Day 60: Sherlocked

Gales and lashing rain.  I wake to hear the wheelie bin taking off down the road, skittering and dragging.  I retrieve it, following the trail of coughed-up Christmas debris, and getting a soaking in the process.  That's me done with the outside for today.   

What to do?  A New Year clear out?  Strategic planning?  HELL NO!  Not while I have the first episode of 'Sherlock' Season 2 to watch.  Because I can think of no better way to spend a couple of hours.

The plot is important, but secondary to the real brilliance - the dialogue (pithy), the relationships (fascinating), the cinematography (stunning).  Not surprised that Steven Spielberg dubbed Benedict Cumberbatch “the greatest onscreen Holmes”.  So good to watch.

Last year I saw Mark Gatiss (co-writer) on the underground platform at Kings Cross.  He was wearing (amongst other things) gaiters, a flat cap and a striped scarf.  We got onto the same carriage, and I watched him observing the people around him keenly but softly - very contained and present.  I caught his eye, and he smiled at me.  Properly.  As befits a man who has made his childhood passions and dreams into reality as an adult.  Fantastic. 

I recently read an interview with Benedict Cumberbatch, where he talks about how playing Holmes has changed his approach to daily life.  This is what he says:-

Our daily lives are so mundane, we get taken over by what is immediately in front of us and we don't see beyond that.  We don't observe, as he (Holmes) keeps on saying, we see things.  And what is so thrilling about him is it all suddenly becomes a potential adventure.

I think if you look at the example of Holmes, or at least what I have learnt from playing him, is that you see extraordinary depth in the smallest detail.  It's joining the dots, that's the fun thing, building a narrative.  So I sit on trains and I try to see, 'Is that mud on the bottom of a boot?', 'I wonder where he has been'.  'That collar looks a little bit frayed', 'I wonder whether he is has been travelling for a while or has he forgotten his washing?  You do try to piece together personal stories from bits of   information.

When I saw Mark Gatiss on that tube, that's exactly what he seemed to be doing.  He was quietly absorbed in everything around him - so unusual for anyone with a measure of celebrity in a public place to be focused on anything other than themselves.

Extraordinary depth in the smallest detail.  Nice.