The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes: The Boscombe Valley Mystery

 "Watson, all this fresh air will kill me."

It's odd, at this late stage and after sdaptations of so many of Conan Doyle's later stories, that now should appear an adaptation of one of his earliest, first published in The Strand in 1891. It's an excellent episode, though, probably this series' best at this point. It helps that a strong cast is led by a young Hames Purefoy, and both Leslie Schofield and Peter Vaughan appear in short but powerfu scenes. Genial Harry Grout, in particular, gives a spellbinding performance.

The story is, sensibly, relocated to Cheshire to be closer to the Granada studios, and the rural location enhances the episode enormously. There are some nice little character moments between Holmes and Watson- I love the nuances of Jeremy Brett's mannerisms as he tries to persuade Watson to interrupt his fishing holiday for the case.

It's odd, perhaps, to see such an early short story made so late in the Granada series' run, with Brett not, sadly, looking well at all, but I'm very glad we have this.

Brazil (1985)

"I won't look at your willy."

This film is, of course, a work of genius from the unique mind of Terry Gilliam- Kafkaesque, nightmarish, surreal, perhaps similar in visual style to his recently directed Crimson Assurance bit of Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, but announcing Gilliam as a true auteur. It’s also a true cinematic classic, managing to present a fundamentally bleak view of civilisation with the darkly humorous approach that is of course the only sane one.

Gilliam may be a native of Minnesota, but this film is full of the influences of his twenty years in Britain. It is, obviously, full of that Orwellian fear of tyranny, and the petty details of that tyranny, that is constantly found in British science fiction. It is set in a deliberately timeless and anachronistic time and place, but there are plenty of visual nods to the Nazi’s, and in particular to the phenomenon, in the words of Hannah Arendt, of the banality of evil.

It’s very Pythonesque, of course, but should certainly not be reduced to that. The casting of Michael Palin against type is a masterstroke, as is the starring role for the excellent Jonathan Pryce. A parade of British character actors play a parade of entertainingly disturbing grotesques, as does Robert De Niro, whose insane casting somehow works.

It is, of course, obstructive to see a film about the reality of, well, fascism, in 2020. The Kafkaesque evils inherent in computers are shown here, as well as the effectiveness of information control by those in power. Where the only news is Fox News, truth no longer exists. And, while the UK is not yet at risk of fascism or anything close, the blatant cronyism and disrespect for constitution norms we see here are particularly chilling.

A superb film from a director who, with this film, has well and truly outgrown Monty Python.