DVD: O Xangô de Baker Street: A Brazilian Sherlock Holmes Film

O Xangô de Baker Street: A Brazilian Sherlock Holmes Film

Originally reviewed by Charles Prepolec in 2002 (www.bakerstreetdozen.com)

Jô Soares' 1995 Portuguese language pastiche O Xangô de Baker Street (released in English as A Samba for Sherlock in 1997) has now been turned into a feature film by Sky Light Cinema Foto e Art Ltd with distribution handled by Columbia TriStar Films of Brazil. While the translated pastiche has generally been panned by English speaking Sherlockians, the author,  Jô Soares, and the book itself, are wildly popular in Brazil. Soares, a celebrated wit and cultural icon in his native land, even makes a cameo appearance as an Appeals Court Judge in this film version of his novel. The film was chosen to open the Rio Festival and went into general release on October 26, 2001 in Brazil. 

Cast in the key role of Sherlock Holmes is Portuguese actor Joaquim de Almeida (possibly best known to North American audiences for his portrayal of the villain 'Bucho' in the Antonio Banderas vehicle (Desperado).  Anthony O'Donnell is appearing as Dr. John Watson. Also in the cast is Maria de Medeiros (Pulp Fiction) as the French diva Sarah Bernhardt. The film was shot over a 12 week schedule on location in London, Rio De Janeiro and Portugal.

 

Plot Synopsis:

Set in Rio de Janeiro in 1886, this comedy-thriller begins with the theft of a Stradivarius violin that has been presented by His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil to one of his more delectable mistresses--a harmless crime in itself but one that mystifies the authorities and (far more important) embarrasses the Emperor. At the suggestion of Sarah Bernhardt, who is on a triumphant tour through South America, the great Sherlock Holmes is summoned from London to solve the case. But by the time he arrives, events have taken a turn for the worse, as a series of grisly murders shocks the city--the victims all beautiful young women. In each case, the killer leaves his calling card: a violin string entangled in the woman's pubic hair, the corpse stripped of a flap of skin.

Holmes (and Dr. Watson, of course) are immediately off on the track of the killer, but although Sherlock succeeds in coining the term "serial killer," his celebrated powers of deduction don't get him very far with the case itself: overcome by the charm of the tropics, some spectacular digestive difficulties, and the strong appeal of a pretty young actress--at thirty-two, he's not exactly a sexual virtuoso--Sherlock finds himself in a thicker fog than he ever encountered back home in London.

And in dark counterpoint to Holmes's questionable ratiocinations and the novel's brilliantly re-created texture of nineteenth-century literary, social, and low-life Rio, is the chilling yet hypnotic voice of the killer himself, a monster of intelligence, evil, and ever-spreading fame. . .

(Note: Synopsis refers to the novel)

Cast and Crew:   

Sherlock Holmes: Joaquim de Almeida

Dr. Watson: Anthony O'Donnell

Sarah Bernhardt: Maria de Medeiros

Inspector Mello Pimenta: Marco Nanini

Baroness Maria Luísa: Cláudia Abreu

Emperor Pedro II of Brazil: Cláudio Marzo

Dr. Saraiva: Emiliano Queiroz

Esperidiana: Letícia Sabatella

Appeals Court Judge: Jô Soares

Marquis of Salles: Marcello Antony

Miguel: Caco Ciocler

Director: Miguel Faria Jr.

Producer: Tino Navarro

Writers: Miguel Faria Jr. and Patrícia Melo based on the novel by Jô Soares

Cinematography: Lauro Escorel

Production Designer: Marcos Flaksman

Music: Edu Lobo

 Review:

2001 saw the very successful theatrical release of O Xangô de Baker Street in South America. The film has now been given a gorgeous Region 4 DVD (NTSC) release with English subtitles making it accessible to English language speakers with region free or multi-region DVD players. (note: this DVD will NOT play on standard North American or European DVD players. You must have multi-region capability to play this disc!)

