Soviet Cinema and Sherlock Holmes

I have always been a fan of Hollywood and the many movies they produce for audiences all over the world every year. Having recently seen the latest trailer of the new Sherlock Holmes however disappointment is the first feeling that hits me. The second is confusion as to why anyone would want to watch such a movie. Unnecessary special effects, comic characters and the ridiculousness of nearly everything look like just a few reasons why one suddenly loses any kind of desire to spend those ten bucks at the cinema. Simply put the film looks a little retarded despite the obvious quality of the camera-work and the millions of dollars that it took to make it.

I am not doubting a lot of effort went into it. Guy Ritchie is no doubt a great director. The situation reminds me of what has happened to the James Bond series over the decades. A significant part of the plot was indeed for the special agent to use his gadgets to overcome obstacles and bad guys. The visual effects however were limited or non-existent in the Sean Connery and Roger Moore films. These were the films of the '60s, '70s and '80s. Technology limited the amount of special effects used despite the obvious "pull" to inject them. By the late '90s when Pierce Brosnan was selected to become the new James Bond, the situation began to change, culminating with Die Another Day (2002) also starring Halle Berry. Although the general reception of the movie was positive, it was clearly apparent to most that the amount of special effects and gadgets used was beyond anything ever seen before while the plot itself was by all accounts neglected.

The new Sherlock Holmes of 2009 is just this kind of work. The seriousness of the character is completely removed and instead Sherlock Holmes is portrayed as something of a ridiculous character, to be laughed at. This may be economically sound, I for sure don't know, but at least in my view misrepresents the story and is not appealing to true fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

This is not the first such movie made by Hollywood in recent years. This category reminds me of movies like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) and Van Helsing (2004), among many others. Some may enjoy but in my opinion unwatchable garbage with a non-existent plot.

Soviet Cinema

Although the birth of the Soviet Cinema was many decades earlier, the real successes were actually achieved in the '50s, '60s and '70s with many classics produced that are still very much enjoyed to this day.

Despite being unknown to the Western audiences, Soviet era classic movies continue to be distributed in the millions to this day. Most Russians and other peoples in the CIS nations were raised with them since childhood and still enjoy them today. The relative collapse of the film industry in the 1980s and 1990s in Russia and still relatively poor quality of cinema presently has meant that many still prefer to watch the films of the old.

Films such as Gentlemen of Fortune (1971), Prisoner of the Caucasus (1967), Diamond Arm (1968) and Ivan Vasilievich Changes His Profession (1973) are among the many favorite films today in the comedy genre for example. It is no doubt that such films propelled the Soviet Cinema to new heights making them the equivalent of the Roman Holiday (1953) and Breakfast and Tiffany's (1961) in the US.

One of the greatest cinema works ever produced in the Soviet Union was of course the Sherlock Holmes series known as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson from 1979 to 1986. An extremely well-made series of films focusing on the stories by the great author and with success. This is a must-see and by many Russians considered the best movie about Sherlock Holmes ever made.¹

The greatest part of each movie is the plot because without it everything else does not make any sense. No matter how much money and technology is invested into a movie without this fundamental element we will only get movies that we at best can watch once and forget about.

^{1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Sherlock_Holmes_and_Dr._Watson}