The literary character Holmes is about 125 years old, his film prototypes amiably keep pace with the times, demonstrating the indefatigable imagination of contemporary directors. The image of the famous detective has long been divorced from the literary source, and his adventures are overgrown with amateurish sequels. The British detective is gradually turning into a real folk hero.
Tandem for centuries
The cinematic demand for the duet of Holmes and Watson is easily explained by the skill of Conan Doyle, because the description of adventures has a decent genre spectrum: from a mystical detective story to a thriller mixed with a love drama. Clever, charming, brilliant detective Holmes and his only real and devoted friend Watson, albeit slightly naive, sometimes stupid, harmonize perfectly, forming a tandem for centuries. And Sherlockkian continues to live his own life, generating more and more new stories, among which the British versions are the most famous on a global scale. What is not surprising: after all, the homeland of literary heroes.
British series
Series 1964-1968 UK production "Sherlock Holmes" (the actor who played the role of a detective - Douglas Wilmer, Watson - Nigel Stoke) was not the first movie screening of Doyle's novella, broadcast on BBC. 12 episodes are released in black and white, in 1968 another 16 episodes were shot, but in color. Sherlock Holmes is played by Peter Cushing, who had the experience of playing such a crucial role in the full meter “The Hound of the Baskervilles” in 1959, and Nigel Stoke invariably remains in the image of Watson. Although this film adaptation was very accurate, it turned out to be the most criticized.
The series 1984-1985 entitled "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes": the protagonist is a truly English Sherlock Holmes - actor Mr. Jeremy Brett. It was he who managed to convey the highest tragedy of the hero - intellectual perfection. Brett played a genius really ingenious: violence, obsession and poetry of the highest level - everything is in his character.
The series of joint production of Great Britain and the USA "Sherlock" (2010 - ...) offered the viewer an alternative version of events, transferred today. The main roles in it were played by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. The creators turned out a gorgeous show in which the hilarious Cumberbatch is really amazing.
Curious incarnation
The series “Elementary” (2012 - ...) produced by the USA can be safely called at least another incarnation. The project turned out to be quite successful; free handling of the original idea did not spoil it. Sherlock Holmes is an actor Johnny Lee Miller, but Watson with the light hand of the creators became a woman (actress Lucy Liu), however, Moriarty is also Natalie Dormer. This incident did not push fans away, the series has high ratings, and critics are more than supportive of it.
There is also the domestic series of 2013 "Sherlock Holmes". Actor Igor Petrenko played a controversial image, according to the creators' idea, a brilliant detective - a quick-tempered young man who does not respect the law and etiquette. His faithful companion Watson (Andrey Panin) became roguish and began to open his fists. Lestrade (Mikhail Boyarsky) turned into a real despot, and Mrs. Hudson (Ingeborga Dapkunaite) not only became younger, but also became the object of romantic gasps of others.
Full meter
After the above experiments of filmmakers with the heroes of Conan Doyle, one can’t wait for full-length pictures of exact correspondence to the original idea. The clearest proof of this can be a film produced by the United States "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1939). The plot was based on a play by William Gillette, which at one time was approved by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself. The events described in it are very far from the original narration.
In 2009, a new “Sherlock Holmes” was released for rent - a film whose actors embodied in a somewhat parody reinterpretation of the classic Sherlockian by Guy Ritchie. Throughout the entire timing of the picture, the director managed to maintain not only intellectual intrigue, but also the dynamism of the narrative, saturating the action with a fair amount of chaos, boxing fights and battle scenes. Guy Ritchie could not have done otherwise after the triumphal films "Rock and Roll" and "Cards, Money, Two Trunks." But all this does not spoil the story, on the contrary, makes the story universally realistic.
Richevsky “Sherlock Holmes” is a film whose actors went through all nine circles of hell during the casting. If the choice of the performer of the role of Sherlock did not cause excitement (Robert Downey Jr. was immediately approved for the role), then more than 20 stage masters, including Chris Pine, Gerard Butler and John Cusack, claimed to play the role of his partner Watson. Initially, Colin Farrell wanted to offer the role, but the director chose to see Watson performed by Jude Law.
To be continued
If the first project of Guy Ritchie was dashing, the second film “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” (actors: R. Downey Jr., D. Low, N. Rapas, D. Harris, P. Anderson) became quite violent. The adventures of the brilliant detective and his faithful friend doctor become even more powerful, dynamic and funnier, it seems that the director drove a huge dose of adrenaline into the noble dusty original literary material.
In a revolutionary rethinking of Ritchie Sherlock from Downey Jr., he is a real marginal and adventurer, playing not on the violin, but on the nerves of those around him. The following actors were considered for the role of antagonist Moriarty: the charismatic Javier Bardem, the demonic Daniel Day-Lewis, the attractive Sean Penn, the unsurpassed Brad Pitt and the mysterious Gary Oldman. As a result of a worthy opponent, Holmes on the screen embodied Jared Harris.
But in this crazy miracle worker from Guy Ritchie there is no self-esteem and nobility inherent in the domestic Holmes performed by Vasily Livanov. Director Igor Maslennikov presented the world with a series of films "Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson." The actors who played in this franchise presented to the audience the characters more old-fashioned, nevertheless elegant, thoughtful and self-ironic.