|
home | what's new | other sites | contact | about |
||
|
Word Gems exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity
Epilogue
Wikipedia: Mr. Holmes is a 2015 mystery film directed by Bill Condon, based on Mitch Cullin's 2005 novel A Slight Trick of the Mind, and featuring the character Sherlock Holmes. The film stars Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes, Laura Linney as his housekeeper Mrs. Munro and Milo Parker as her son Roger. Set primarily during his retirement in Sussex, the film follows a 93-year-old Holmes who struggles to recall the details of his final case because his mind is slowly deteriorating. Principal photography began on 5 July 2014, in London. The film was released in British cinemas on 19 June 2015, and in the United States on 17 July 2015. Plot: … Thomas Kelmot approached Holmes to find out why his wife Ann had become estranged from him after suffering two miscarriages. Holmes followed Ann around London and observed her seemingly preparing to murder her husband – forging cheques in her husband's name and cashing them, confirming the details of his will, buying poison, paying a man, and checking train schedules. Holmes, however, deduced her true intentions: to have gravestones made for her and her miscarried children (the man she paid was a stonemason) and then kill herself.
Confronting her, Holmes confessed he had the same feelings of loneliness and isolation, but his intellectual pursuits sufficed for him. Ann asked Holmes if they could share the burden of their loneliness together.
Holmes was tempted, but instead advised her to return to her husband. She poured the poison on the ground, thanked Holmes, and departed. Holmes later learned that Ann persisted in killing herself by stepping in front of an oncoming train. Blaming himself, he retired and fell into a deep depression…
Elenchus. There're some deeply moving scenes in Mr. Holmes. Kairissi. (sighing) Yes...
E. As a younger man, a few years after Hiroshima, he toured the devastation. A bereft Japanese survivor, amidst the charred obliteration, was mourning the loss of his family - which he symbolized by a circle of stones. K. (silence)
E. And in the final scene, now a very old man, Holmes grieves, and prays, talks to the dead - within his own circle of stones - his personal Hiroshima. K. How is it possible, Elenchus? How can life change so quickly, and so unalterably, in only a fraction of a second? In a moment, nearly 100,000 souls were lost at Hiroshima. And, in a moment, one fearful moment, Sherlock lost Ann -- then lost himself -- when he deflected her plea. E. The personal “hinges” of history open and close so quickly. It can happen so fast, we hardly have time to gather our wits to even know what’s going on. And then, so often, you can't go back, you can't change it. You're stuck - for the next 50 years. K. If you mourn for someone, for decades, then you’ll know that something important happened back then. We can hardly condemn Sherlock. Without warning, so suddenly, he found himself face to face, speaking, with the love of his life. How could he perceive the reality? How could he be ready? In life, it is not uncommon, from time to time, to encounter an attractive person, but wisdom warns us that we can’t go running off every time a dream of infatuation comes along, when someone smiles at us or even hints at more. E. Yes, of course… except that… what happens when the real love comes? We’re so used to saying no, or being so "wise," or so used to not thinking at all, that we allow our fears to lead us. K. It was over so quickly, and then, so irretrievably… as, within hours, Ann would be dead. (sighing) Elenchus, you know what this reminds me of? – it’s the “ludicrous proposition” in a new guise. E. (silence) K. I mean, who would believe this, that is, among sane people. You meet a lovely woman. You speak to her for 30 minutes. She offers you love. But, you say, this can’t possibly be real. I don’t even know you, and you don’t know me. E. The “ludicrous proposition” wants to say, “We have no history as lovers. There’s no prelude, no foundation. We never had one date, not one kiss, and now you want to suggest that we’re some sort of substantial item to each other?” But sometimes wisdom, hard reality, comes to us attired as the ludicrous. K. It is a hard sell for sure. No level-headed person would buy this. And yet, 50 years later, there he is, still grieving for her, prostrating himself in a circle of stones. E. While it’s correct to say that Sherlock sorrowed for Ann over 50 years, we should point out that most of this grief, until near the end of life, was subliminal. He’d repressed the pain of losing her. K. This is an important point. E. The aged detective complained of the first signs of dementia. He seemed to be forgetting things. And he felt frustrated that he couldn’t remember many of the details concerning Ann. However, I don’t think dementia was the issue - I say this because Sherlock could still wow’em with his cognitive powers when he needed to; rather, this is a case of repression. K. An open-and-shut detective case. As he neared the “finish line," and having come to better terms with his own mortality, the image of Ann haunted him more and more, even in dreams. E. (sighing) K. (softly) And… I know what you’re thinking, Ellus…
|
||
|
|
