Holmes, Sweet Holmes

[rusty_armour]

I realized today that they've started showing commercials for Guy Ritchie's Travesty (a.k.a. his so-called Sherlock Holmes film), so I've decided to follow through with my plan to post something good in terms of Sherlock Holmes every time I'm exposed to that monstrosity. Okay, I was catching up on an episode of The Dollhouse from about a week ago, so the VCR fast-forwarded through the trailer. However, I was still forced to acknowledge that this...this thing is going to be released no matter how many Holmes fans boycott it. Well, thankfully, there are a number of decent productions to cancel out Guy Ritchie's Travesty. One of my favourites is the Granada version of "The Naval Treaty" with Jeremy Brett delivering Holmes's famous speech about the flowers. I'm always very amused by that scene:

"Sherlock Holmes, Naval treaty; Jeremy Brett; Flowers" (Watch on YouTube)

In other news, I'm not dead. Yes, I've been pretty quiet lately, but that's mostly because I got wrapped up with holiday preparations, etc. Last night, I rediscovered writing after too many weeks without it and it was glorious. I enjoyed it so much that I did some more writing today. A part of me is tempted to slow down because I'm working on what I hope will be my last fanfic story, but I'm having too much fun to set it aside. Well, the sooner I finish this, the sooner I can pursue "original" fiction -- something I've been putting off for much too long.

Comments

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

The same kind of dismissive interview is common with every new version of another well-known English story. It's irritating and insulting, I know. Some of it is just silly trash-talk, some of it is marketing and some of it is pure insulting arrogance.

That's true. It certainly isn't the first time I've come across such an interview. I guess I just found Ritchie's interview more dismissive and insulting than some of the other interviews I've read.

I think it can be much worse, because I don't think the Holmes brand has been as battered as others. Good or bad, Sherlock Holmes stories are not at the verge of being an irrelevant joke.

Sorry. I should have read your original comment more carefully. You meant the situation in general. In that case, you're absolutely right. I think the Holmes brand is still in pretty good shape and the stories aren't on the verge of being an irrelevant joke.

This might be Holmes "for the Playstation Generation" to use the producer's term for the recent BBC Robin Hood.

Yeah, that sounds about right to me. *g*

But as far as it might depart from the canon (so did Without a Clue and many others), as poorly written as it probably will be, it will likely have some humour and life. And humour might not be as predominant an element in classic Holmes as in other stories, but it's not a bad thing.

Oh, I have no problem with humourous takes on Sherlock Holmes. I've read some parodies that I really enjoyed. And I absolutely love Without a Clue. This might sound like I'm contradicting myself, but I don't mind writers departing from canon if they have a good reason for it. In the case of Without a Clue, the writers were exploring an alternate theory about who Sherlock Holmes may have really been. I thought it was clever and hilarious. And rather than dismissing canon, the writers were having some fun with it.

My issue with Ritchie is that he seems to be cashing in on those elements of canon that will provide the most shock value. I know I'm only going by interviews and the one trailer I forced myself to watch, but that's the impression I'm getting. Maybe I'll be wrong and the film will have enough humour and life to sustain it. However, I'll have to leave it to other fans to discover if this is true. I just can't stomach the idea of seeing the film.