If you thought Sherlock: Case of Evil was “out there” wait’ll you get a load of this beauty! Sure the Canonical Holmes is nowhere to be found in O Xangô de Baker Street, based as it is on the pastiche/parody novel by Jo Soares (released in English as A Samba for Sherlock), but the film has bags of quirky charm. While most Sherlockians (myself included) have firmly placed the book on their least favorite pastiche list (I am being kind in that description), the film, while still remarkably faithful to the novel, is a surprisingly fun romp placing Holmes on the trail of a serial killer (a phrase that Holmes coins in the film) in 1886 Rio de Janeiro. The transition from printed word to screen appears to have mellowed the most objectionable elements of the novel for me, which is to say that I find it easier to deal with the sexually naïve Holmes fumbling through foreplay on screen than having to read graphic textual depictions. One is also not encumbered by awkward dialogue that suffered in the translation from Portuguese to English. Sure Holmes still exhibits some bizarre behaviour after being introduced to cannabis by his new lady-love, suffers from explosive digestive issues and engages in more than one sexually charged encounter, but it all has a light nudge-nudge-wink-wink feel in the hands of director Miguel Faria Jr. 

Now don’t get me wrong, this is not some sort of Sherlockian sex/dope comedy, as a string of grisly murders ala Jack the Ripper are at the heart of the mystery and are all presented on-screen in their full ghastly glory, but the film reflects a different cultural sensibility than one would find in a North American release and manages to maintain a remarkable balance between black humor, toilet humor and murder mystery thriller. So, if explosive bowel movements, nudity, and a dope-smoking Holmes offends, steer clear of this one.  However, if you can get beyond the obvious physical silliness and toilet humor, you’ll find a fairly engaging mystery and a beautifully shot film with some very pleasing moments. 

The cast makes marvelous work of the uneven script. Maria De Madeiros (Pulp Fiction, Henry and June) sets the stage with her delightful Sarah Bernhardt. Holmes as played by Joaquim de Almeida (Desperado, 24) is a bit of a pompous ass at times, who inexplicably has Holmes displaying a remarkable clumsiness. While it is a relatively straight performance (as straight as this material allows), Almeida does tend to let tongue drift to cheek from time to time. While chronic clumsiness and unbelievably wrong deductions are the hallmark of the characterization, I still found this Holmes more to my liking than many other recent screen incarnations. Watson, as played by Anthony O’Donnell however, is comic foil from start to finish, particularly during his demonic possession (?!?) sequence.  While neither Almeida nor O’Donnell look particularly like the characters they are playing, there is a good deal of warm affection for their characters in their respective portrayals, which makes up for a lot. The supporting cast give top-notch performances across the board, with no one missing a beat, but the stand-out performance comes from Marco Nannini as the much set upon and highly sympathetic Inspector Mello Pimento. As in the novel, this character could effectively have carried the plot through without an appearance by Holmes, but their mutual respect for each other works well on screen and Pimento serves as more of a partner in the investigations than the typical Lestrade figure normally would.

In a welcome move, the characters of Holmes and Watson always speak English to one another, so their dialogue is not subtitled, but all non-English speakers are effectively sub-titled throughout. This approach really brings home the cosmopolitan feel of the Rio de Janeiro setting. Speaking of which, the location footage is gorgeous and perfectly evokes the period and exotic setting, possibly making this one of the most beautiful Holmes films ever produced.

The DVD is loaded with extras like interviews and behind the scenes sequences, but unfortunately these are not subtitled and only available with the Portuguese language track. Hopefully, a North American release will be forthcoming at some point as this film deserves to be seen by a wider audience.

 

                                          

BOOK: PROFESSOR CHALLENGER: NEW WORLDS, LOST PLACES

"Science seeks knowledge! Let the knowledge lead us where it will, we still must seek it! To know once and for all what we are, why we are, where we are, is that not in itself the greatest of all human aspirations?" – Professor G. E. Challenger, When the World Screamed

Brilliant, belligerent and bearded in equal measure, incapable of suffering fools, or journalists, gladly, the greatest scientific mind of his generation - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Professor George Edward Challenger returns in ten all-new tales of scientific adventure and wonder. He is the discoverer of The Lost World, the prophet of The Poison Belt, the destroyer of The Disintegration Machine, and the man who made the World Scream! Who can deliver mankind from the shackles of ignorance? Who else but that great self-proclaimed champion
of science? We give you, ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, the one, the only, Professor George Edward Challenger!

Featuring stories by: Guy Adams & James Goss, Lawrence C. Connolly, Mark Morris, Josh Reynolds, John Takis, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Stephen Volk, Wendy N. Wagner, Andrew J. Wilson and J. R. Campbell. With an introduction by Christopher Roden.

