Cinema
Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear (PG', selected cinemas)
The mysteries of Wapping
Peter Ackroyd
It was clever of Steven Spielberg to choose Sherlock Holmes for his latest cinematic fantasy, since the famous detec- tive fits with his own sense both of juvenile theatre and of nostalgic mystery. Certainly the devotees of Holmesiana and the fans of Spielberg share a certain interest in the baroque and the sensational: that is why, at the beginning of the film, a mid-Victorian setting is transformed by hallucinatory effects (some of them quite terrifying) which do not seem particularly out of place. Conan Doyle is a more 'literary taste', sanctified by time and a predomi- nantly middle-class readership, but he appeals to exactly the same perfervid imagination which sends young children into Star Wars or Gremlins.
And how clever of Spielberg to make this the 'young' Sherlock Holmes — he is seen here as a boy (played excellently by Nicholas Rowe) whose burgeoning powers of deduction are wasted on his 'set' at Brompton School. Everyone understands the mature Holmes too well, and by thrusting him back into early adolescence Spielberg can continue his resourceful ex- ploitation of an essentially childlike im- agination. I have talked about Spielberg here even though he is only the 'executive producer', but the fact is that anything connected with him seems to bear his imaginative and technical stamp.
It has to be admitted, of course, that as a result this is an American version of mid-Victorian England — I suspect that it is largely derived from other films and television series, although the scriptwriter (with the charming name of Chris Col- umbus) clearly has made an effort to master some of the technicalities of the English language. There are even one or two complete sentences, even though their provenance seems to be more David Niven than Conan Doyle. But none of this matters since the characters and setting are really only an excuse for what, since the success of Spielberg, can only be described as international fantasy — underground caves, a world of threatening adults, chil- dren flying through the air, and so on. On this occasion a hooded stranger walks through the streets of London and blows poisoned darts at various respectable personages. The young Holmes im- mediately suspects 'foul play' and, in the face of opposition from Detective-Sergeant Lestrade, decides to investigate. He is led to a public house managed by an Egyptian, where a belly-dancer performs among the low life: it is as if Oliver Twist has been mixed up with King Solomon's Mines, thus providing a lethal concoction of popular entertainment. There are also scenes, at another vivid turn of the plot, which were strongly reminiscent of those films I watch- ed as a child at Saturday matinees: here, once again, was a gorgeous subterranean world of power and perfidy where slaves writhed in ecstacy or dragged monstrous objects with bits of rope.
There is a wonderful climax at an Egyp- tian temple cunningly concealed some- where in Wapping, where a large pyramid has also been erected. Curiously enough Wapping itself is dominated by the church of St George-in-the-East, in the grounds of which there is also a pyramid. Of course this must be put down to coincidence, since neither Steven Spielberg nor 'Chris' Col- umbus could have known about this early- 18th-century anticipation of their plot. But, on another level, there is no such thing as coincidence; it is certainly the case that this area of London has been associ- ated with particularly odd rites, and the fact that they also appear in a late 20th- century American film suggests, if nothing else, the divining power of the popular imagination.
But to return to Young Sherlock Holmes: its plot is of course preposterous but what would be unacceptable in print (although some of Conan Doyle's stories are rather similar in conception) is perfect- ly feasible in the cinema where spectacle, animation and a certain rhythmic momen- tum are enough to maintain interest and, therefore, conviction. Certainly the closing scenes are extremely exciting, and I defy anyone not to be impressed by the techni- cal artistry of their climactic battle. The acting is excellent, also.
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