Directed by Will Sharpe, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021) can’t help becoming dire and mushy from time to time, as Wain’s misfortunes pile up and his mental health deteriorates, but, like many artist biopics, this one has its delightfully kooky, imaginative sequences as well.
Īfter playing such real-life figures as Julian Assange, Alan Turing, and Thomas Edison, Benedict Cumberbatch takes on a loopier role as Louis Wain (1860-1939), who wanted to be an inventor and a musician, but wound up famous for his series of cat paintings (which changed the way people viewed cats and turned them into household pets). Louis (Benedict Cumberbatch) paints the latest in a series of cat pictures, the main legacy from The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. Kidman manages some dazzling Ball-like comedic bits, and Simmons and Arianda steal the show with their acerbic bickering. The performances are the most entertaining thing about it, even as we scrutinize them, looking for sprinkles of the real folks. Simmons) and Vivian Vance (Nina Arianda), the film flashes back several decades and tells the story of Lucy and Desi, their romance, and their ground-breaking television empire. In-between rehearsals, also attended by the acerbic supporting actors William Frawley (J.K.
It’s set during a particular week in 1953, as Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) are preparing to tape an episode of their smash-hit TV show I Love Lucy, when Lucy is publicly accused of being a Communist. It’s another biopic in a sea of biopics, but writer/director Aaron Sorkin gives Being the Ricardos a kind of bounce, along with a clever structure that makes the film feel more compact and less sprawling. Simmons), Vivian Vance (Nina Arianda), and Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) rehearse a gag for I Love Lucy in Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos. (L to R) Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem), William Frawley (J.K. The strikingly mature teen Manz narrates, using her hard, naïve voice on the gorgeous prose, while Ennio Morricone’s superb score provides layers of melancholy and longing. The film was legendarily shot largely during the “Magic Hour,” or just before sunrise and just after sunset, creating gloriously poetic visuals. Malick, however, does not focus on plot detail as much as he does the rhythms of the land and the colors of the light. Though Bill and Abby are lovers, they pretend to be siblings in the hope that the farmer will marry Abby and leave his land to her. Loosely based on Henry James’ novel The Wings of the Dove, it tells the story of Bill (Richard Gere), Abby (Brooke Adams), and Linda (the incredible Linda Manz), migrant laborers who go to work for a dying farmer (Sam Shepard). Terrence Malick’s deeply artful second feature Days of Heaven (1978) is one of the great films of the 1970s. More recently, a director like Céline Sciamma constructed a bracing picture of an intimate female relationship with “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” though looking back at her career, she’s long explored the nuances of female sexuality.įrom the 20th Century up until just this past year with Sweden’s Best International Feature Oscar submission “And Then We Danced,” below is a sampling of some of the best international LGBTQ cinema out there - including alternative entries from popular filmmakers you may have missed.Migrant laborer Bill (Richard Gere) concocts a risky plan to inherit a farm in Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven. It has been updated on March 15, 2022.Īmerican movies and TV are making major strides in LGBTQ representation, but storytellers abroad are in many ways ahead of the curve, exploring sexuality and relationships with groundbreaking technique, and in ways often coded and ahead of their time.įrom Rainer Werner Fassbinder to Pier Paolo Pasolini, the fluidity of human sexuality has long fascinated international filmmakers unafraid to bust taboos. Editor’s Note: This list was originally posted on February 27, 2021.