This original anthology, from the authors and editors who brought you the Gaslight Sherlock Holmes series, sees Challenger and his stalwart companions including the reporter Malone, big game hunter Lord John Roxton and the skeptical colleague Professor Summerlee, travel across space and witness the ravages of time, narrowly eluding a dinosaur’s bite only to battle against the invasive red bloom of alien foliage, and then plunge deep into the mysteries hidden within the Earth and reach out to the moon and into the heart of the unknown. Strap yourself in for chills, thrills, and challenges to the unknown in exciting new worlds and lost places with literature’s foremost scientific adventurer.

"The whole matter is very fully and lucidly discussed in my forthcoming volume upon the earth, which I may describe with all due modesty as one of the epoch-making books of the world's history."
– Professor G. E. Challenger, When the World Screamed

Edited by J. R. Campbell & Charles Prepolec

Foreword - Christopher Roden
Introduction - Charles Prepolec

"Hind and Horn" by Wendy N. Wagner
"The Shug Monkey" by Stephen Volk
"The Crystal Minders" by John Takis
"King of the Moon" by Lawrence C. Connolly
"The Dinner Party" by J. R. Campbell
"The Fool's Sea" by Simon Kurt Unsworth
"The Eye of the Devil" by Mark Morris
"Professor Challenger & The Crimson Wonder" by Guy Adams & James Goss
"Time's Black Gulf" by Josh Reynolds
"Out of the Depths" by Andrew J. Wilson

Cover art by Dave Elsey

PRINT BOOK:
ISBN: 978-1-77053-052-2
Trade Paperback
5.5" X 8.5" 
Amazon.com
Amazon.ca  
BookDepository.com

TV: THE NEW RUSSIAN SHERLOCK HOLMES - SUBTITLED

English speaking Sherlock Holmes aficionados can now view at least the first three entries, with English subtitles, in the new Russian Sherlock Holmes series via YouTube. To engage the English subtitles click on the CC icon at the lower right of the screen.

 

The second episode - Rock, Paper, Scissors has also been made available with English subtitles.

















The third episode - Clowns

May the Fourth be...nah, not in the Sherlockian World.

May 4, 1891:

My Dear Watson,

I write these few lines through the courtesy of Mr. Moriarty, who awaits my convenience for the final discussion of those questions which lie between us. He has been giving me a sketch of the methods by which he avoided the English police and kept himself informed of our movements. They certainly confirm the very high opinion which I had formed of his abilities. I am pleased to think that I shall be able to free society from any further effects of his presence, though I fear that it is at a cost which will give pain to my friends, and especially, my dear Watson, to you. I have already explained to you, however, that my career had in any case reached its crisis, and that no possible conclusion to it could be more congenial to me than this. Indeed, if I may make a full confession to you, I was quite convinced that the letter from Meiringen was a hoax, and I allowed you to depart on that errand under the persuasion that some development of this sort would follow. Tell Inspector Patterson that the papers which he needs to convict the gang are in pigeonhole M., done up in a blue envelope and inscribed "Moriarty." I made every disposition of my property before leaving England and handed it to my brother Mycroft. Pray give my greetings to Mrs. Watson, and believe me to be, my dear fellow...
Very sincerely yours, Sherlock Holmes.

A few words may suffice to tell the little that remains. An examination by experts leaves little doubt that a personal contest between the two men ended, as it could hardly fail to end in such a situation, in their reeling over, locked in each other's arms. Any attempt at recovering the bodies was absolutely hopeless, and there, deep down in that dreadful cauldron of swirling water and seething foam, will lie for all time the most dangerous criminal and the foremost champion of the law of their generation. The Swiss youth was never found again, and there can be no doubt that he was one of the numerous agents whom Moriarty kept in his employ. As to the gang, it will be within the memory of the public how completely the evidence which Holmes had accumulated exposed their organization, and how heavily the hand of the dead man weighed upon them. Of their terrible chief few details came out during the proceedings, and if I have now been compelled to make a clear statement of his career, it is due to those injudicious champions who have endeavoured to clear his memory by attacks upon him whom I shall ever regard as the best and the wisest man whom I have ever known.

PROFESSOR CHALLENGER ANTHOLOGY WRITER GUIDELINES

Professor Challenger Anthology Submission Guidelines

Editors: J. R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec

Publisher: EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing

Genres: SF, Fantasy, Horror, Steampunk, Adventure

Submission deadline: May 31, 2012

Story Length: Approx. 7, 500 words to a maximum of 10,000 words

What we’re after:

A broad range of new and original stories built around Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s LOST WORLD character Professor George Edward Challenger. Stories derived from the aftermath of events in the Lost World are welcome, however simply revisiting or rehashing the Lost World without good cause is not. Challenger is a man of science first and foremost, not an explorer. Mash-ups or crossovers with public domain literary characters are welcome.  

