The Mrs and I went to Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows a couple of days ago. It wasn't terrible but I don't think it had quite the same energy as the first film in this series. There was a long portion in the middle of the flick where I wanted to leave but I'm glad I hung in there because the ending was good. It's intriguing watching a new Sherlock Holmes movie at the same time as the BBC series Sherlock is running on the telly, because you can appreciate how certain ideas in the Zeitgeist have influenced two completely different teams of screenwriters on opposite sides of the Atlantic. In the original stories for example women have almost nothing to do but faint, however in both Guy Ritchie's films and the BBC series the women are somewhat more interesting and have a wee bit more to do. The drug angle is fascinating too, Robert Downey Jnr plays Holmes as a jittery coke fiend (perhaps channeling his own life in the 80's) whereas in the BBC series the dreaded drug of choice is tobacco (I'd love to see Michel Houellebecq's sarcastic commentary on that)....
Both teams of screenwriters are agreed that the gay subtext in the partnership between Holmes and Watson is ripe for humour. Purists should note that there has always been a bit of a gay subtext in the Sherlock Holmes stories. London in the 1890's was full of rent boys and readers of the Strand Magazine (where the Holmes stories first appeared) can't possibly have been the stuffy Victorian prudes we think of today. In the Guy Ritchie film Holmes drags up, tries to stop Watson's wedding, gets him in a clinch on the floor of a train and to cap it all his brother Mycroft is wonderfully played by an out and proud (in the film and real life) Stephen Fry. The BBC's treatment of the subtext is subtler and a bit funnier. Holmes is a pale, tall, handsome, aesthete and when Watson goes to live with him everyone assumes that they are a gay couple. Benedict Cumberbatch's aloof, diffident Holmes couldn't care less but Watson is continually trying to explain to people that they aren't a couple in the best Seinfeld tradition of "not that there's anything wrong with that." Martin Freeman is such a great comic actor that his discomfort cracks me up every time.
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Interestingly I was at the gym yesterday and ABC1 were showing an old Sherlock Holmes episode from the late 1980's series. I only saw about twenty minutes of it but it looked like a good "closed room" mystery. A translator for the Foreign Office gets an important treaty stolen from his office and has a nervous breakdown as a result. I'm pretty sure the villain is the guy who played Blake from Blake's 7 but I missed the last two thirds of the episode and didn't see how he actually did it. Of course in the 1980's series there is no (or very little) gay subtext at all.
24 comments:
I find it interesting how the gay subtext is used both to acknowledge its presence and also suggest with a kind of smugness (in Ritchie's film especially) that of course they're not really as in Wright/Pegg films, where it seems to be a way of saying, "hey, we're cool with it," because no one would really think we're gay (although I expect Ritchie to finally come out sooner or later). It's more nuanced in the BBC version despite Moffat's apparent gender-essentialism (judging by his other works) and that seems largely due to the nuanced performances by Freeman and Cumberbatch. I have to say I found GoS rather dull until the very end. What a waste of the wonderful Noomi Rapace!
I haven't seen the movie mentioned, but one of my teachers once said that 50% of all relationship had some form of libido involved. Not entirely OT, I just finished The Cold, Cold Ground, and all I can say is Wow, Adrian, Wow. Review to follow.
Margery,
But it isnt just the Seinfeld technique? We're not gay but we're ok. Moffatt and Ritchie both populate the canvas with gay characters to prove their bona fides. Maybe, yes, they are trying too hard.
GOS was slack in the middle but I loved the Stephen Fry stuff and I thought the ending was terrific. I also liked Richard Harris's son as the villain. I agree Noomi Rapace completely wasted.
Lil
I caught your review on Amazon.com. thank you for that. every review helps.
Lil
And I'm really glad you liked the book.
I always thought Jeremy Brett played it a bit gay. I still think his interpretation in general is my favorite.
But actually, I like Cumberbatch and Freeman, and though I haven't seen Downie's interpretation, I think he is often a very interesting actor.
Oh yeah--nice post title.
What is with all this gym talk? You trying to look like Daniel Craig coming out of the ocean, Adrian?
BTW, my copy of TCCG hasn't yet arrived but I was following the Jesus Montero trade on si.com and forgot about my plans to go down to the 7-11. Ah, well...
Sure, it's a nice post title, but not as nice as "A Tale of Two Setees."
Seana
Downey's accent is not great but its serviceable.
Matt
I have taken to going to the gym thrice a week. I have to say that every minute is claustrophobic torture in there. I dont know how people can go there every day. A good audiobook helps though.
Cashman earned his money. Its a good trade for the NYY. 7 starting pitchers for 5 spots is a nice position to be in.
I thought you were following Hitchens on the matter of exercise.
Although I can see how you might change your mind about that.
Interesting how Downey seems to embrace it in interviews, whereas Cumberbatch and Freeman shoot it down, hard.
It seems possible that Downey is the more fearless or at least more risk-taking actor.
I'm with Seana on Jeremy Brett. I thought he was tremendously camp, rather like he was Kenneth Williams' less manic brother.
Seana
Even Hitch said that the smokes might not have been such a brilliant idea.
Jaeleigh
I wonder why? Seems obvious enough.
David
You might be right about Brett but there was no way the guy who was playing Watson in that series was into it.
There were two guys who played Watson in that series.
Seana
Just like in Bewitched and of course both Darrens were gay.
So Elizabeth Montgomery was totally wasted on them, then. Pity.
Elizabeth Montgomery's considerable charms (especially in the black and white episodes) were lost on them.
Have you read the book "Bending the Willow: Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes" by David Stuart Davies. This book gives great insight into the making of the Granada series and the physical tribulation that Brett went through during the filming of the series.
Cheers!
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