It seems that before the upcoming new 2014, the whole world froze not so much in anticipation of the holiday, but in anticipation of the appearance on the screen of the third part of the popular television series with Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role. The premiere was announced on January 1. And the result did not deceive expectations. Solemnly buried in the previous episode, Sherlock Holmes rose from the dead and, as if nothing had happened, returned to his apartment in central London on Baker Street.
About the vagaries of fate
It has long been noted that it is simply impossible to calculate in advance the success of a project in the cinema. The real fame overtook the British actor after the famous television series about Sherlock Holmes. But the path to her was not so short.
It cannot be argued that before this film no one knew Benedict Cumberbatch. His biography was eventful, and the filmography - vibrant acting in cinema. But all of them suddenly faded before the image of the immortal detective Sherlock Holmes. It was somehow not even easy to believe in the prospects of such a project. The fact is that this book is familiar to everyone since childhood and has already been successfully filmed dozens of times in many countries of the world. But Benedict Cumberbatch - Sherlock Holmes is now forever. He was convincing in this role, like no other. Even though it was necessary to exist within the framework of this role simultaneously in two historical eras.
How it all started
The future actor was born July 19, 1976 in London. There is every reason to believe that this person was doomed to his fate from childhood. Parents of Benedict Cumberbatch are the famous British actors Wanda Wentham and Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (better known by the stage name Timothy Carleton). The boy receives primary education in the prestigious schools of Brambletai and Harrow. Young Benedict grew up in the acting environment and made his stage debut back in school years. The question of choosing a professional career before him practically did not arise, everything was predetermined in advance.
Benedict Cumberbatch as a child chose the path that will lead him to the pinnacle of success in the future. But the road to the heights of professional excellence was not so cloudless. Easy success, if sometimes someone overtakes someone, then it does not last long. In the end, everyone gets what they deserve.
Distant countries
In order to say your word in any field of art, it is not enough just the initial potential, called talent. Life experience is also needed. Of course, the positive factor for the further development of the creative personality was the fact that after graduation, Benedict takes a trip around the world. It lasts about a year, the future actor even teaches English in a remote Tibetan monastery. This allowed a deeper understanding of life occurring outside the English capital, before returning to it and continuing on the path chosen in childhood.
Returning to his homeland, he continues to study acting at the University of Manchester. And after graduation, he completes his education at the London Academy of Music and Drama. In his student years, the future Sherlock Holmes meets actress Olivia Poole. Benedict Cumberbatch and his girlfriend have been together for twelve years. They broke up only at the beginning of 2011.
In the theater and on television
Benedict Cumberbatch, whose personal life will become interesting to numerous fans and fans of the star only in years, began his professional career at the beginning of the 2000s on the stage of the London theaters Royal Court, Almeida and the Royal National. And a little later he took an active part in a number of popular television projects.
The beginning was bright enough. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch did not go unnoticed by both the public and professional critics. His roles were expressive, textured, and each subsequent was often very different from the previous one. He knew how to be unexpected, he was clearly not an actor, originally closed on a certain type of incarnate characters.
Starting with roles modest in volume and significance in such series as Silent Witness, Golden Fields and Heartbeat, the actor managed to attract the attention of producers and directors and gain a sufficient number of favorable critical evaluations of his work. This ensured further progress towards professional success.
In big cinema
The actor Benedict Cumberbatch, whose biography has recently been inextricably linked with the image of the genius detective Sherlock Holmes, is interesting, besides this, with a number of other outstanding works. In the big cinema, the image of William Pitt can be considered his debut in the 2006 film by Michael Epted "Amazing Lightness". The role of the actor in this tape was designated as “Breakthrough of the Year” and brought Benedict the award of the London Society of Film Critics.
Two years later, he brilliantly played the role of the closest associate of Charles Darwin in a biographical film about an outstanding English naturalist. There were also several works not very significant in size, but very bright in execution. One way or another, the actor entered the category of stars of the first magnitude. There was no longer any need for anyone to explain who Benedict Cumberbatch was. His personal life became interesting to reporters of the "yellow press", and this is the simplest criterion of fame and success achieved. It doesn't matter if someone likes it or not.