For inspiration think X-files, Quatermass, Dr. Who, cryptozoology – Yeti, Nessie, etc…, aliens among us, supernatural occurrences, science gone awry in a Dr. Moreau, Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll vein, nature run amuck, monsters large and small, world threatening cataclysm, Lovecraft mythos, think H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, E. R. Burroughs, John Wyndham, Nigel Kneale, alternate history, new lost places, steampunk, whatever.... Be creative.

Mine the potential for all it's worth! Push it out there, get weird, play, have fun!

Notes: This is a professional market. Full rate to 7,500 words, half rate for balance to 10,000 words. One time publication rights. The anthology is part invitation and part open submission. Priority will be given to invited authors, but an invitation to submit is not a guarantee of acceptance. A minimum of two slots will be held for open submissions. Acceptance is based entirely on suitability of story and quality of writing. No reprints.

Submission Format:

Email submission in Rich Text Format (.rtf) or Microsoft Word (.doc) attachments only.  Use standard manuscript format. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuscript_format#Basic_manuscript_formatting)

Send submissions to charles@bakerstreetdozen.com and/or themightyjrc@shaw.ca

TV: THE NEW RUSSIAN SHERLOCK HOLMES

While the English-speaking world is all aflutter over the forthcoming SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS and the second series of the BBC's brilliant SHERLOCK (likely airing in January on BBC 1), let's not forget that the Russian company  Central Partnership is busily producing a new 16 episode (8 two-parters) Sherlock Holmes series of their own. The series is due for release in 2012-2013. It stars Igor Petrenko (Sherlock Holmes), Andrew Panin (Watson), Mikhail Boyarsky (Lestrade), Leonid Yarmolnik, Alexander Golubev, and Elisaveta Boyarskaya.

Here are a few pics...

REVIEWS: GASLIGHT ARCANUM UNCANNY TALES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

Here's what readers and reviewers are saying about GASLIGHT ARCANUM UNCANNY TALES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

From TANGENTonline.com

“...A strong collection, well worth the price.”

From FLAMESRISING.com

“I have been a Sherlock Holmes fan for as long as I have been able to read. ... So it’s no surprise that Flames Rising asked me if I wanted to review a (nearly) all-new anthology of “uncanny tales” featuring Sherlock Holmes. It’s even less of a surprise that I accepted. ...In such anthologies, I personally look for two elements: fidelity to the core of the characters and elements of the Holmes canon, and novelty to present a new take or slant on familiar faces. How does this new anthology hold up? ...Most of the stories are good for a variety of reasons, and the last two stories are absolutely worth the price of admission. If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes and novel approaches to well-loved characters, this anthology is well worth a look.” (4 out of 5 stars)

At AMAZON.com 

(Here are quotes from 4 of the 6 reviews posted thus far. All 6 reviews are 4 or 5 star.)

“Campbell and Prepolec's 3rd eerie anthology:

This collection is the fifth by this pair of editors and it is, perhaps, their best yet. ...A few of the tales in this book can be explained by modern science and rational circumstances, but even that is not always comforting. All are interesting, some are exceptional and a few are unpleasant. ...certainly worth the price. ...The variety of tales is wide, with something (or things) for everyone's tastes.” (4 out of 5 stars)

“Chilling Compilation:

...Gaslight Arcanum was a very enjoyable, readable, and at times thrilling set of stories ranging from the uncanny, to supernatural to pulpy sci-fi.” “...FANTASTICALLY chilling ... more than worthwhile.” (4 out of 5 stars)

“Sherlock Holmes in the Twilight Zone:

...Puts the great detective in several bizarre situations that test the limits of his logic and skills. Several memorable and imaginative stories here with lots of plot twists and surprises! ...A good, fun read that's generally faithful to the spirit of Conan Doyles's original tales. Highly recommended!” (5 out of stars)

“Enjoyed Despite Myself:

I am not a huge fan of myth science fiction -- and some of these stories are truly grotesque and horrible. But I liked it. ...Disturbing stories -- yucky but really, truly, interesting. Holmes and Watson remaining true to character helped make the stories.

Worth the purchase and then some.” (4 out of 5 stars)

Download the Kindle eBook from Amazon USA now! 
Order the trade paperback from Amazon USA now!

BOOK TRAILER: GASLIGHT ARCANUM - UNCANNY TALES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES