Watch the video: Do you know these famous movie cats? Guess along with Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy clearly enjoy our little quiz on the famous cats of film history. I’m meeting the actors for the online promotion date of their new film, The Wondrous World of Louis Wain. In the visually stunning drama, director Will Sharp takes us back to the 1900s – and to an era when people had little empathy for cats. Cumberbatch “The animals were then seen on a par with vermin, which were hunted. Back then it was quite normal to drown sacks of cats. It was happening everywhere back then – when you think about it, it’s really bad.” Benedict Cumberbatch plays British artist Louis Wain in the period film. The reclusive free spirit achieved world fame with his human-like and funny depictions of cats – and changed his generation’s perception of the furry four-legged friends. Clip Claire Foy, known from the Netflix series The Crown, plays Emily Richardson, Wain’s wife. After a short time together, she falls ill with cancer – at the same time Louis and Emily find Peter the cat: “During the shooting, cats became very emotional creatures for me. Because I saw her through the prism of their relationship. Because they find Peter in a moment of deep despair.” Emily’s fate and the house cat Peter are closely linked to Louis Wain’s work: in coming to terms with his painful loss, he turns to cats. As his life progressed, Wain increasingly lost control of his perceptions: “Through his humanization of animals, he drew a connection to his own life and to human life in general. On politics, satire, leisure activities and relationships.” In Germany, Wain’s influence on our image of pets is less well known. The sensitively portrayed figures of the enraptured Louis and the strong-willed Emily bring the artist back into our consciousness. The film allows us to see through the eyes of the picture poet: we become part of his fantastic world of ideas about cats. It is artists like Wain who have awakened people’s sympathy for furry four-legged friends with their pictures. And who knows if cats would be as numerous and diverse in movies today without his work? Back to Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy – and our movie cat quiz – do you know those famous furballs of movie history? The stars achieve a great record: 4 out of 5 cats assigned them. Satisfied? Of course we didn’t want to exhaust the actors – luckily a look at our favorite pets can help here too.