"Fifth power"
In September 2013, the public was presented the last time the actor’s work in large cinema. In this film, Benedict Cumberbatch played the role of the famous journalist Julian, the founder of the infamous WikiLix website. This picture, as they say, was doomed to success, since the narration in it is about events in the information world that occurred recently and actually have not yet been completed. The intrigue is not completely exhausted both in life and in the film.
Benedict Cumberbatch, whose height (193 cm) and external data cast doubt on his resemblance to the main character, is very convincing. His performance of this role meets the criteria that the great Russian director K.S. has always presented to his actors. Stanislavsky.
Sherlock
With all the unconditional significance and expressiveness of the actor’s works in the theater, on television and in cinema, they were only a kind of preface for the main role of his life. Of course, this was the very chance that many creative personalities have been waiting for their whole lives (and most of them pass away without waiting).
Benedict Cumberbatch, whose roles in the movie were paradoxical, expressive and different from one another, was able to prepare well for his finest hour. He not only brilliantly played himself, but also set the tone for the entire ensemble of actors working on this television project. In a duet with the performer of the role of Dr. Watson Martin Freeman, Cumberbatch solves a whole complex of complex acting problems.
It has long been suggested that in order to convincingly play a genius, you need to be one yourself. In order for a genius not to look parody and be ridiculous only in those situations when it is provided for by the author’s intention. And in the series about Sherlock, everything was incredibly complicated by the shift of the historical era by more than a century. It was necessary to correspond immediately to two time dimensions.
Adaptation of Victorian Literature
The scriptwriters of the television series Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss did not hide the fact that their plan was originally built specifically for Benedict Cumberbatch. And the main difficulty was to organically transfer the action from the Victorian era to the beginning of the twenty-first century. It was necessary to do this so that the aura of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books did not disappear anywhere, and so that his characters would not look fake, having been carried over today.
The scriptwriters did their part just brilliantly. The sense of proportion never let them down. By the way, this was far from the first work of the authors in this direction. A little earlier they had already creatively reworked the works of Robert Lewis Stevenson and Charles Dickens, adapting them to the present. This experience was recognized as quite successful and commercially successful.
Characters and Images
In the television series there are practically no passing characters. For the most part, they have their legal prototypes in Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories about the many adventures of Sherlock Holmes. But the similarity is far from direct. Most often, it is curved, grotesque and cartoonized. But this is exactly how the projection of the Victorian era adored by the British into the world of digital computer technologies and virtual reality should look like.
Perhaps the most controversial incarnation is the image of the main villain - James Moriarty. He turned out to be excessively caricatured and more like an unhealthy tired clown than the genius of the underworld. But all the other characters are portrayed with dignity, with characteristic subtle English humor. The entire visual series of the film is shocking with the sense of style of the era of the unforgettable Queen Victoria, who has not left London.
Benedict Cumberbatch: the personal life of the actor and his hero
One of the main humorous accents of the series is a doubt in the sexual orientation of the characters. In almost every episode of the film, two of its main characters are forced to make excuses that they are not gay at all, but simply work together and live under one roof. Even their landlady, Mrs. Hudson, does not really believe in this. But the great and unique detective Sherlock Holmes is selflessly and without a trace immersed in his work. He does not care about his personal life. He is such an unusual person.
But the reporters of the "yellow press" and just curious townsfolk do not leave the performer of this role, who has become a superstar. Of course, actor Benedict Cumberbatch became interesting to everyone. His personal life became even more interesting than filmography and creative plans. But such is human psychology, and therefore unemployment does not threaten the "yellow press". At the same time, the actor himself prefers not to advertise his personal life. To the questions of the curious, only that he has no children yet, but he hopes that they will appear in the future.
To be continued
The enchanting success of the first three seasons of the series could not remain without consequences. And the public, and its creators are quite reasonable question about what to do next with all this. Viewers want to see the sequel, and screenwriters, producers, director and actors are simply forced to think hard about how not to disappoint a respected audience. And, most importantly, the literary material fully allows the further development of already outlined storylines.
The prose of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which tells about the extraordinary adventures of the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his faithful assistant Dr. Watson, is very voluminous. It has dozens, if not hundreds, of images, characters and promising plot moves. And this makes it possible for the scriptwriters to continue the work they have begun and to consolidate the success achieved. Currently, work is underway to create a fourth and even fifth season. About when we can see it all, to speak so far prematurely.