On Thursday, the START video service began showing the adventure detective series "Sherlock in Russia".
The project was directed by Nurbek Egen, who worked on such films as "The Network", "Hammer", "Mine".
Oleg Malovichko ("Invasion", "Ice") worked on the script.
The series combines two previously unrelated plots: the story of a serial killer known as Jack the Ripper operating in London at the end of the 19th century, and the adventures of British detective Sherlock Holmes, invented by Arthur Conan Doyle.
The legendary Sherlock performed by Maxim Matveyev investigates a series of brutal murders and enters the trail of a character who, due to his specific handwriting, was nicknamed the Ripper.
Holmes quickly discovers that the suspect is Russian.
In pursuit of the criminal, Sherlock goes to St. Petersburg, where new adventures and interesting acquaintances await him, but first of all - a culture shock.
The detective will have to be surprised at the manners and thinking of the Russians alone: his faithful partner, Dr. Watson, falls into a coma in the very first minutes of the story.
However, Holmes soon finds him a worthy replacement in the person of Dr. Kartsev (Vladimir Mishukov) and teacher Sophia (Irina Starshenbaum).
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The hero Matveyev has little in common with the traditional Sherlock, whom the public is used to portraying as self-confident and low-emotional, and sometimes even arrogant and cocky.
The new Sherlock is softer and more receptive, sometimes flirtatious and even - which is very strange!
- confused.
However, Matveeva Holmes retained some characteristic external features (albeit with something strange with his hair), as well as his signature deductive method.
The detective's reflections, however, sometimes seem too strained.
To find out from the handwriting in the message written in blood on the wall that its author fled to Russia precisely after this murder is not aerobatics, but real magic.
At the same time, it is difficult to call the new Sherlock far-sighted: despite his outstanding analytical skills, he gives the police such a general and obvious description of the criminal that with the onset of darkness he himself turns out to be the first suspect.
According to the creators of the project, Sherlock Holmes has changed so dramatically due to the unusual environment.
“Out of respect for this character, we have preserved all external attributes.
A pipe, a fireplace, an armchair, a subtle mind - all this will be.
It seems to me that the circumstances in which the character finds himself (namely, another country) affect him in this way, ”explained Matveyev.
The artist recalled that, according to the original source and other adaptations, Sherlock is "a sociopath, a genius who is afraid of expressing his own feelings, considers them to be some kind of atavism that interferes with his work."
Here, according to Matveyev, his hero succumbs to the environment and openly “goes into these feelings,” which, by the way, also determines the appearance of a love line in the tape.
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"Sherlock in Russia" is the best title for this series.
Here, from the very first shots, the clash of two cultures can be traced, which, according to Vladimir Mishukov, was one of the main ideas of the project.
It is not without reason that it is the communication with the Russians that amazes Holmes most of all.
However, the behavior of many characters can cause a similar reaction in the viewer.
Almost all residents of St. Petersburg are caricatured.
They immediately show their disdain for the foreigner, do not take him seriously and do not believe the method of deduction, even when the detective's conclusions are on the surface and do not require mental effort.
More or less reasonable arguments, the heroes prefer their crazy ideas: the police chief, for example, suggests looking for a killer among gorillas and bears.
Only his new friends and Chief of Police Znamensky, the hero of the ubiquitous Konstantin Bogomolov, are interested in Sherlock's ideas.
But he, too, was out of his own selfish motives.
Best of all, the attitude of the locals to Holmes is demonstrated by the phrase of Dr. Kartsev's assistant, which “accidentally” sounded like an unflattering comparison: “Once my husband brought a parrot.
He is handsome, pink feathers.
So he knew the Psalter by heart! "
All this is supplemented by the attempt of Dr. Kartsev (by the way, it is the hero of Mishukov who looks the most thoughtful and rational) to explain the Russian mentality to Holmes: “We still do not think what we really think”.
Yes, in such circumstances, the world of any genius will turn upside down!
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The advantage of the project is the spectacular video sequence.
The picture reminds of stylish "Sherlock Holmes" by Guy Ritchie and "Gogol" by Yegor Baranov in color schemes and some angles.
The decorators' attention to detail made it possible to convincingly convey the atmosphere of 19th century England (where the series begins).
The musical accompaniment is also similar to the soundtracks of previous adaptations, which successfully complements the tape.
However, there is also an extremely strange sound solution here - hip-hop.
The series "Sherlock in Russia" cannot be called not only successful, but in principle an adaptation of the works of Arthur Conan Doyle.
The creators of the project assure themselves: the tape is original, there is no need to compare it with anything.
“There is a lot of new in our version both in terms of revealing the character of Sherlock, and in terms of surrounding him with other, new characters, and in terms of colliding him with the surrounding reality.
This is really a new project, ”says Matveev.
All this is true, but the stories about the adventures of the famous detective, described in several dozen stories and novellas, have earned cult status and have been filmed more than 200 times.
The role of Sherlock was played by Raymond Massey, Basil Rathbone, Vasily Lanovoy, Sergey Yursky, Roger Moore, Christopher Plummer, Vasily Livanov, Michael Caine, Robert Downey Jr., Benedict Cumberbatch and other famous actors.
Many adaptations have gone down in cinema history.
Naturally, it is impossible to avoid comparing the new Sherlock with previous transcriptions.
And it is in comparison that the Russian series loses a lot.
However, it is possible that there would have been much less complaints about him if the authors of the project had focused not on Holmes, but on Jack the Ripper, whose history is not known for certain and is covered with many intriguing legends.
And any other detective could have been put in Sherlock's place.