The Electrical Life of Louis Wain’s title might lead a viewer to think they will be embarking on a journey of discovery about electricity, but the real meaning of the title is something else entirely. The Amazon Original film is directed by Will Sharpe and garnered four nominations at the British Independent Film Awards this past December, winning one. With an electrifying lead performance by Benedict Cumberbatch (the MCU’s Doctor Strange) as Louis Wain, the film will likely see more nominations and awards to come.
Set in Victorian England, Louis Wain is an artist and the only man in his family of five sisters and an elderly mother. In an effort to provide for the household, Louis takes a job as an illustrator for the London Illustrated Times and befriends Sir William (played by Toby Jones), who'll turn out to be his singular (human) friend in the film. Louis falls in love with the family’s governess, and the pair wed only for her to fall ill with cancer shortly after. It is the couple’s cat, Peter, who brings inspiration and comfort to Louis following the death of his wife, Emily (played by The Crown’s Claire Foy), and sparks Louis’ life-long admiration of the animal.
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain's True Story Inspiration
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain is based on a true story and is fiercely accurate in its depiction of Louis’ life. A talented illustrator, Wain chose to focus his art on the feline population, and his colorful, often psychedelic drawings of cats drove his success. Wain was quite famous for his cat art by the 1800s. But, as the film shows, he was quite impractical with his earnings. The artist was declared "insane" in 1924 and institutionalized before a fan of his work discovered him and organized a petition to have him moved to a better facility. During the final years of his life, he lived comfortably, drawing and holding art shows at the hospital until his death in 1939.
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain's Title Meaning
Benedict Cumberbatch's Louis Wain interpreted “electricity” not as it is known today (though, confusingly, Louis also refers to scientific electricity throughout the film). Instead, he frames it as an ill-defined concept of human connection and emotion – something he feels keenly throughout his life yet struggles to define and cannot harness or understand in himself or others. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain's meaning is not about electricity in scientific terms but Wain’s observations on interpersonal relationships and feelings.
In the film’s opening monologue, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain’s narrator, Olivia Colman (another alumnus from The Crown) lays the groundwork for Wain’s alternative definition of electricity, saying in her soothing, sophisticated tones that “Louis Wain believed that electrical forces are what pull us forward in time and help us hold onto our memories.” While the concept of electricity as a sort of time travel or agent of prophecy is interesting, it is not clarified in the film and thus acts only to illuminate Wain’s mental illness. His memories of Emily are projected throughout the film in various formats including flashbacks, static on a radio, and a futuristic vision with a floating tea tray. Coleman continues, “He called electricity ‘the key to all of life's most alarming secrets.’”
This seems to serve as a catch-all for both the viewer as well as for Louis in the Benedict Cumberbatch movie, as Louis progresses through the film tossing out the term in several settings like a boxing match, a beach picnic with his family, intimate settings with Emily, as well as assigning the word to feline intelligence.
For Louis, however, “electricity” is a secret, in many ways. “Electricity” covers his love for Emily, everything he does not understand about human emotion, fear of the unknown, and his unique admiration for felines. Louis’ “electricity” is the secret to his life – one he can never unlock. It stands in as the perfect title for The Electrical Life of Louis Wain.