It’s not often that I double-dip with interviews for one movie, but that’s exactly what happened this past week with Guy Ritchie for his new film, “Sherlock Holmes – A Game Of Shadows.”
Earlier in the week, I ran our podcast interview, which was about twenty solid minutes with the director talking about a number of different aspects of making the film, including working with Robert Downey Jr., a demanding collaborator by all accounts, and how they handled Moriarty. But one of the things we didn’t have a chance to talk about it is actually one of the things that interests me most in the film.
I think it’s safe to say I’ve been preoccupied with London most of my life. I fell in love with English pop culture young, and one of the great pleasures of my professional life has been the way I’ve been able to repeatedly visit London and tour various corners of it, including some of the soundstages and studios where many of my favorite films were made.
I’m particularly fascinated by historical depictions of London at various points in its history. The Dan Simmons novel “Drood” is one of the best pieces I’ve read in recent memory about London as it made the transition from a classic Victorian city into a modern industrial monolith. The dirty and the grime and the cost of human lives is what makes that such a memorable depiction, and it’s not often that filmmakers dealing in period films spend their time and money on the building of that environment. WIth Ritchie, I get the distinct feeling that part of what he enjoys about the “Sherlock” films is the chance to explore the city’s history on film, and so that’s what we spent most of this interview discussing.
I’m not sure what the future holds for Ritchie. I like the notion of him doing a “Man From U.N.C.L.E.” film, and it seems like he’s getting more comfortable with these big-canvass movies like this. I’m curious to see if this film does well enough for them to keep making “Sherlock” films, and if so, how they’ll handle the series moving forward. These two were set at a very particular time in the relationship between Holmes and Watson, and it feels like they’ve got a real challenge if they return for more films.
“Sherlock Holmes – A Game Of Shadows” is in theaters now.