Mr. Holmes, the sorrow and meaning of aging

I watched “Mr. Holmes” in the airplane, recently. It is a movie describing the later life of Sherlock Holmes. Ian McKellen played the role of Holmes at the age of 93. McKellen is an actor who played Magneto in the X-Men series, and I like him very much. So, I expected him to have a good job in the movie. Actually, he was excellent.

In this film, Holmes is in a small village as a beekeeper. He gave up the job of consultant detective several years ago because of a reason that he has forgotten. He has still remarkable abilities of observation and analysis, but is suffering from a memory lapse.

He tried to remember the last case he was engaged. It happened soon after Dr. John Watson left him. Watson published the story of the case, but it was seriously amended from the real incident. Therefore, Holmes attempted to write the truth on his own, but it is impossible since his memory is imperfect.

Holmes teach a boy who is the son of Holmes’ maid. The boy is interested in the work of beekeeping. But his mother is going to leave the current work, to bring him to another town.

“Mr. Holmes” is originated from a novel “A Slight Trick of the Mind” written by Mitch Cullin. I have not read this book, but there seem critical differences between the original novel and the file, as far as reading the headline of the novel.

The theme of this work is aging. In this film, Holmes seriously regret one of his previous decisions, which had been done by him with 100% of confidence. He is logical, rational, and perfect at telling the truth. He hates lies, disguising, and tricking. But, he notices there are more important things than what he has set the value.

In the last of this film, Holmes says goodbye to his past ideology, and he is going to amend his lifestyle. It is extremely difficult for elderlies, especially great people such as Holmes, to change something in their conviction, in my opinion.

This story told me that there are pitfalls even in an influential person, as well as the importance of changing my own thought when required.

By the way, I watched this film with Japanese subtitles and dubbing. So, I missed Ian McKellen’s voice on the film. Also, there were some mistakes in translation I found. Therefore, I decided to buy the BD in the English version, to enjoy this work deeply.

Personal Rating: 4 (good)