SpiritRC

I was hesitative as to whether or not I should watch this show after the classic masterpiece by Igor Maslennikov with Vasily Livanov as Sherlock, Vitali Solomin as Watson, Rina Zelyonaya as Mrs.Hudson and Borislav Brundukov as Lestrade. I was afraid that pursuing the high profit the makers of this show would put too much in visual effects and action and little to nothing in reproducing the spirit of Conan Doyle's characters like it happened with the latest comic-like movie with Downey Jr. (which is fun and all, but isn't about Sherlock Holmes actually).

I'm glad that I was wrong in my concerns and that I have watched this show. It is brilliant. Sherlock is definitely very different from the classic Holmes as one would imagine reading Conan Doyle and is like a 100% opposite of Livanov's Sherlock, but this new Holmes is still a very interesting and fascinating character. It was a wise decision to bring the story to modern times where this crazy character seems much more fit than he would in XIX century.

It's a pity that Mrs.Hudson in this show is such a "pale" and secondary character. Indeed she was a secondary character in the book, but look at Rina Zelyonaya! She made an incredibly bright and remarkable secondary character. In this TV show I wouldn't even ask for the name of this actress.

Lestrade here is a very usual, average, standard, faceless, you name it, police inspector. Absolutely unremarkable. That's another con as compared to Maslennikov's TV series where Brundukov made a marvelous dumbhead yet not farcical inspector that you could very possibly encounter in a police department. In this show on the contrary, I suspect, they've been given a task to not offend the police and hence this pale and faceless character.

Dr.Watson on the other hand is brilliantly played by Martin Freeman and I'm glad that for this role they took an actor resembling my favourite Vitali Solomin. Watson played by Freeman matches my own image of this character very well and makes the show no less than Cumberbatch does.

All in all, I like this show a lot. I give it 8/10 for changing the original Conan Doyle's stories too much sometimes (in Baskerville Hounds for example). But in all the rest it's a brilliant show.

This is one of the best films I've ever watched. I like almost all Ryazanov's works, but this one has changed my life. Well, not directly mine, but my mother's. After watching this film, my mother finally decided that she can't suffer anymore from her husband, my father, and so she filed for divorce. That was a really wise decision, I must say! And now I'll try to explain what was the role of the film in her making such a decision.

In this film there is a song (soundtrack) sang by Lyudmila Gurchenko, who plays Vera in the film. The music is written by Andrey Petrov and the lyrics are by Eldar Ryazanov himself. I will try to do a translation of the lyrics for you to understand how this song affected a 34 year old woman with a 5 year old child:

We live like there is no hero, We stand like soldiers in a line. Don't be afraid to bet for zero And quickly overcome your life!

Remember us at the beginning? Today we try to never strive. Take smallest chance towards the winning And try to overcome your life!

Let streaks of gray be guests in your hair, It's never late to make a turn. Don't be afraid to bet all you have, And act like you have just reborn!

Whenever rain thrashes your suit's back Try to cheer up and feel alright The time has come to shuffle your pack And try to overcome the life!

Believe in dreams, believe in tales, Don't drag your things all 'round the place: You'll never take them into Hades, So better try and win the race!

Let there be no place for a sorrow When you can't beat your rival's card, You bet your life for the tomorrow - There is no win without a fight!