pay a visit to Kulturkaufhaus… Would love to buy this series with German dubbing.
I just searched the online shop and came up with nothing, but I found the entire series on DVD on amazon.de – with English subtitles of course. ;-) Concerning the German dubbing I am quite skeptical. On the one hand it would come in pretty handy for me at last as I could fully concentrate on the acting without having to read the subtitles but on the other hand I fear that I would miss the voices too much: Especially Livanov’s laughter cannot be transported into any other language, I fear. Looking at the beginning of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” for example I find his happiness is very authentic and amazingly well enacted! I am not sure any kind of dubbing could pay enough tribute to this sort of acting. =)
The thing I disagree with you about, is that Watson is stupid (even a little bit).
Touché. I admit that “stupid” is too harsh a word, especially since the Russian TV-version is fairly old (as Brett/Hardwicke first started in 1983) and tries to pay respect to the only earlier versions being I think the ones with Rathbone/Bruce and Cushing/Stock (from the 1940ties and 1970ties or somewhat around that time). In these versions Watson was indeed more “stupid” than the audience I think – wooden being the right word. So, Solomin sadly had to act foolishly sometimes: the disguise in “Hunt for the Tiger” was just really silly because it was left totally unexplained and the failed attempt at burglary in “The King of Blackmail” was only less embarrassing because Holmes admitted that he himself was no good at criminal activities. I can understand that they might have attempted to make Watson even more human than Solomin already portrayed him by having him fail at some tasks appointed to him but it came across foolish and awkward sometimes, at least to my eyes.
when Watson becomes sad at the thought, that people would care for their business only, Holmes says: “Maybe, I’m the only one of this kind”
One of the most beautiful quotations and I daresay that “Acquaintance” might be my favourite episode due to the scene in Watson’s room alone. Their dialogue is marked by curiosity as well as immediate mutual attraction and works perfectly as an introduction to both characters: It focuses on Holmes’ playfulness and serene but strictly logical way of thinking and on Watson being able to deeply care about human beings.
though it was Watson who started to make sarcastic remarks at their first meeting,
To Watson’s defense I would like to say that he makes up his mind quickly. So after having come to terms with Holmes only some time before, he simply cannot stand Lestrade’s treatment of his newly won friend and answers rudely in an attempt to defend Holmes. But later on he grows eventually nicer. I am of the opinion that this is due to the scene with Toby the dog, as Watson might acknowledge that a man touched by the death of an animal cannot be completely despicable. Yeah, that might be a bit far fetched but Watson is caring enough to think like this. Another scene would be in the third episode, where Watson comments on Lestrade's mercy: although the Inspector saw the shoe in the fire he doesn't pressure our heroes making him quite less of a fool in Watson's opinion.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-03-07 02:03 am (UTC)I just searched the online shop and came up with nothing, but I found the entire series on DVD on amazon.de – with English subtitles of course. ;-) Concerning the German dubbing I am quite skeptical. On the one hand it would come in pretty handy for me at last as I could fully concentrate on the acting without having to read the subtitles but on the other hand I fear that I would miss the voices too much: Especially Livanov’s laughter cannot be transported into any other language, I fear. Looking at the beginning of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” for example I find his happiness is very authentic and amazingly well enacted! I am not sure any kind of dubbing could pay enough tribute to this sort of acting. =)
The thing I disagree with you about, is that Watson is stupid (even a little bit).
Touché. I admit that “stupid” is too harsh a word, especially since the Russian TV-version is fairly old (as Brett/Hardwicke first started in 1983) and tries to pay respect to the only earlier versions being I think the ones with Rathbone/Bruce and Cushing/Stock (from the 1940ties and 1970ties or somewhat around that time). In these versions Watson was indeed more “stupid” than the audience I think – wooden being the right word. So, Solomin sadly had to act foolishly sometimes: the disguise in “Hunt for the Tiger” was just really silly because it was left totally unexplained and the failed attempt at burglary in “The King of Blackmail” was only less embarrassing because Holmes admitted that he himself was no good at criminal activities. I can understand that they might have attempted to make Watson even more human than Solomin already portrayed him by having him fail at some tasks appointed to him but it came across foolish and awkward sometimes, at least to my eyes.
when Watson becomes sad at the thought, that people would care for their business only, Holmes says: “Maybe, I’m the only one of this kind”
One of the most beautiful quotations and I daresay that “Acquaintance” might be my favourite episode due to the scene in Watson’s room alone. Their dialogue is marked by curiosity as well as immediate mutual attraction and works perfectly as an introduction to both characters: It focuses on Holmes’ playfulness and serene but strictly logical way of thinking and on Watson being able to deeply care about human beings.
though it was Watson who started to make sarcastic remarks at their first meeting,
To Watson’s defense I would like to say that he makes up his mind quickly. So after having come to terms with Holmes only some time before, he simply cannot stand Lestrade’s treatment of his newly won friend and answers rudely in an attempt to defend Holmes. But later on he grows eventually nicer. I am of the opinion that this is due to the scene with Toby the dog, as Watson might acknowledge that a man touched by the death of an animal cannot be completely despicable. Yeah, that might be a bit far fetched but Watson is caring enough to think like this. Another scene would be in the third episode, where Watson comments on Lestrade's mercy: although the Inspector saw the shoe in the fire he doesn't pressure our heroes making him quite less of a fool in Watson's opinion.