[AnglophoniZ] Sherlock Holmes

 

At first I did not know what to expect concerning this adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective. The director, Guy Ritchie, had not got us used to old-England-setting productions with films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (French title is Arnaques, crimes et botanique) or recently RockNRolla. Rithcie changes his style and you will be loving it ! You will probably think I am a crazy woman but I must say that I have totally recognized some part of Disney's The Great Mouse Detective (French title Basil, Détective Privé) when I went to see the new Sherlock Holmes film! And so it comforts me to see details that really define the character of Sherlock Holmes, that are obviously deductive reasoning, analyses and experiments.

As you can see from the poster, Robert Downey Jr. holds the leading role with Jude Law on his side as Dr. Watson. The evil man of the game is this time the great Mark Strong whose voice already puts you into the dark atmosphere of this 19^th century London. The character of the femme fatale is attributed to Irene Adler to whom our dear Sherlock cannot resist (Rachel McAdams, The Notebook) and the almost-nice one to the future Mrs Watson, Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly, Pride and Prejudice, L'Auberge Espagnole). They represent the necessary touch of femininity to be found in such films where men are in the forefront.

The story begins in the heat of battle when Holmes and Watson are just about to solve their supposed last investigation they have worked on together : they are about to beat the magician and murderer Lord Blackwood. Unfortunately after his hanging, Lord Blackwood comes back from his grave and goes further in his black designs. And thus Holmes has to hunt him again, as any self-respecting detective would do leading Watson to follow him again. The case thus involves mysteries, magic, a very dark magic indeed that threatens London's inhabitants and that drives Holmes quite baffled. He will also exceed the limits of his own understanding to, in the end, surprise everyone. Elementary my dear Watson.

However, this Holmes-Watson duet does not look like an association of detectives that is usually seen in other adaptations or films. They rather look like two superheroes whom the police call when they are needed than two traditional detectives. Superheroes are quite fashionable indeed and flood screens for several years. For sure you will encounter in this opus many fights and imposing fights to be more precise. Take a look at the grand finale between Holmes and Lord Blackwood, you will not be disappointed. Far from the image of a clean detective always well dressed and polite in so a “British” way, this version of Holmes is dirty, messy, and he likes boxing and fighting. And yet we have access to Holmes inner character. We see that he may feel quite alone and that he may suffer from from his so-called genius. You will be a little bit surprised, but not at all dissatisfied. As far as aesthetic is concerned, Ritchie has set quite an good representation of the Victorian atmosphere. He has perfectly recreated a London in industrial expansion, an overcrowded London with streets that are mostly dirt roads.

Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law are clever, good-looking, entertaining, in other words they are perfectly matched and prove that Ritchie has made the right choice in his cast. You will have a great time seeing this film and that is how it is supposed to be, that is how you are supposed to react with a blockbuster like this. There is no need to say how eager I am to follow their adventures in further films.

[AnglophoniZ] Shakespeare on screen

The body of Shakespeare's work is an extended compilation of comedies, tragedies or even tragicomedies. As his work is so vast and remarkable, it is no surprise that film screen has adopted this author. Everybody knows Shakespeare's plays, Everybody saw at least one film in which Shakespeare is mentioned. And that is the subject matter of this article. I have recollected, from my point of view, three main categories that involve Shakespeare and Shakespearian drama on screen. First, there are the classical adaptations of Shakespeare's plays. Then, the ones that take place at this period and in which Shakespeare takes an important part and finally a little category, the adaptation of Shakespearian drama into teen films.

Fortunately (what about creativity?) many directors stick to a kind of traditional adaptation of Shakespeare's work. They stay more or less in the same period, in the same setting. For the love of this work, why changing it?! Do you know Kenneth Branagh? I'm sure you do. He is the most famous adaptor of Shakespeare's plays. He directed (and played in) 5 adaptations that are : Henri V in 1989, Much ado about nothing in 1993, Hamlet in 1996, Love's Labour Lost in 2000 and As You Like It in 2006. The two most famous films are actually Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet. Branagh achieved a true recognition through these two. The text is greatly adapted and all of them movies are pleasant to watch. So is the case of A Midsummer Night's Dream with Kevin Kline, Christian Bale and even Sophie Marceau. All the faerie has been kept, just like the text. However, Baz Lhurmann -known for his visual deliriums- managed to mingle classical text and modern times with Romeo + Juliet that is just as beautiful as the play and just as surprising as we could have thought from such an extravagant director.

Then I thought it would be nice to focus on some films that are (more or less) not Shakespeare's plays but that involve him a great deal. The first one I will mention is Shakespeare in Love, Oscar winner in seven categories including Best Movie in 1998. It tells the story of William Shakespeare at the time when he wrote Romeo and Juliet. We can thus follow his supposed love story with a woman that inspired him this very play and The Twelfth Night. You will be delighted by this love story in which settings are beautiful and in which Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow are just...perfectly matched. Now comes the time we turn towards Stage Beauty. This film talks about the time when women took their own characters on stage as formerly only men were able to act on stage. Shakespeare is quite at the centre of the film as his play Othello is a leitmotiv in it. Even though Shakespeare or his plays are not really its main subject, it sets a good portrait of the period we are plunged into and how was drama at the time.

One funny thing concerning adaptations is that you can make almost what you want with a story. Thus it becomes quite usual to see classics turned into “teen movies”. And so it is with Shakespeare. The well known and terrific Ten things I hate about you -or at least it is in my circle of friends- is adapted from The Taming of the Shrew. I haven't read it but you must be sure that the essential is there in order to the original play to be recognize. “The main plot depicts the courtship of Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, and Katherina, the headstrong, obdurate shrew. Initially, Katherina is an unwilling participant in the relationship, but Petruchio tempers her with various psychological torments – the "taming" – until she is an obedient bride. The sub-plot features a competition between the suitors of Katherina's less intractable sister, Bianca” Obviously it is, even names are kept unchanged! But keep in mind that “teen movie” here does not mean inconsistent or vulgar. When there is a certain amount of faithfulness, it is a great way to increase young people's awareness to classics ; even more that this one is a comedy. There is also O, obviously an Othello in modern times, far more a darker story as you will remember that went unnoticed.

I will end this article by saying that all of the adaptations; faithful to the text or transposed into teenage stories, are a great opportunity to become acquainted with Shakespeare. For those who do not like to go to theatre it is quite a good alternative. Moreover it allows directors a great amount of technical possibilities as there are not restricted to a stage to adapt a play.