle heartbreaking notes by Cumberbatch and the haunting (at times) score of Arthur Sharpe. B-

By Tim Wassberg