Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 11/25/2015
In the short story “His Last Bow,” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the following exchange takes place between Dr. John Watson and the world’s greatest detective: ‘“But you have retired, Holmes. We heard of you as living the life of a hermit among your bees and your books in a small farm upon the South Downs.’
‘“Exactly, Watson. Here is the fruit of my leisured ease, the magnum opus of my latter years!’ He picked up the volume from the table and read out the whole title, Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with Some Observations upon the Segregation of the Queen. ‘Alone I did it. Behold the fruit of pensive nights and laborious days when I watched the little working gangs as once I watched the criminal world of London.’”
Writer and director Bill Condon took this reference to Sherlock Holmes and built a spectacular narrative around it. Anyone with even a passing interest in Sherlock Holmes will enjoy this film.
It is 1947 and in post World War II Great Britain, Sherlock Holmes is a very real person, a detective whose friend and associate Dr. John Watson had made a celebrity through fictionalized accounts of their cases. Now in his 90s and long retired Holmes is quick to point out that he never wore the famous deerstalker hat and didn’t smoke a pipe, but rather cigars.
The address of his lodgings at 221 B Baker St. in London was also a bit of ruse created by Watson to keep the fans away from their home. Their actual apartment was across the street.
I loved the idea of what if Holmes was a real person, especially in light that people at the height of his literary fame wrote letters to him hoping he would take their case.
Holmes lives on a country estate and tends bees. He is looked after by a housekeeper (Laura Linney) and his son Roger (Milo Parker). He is not the nicest of people, but he takes a liking to the boy who shows a keen intelligence.
Holmes is faced with his most serious problems. Not only is his body starting to fail, but also he suffers from memory loss. He can’t remember the details of the case that led him to his retirement. Although Watson wrote about it, he is positive the fiction doesn’t convey the truth.
For the first time, he decides to write about a case – the facts, not the fiction.
He is so determined to address the memory loss he travels of Japan for samples of a rare plant that is known for curing such ailments.
Beautifully shot, this movie is another showcase for the acting of Ian McKellen, who is riveting as Holmes. It is an impressive performance just from the physicality of creating the ravages of old age. The make-up used in the 1947 scenes is very subtle but highly effective as are McKellen’s mannerisms.
This is the second time McKellen and director and writer Bill Condon have collaborated. In 1998, McKellen starred in “God and Monsters,” a fictionalized biography of director James Whale.
There’s a bit of circle here between these two films. In one, the central figure was indeed real, but the story has fictional elements. The other the lead character is fictional, but is treated as if he had been real.
I liked this film a lot. Its look was immaculate, the performances real and moving and its observations about the power of truth and fiction were deeply felt. See it.