Tuesday 6 May 2014

Elementary, my dear Watson

Today, as you may guess from the title, I'm going to write about someone who has been for years among my favourite book (and film) characters- Sherlock Holmes, created by sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the nineteenth century. He is a genius detective who lives at 221B, Baker Street in London with his friend, dr John Watson.
If I wanted to write even a short description of each story and film adaptation that was inspired by their adventures, I would have to spend hours in front of the computer, so I've decided to confine to the last TV series "Sherlock" which, as my family and friends know very well, I just adore(I've seen all the 9 episodes several times which makes me feel it's nearly an obsession).
It's totally different from every film about Sherlock Holmes produced previously, because it's set in modern London- with skyscrapers, mobile phones, computers, etc. Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a 'consulting detective' (he cooperates with the police) and a 'high-functionning sociopath' as he describes himself. In the first episode, John Watson(Martin Freeman), who has just come back from Afghanistan, becomes his flatmate and this is when an adventure begins. Their characters and dispositions are completely different which is a source of many hilarious situations (for example, when dr Watson opens a fridge to find a human head inside and he express his surprise, Sherlock asks him for tea). 
I do like the way the themes from the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle are used here. For example, the title of each episode is a slightly changed  title of the original case(for instance, instead of "The empty house" there's "The empty hearse"). What may be surprising is that, although in general one episode presents one crime, there are the elements of many others which are mentioned or shortly presented from time to time. It's hard to explain it, you must watch to understand what I mean. 
What else can I add... Action-packed, with great music which suits perfectly to each scene and humorous, it's really worth watching. Of course, I could write much more about this interesting and well-made BBC series, but it's not intention to describe episode after episode, scene after scene. I just want to encourage you all to watch it- even if you feel that detective stories are not your cup of tea, I believe you will like it, as much as I do :)

No comments:

Post a Comment