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Sherlock's
Hiroshima
A funny thing happened on the way to the movies
this week, or rather when I got to the box office.
The movie I had intended to see, Me, Earl and The
Dying Girl was not being shown as advertised online
for that night. My friend Tim had just told me I
wanted to see that movie and post a blog about it.
As I’d driven across town to this venue and
there was a group of women meeting at my house, I
decided I’d still make it a one guy’s
night out and bag a different flick, Mr.
Holmes.
I’m glad I did. No mistakes. This crime
drama mystery directed by Bill Condon and based on
the 2005 novel A Slight Trick of the Mind written
by Santa Fe’s own Mitch Cullin features an
aging Sherlock Holmes (played by Ian McKellen, Lord
of the Rings “Gandolph”) living in
retirement with his house keeper Mrs. Munro (played
by Laura Linney) and her young son Roger (played by
Milo Parker).
The film follows a 93-year-old Holmes living in
his country estate, struggling to recall the
details of his final case while his mind begins to
deteriorate.
In 1947, having just returned from a trip to
Hiroshima, he starts to use jelly made from the
prickly ash plant he acquired there in an effort to
improve his failing memory. Unhappy about his
ex-partner Watson's account of Holmes' last case,
he hopes to write his own account, but is having
trouble recalling the details. As he spends time
with Roger, showing him how to take care of the
bees in the farmhouse's apiary, Holmes comes to
appreciate his curiosity and intelligence and
develops a paternal liking for him.
Over time, Roger's gentle prodding helps Holmes
to remember the case (shown in flashbacks) and why
he retired from the detective business.
The movie was based on autobiographical material
from author Cullin’s life as a boy who
cultivated a relationship with a kindly and learned
neighbor who gave him access to one of the most
complete collections of Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle’s works.
Without revealing more of the plot, as I’d
hate to spoil it for you, my focus here is
multi-faceted. On the one hand it is a story that
illustrates how genius can be a blessing but also a
curse when combined with what I’ve spoken
about throughout this blog, “men’s
isolation.” The great rational and deductive
thinking ability of the Holmes character is thrown
into relief when viewed as a wall between he and
the characters reaching out to him for human
connection and emotional resolution. His own
emotional intelligence is portrayed as crippled but
not beyond recovery at age 93 and it is the boy
Roger who creates that bridge back to his own
deeper humanity and personal redemption.
The movie’s striking portrayal of the
aftermath of destruction in Hiroshima is timely as
the recent 70th anniversary of the dropping of the
nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan has
just passed with continued mixed feelings about
war, destruction and peace on a global scale.
Through no intentional effort on my part, the home
I’ve now lived in for four years happens to
have a large picture window in the living room that
perfectly frames the town and laboratories of Los
Alamos, home of the famous and infamous Manhattan
Project. The lights from that ancient volcano
mountainside twinkle and dazzle us at night.
As I further reflect on the slowly unfolding
plot of Mr. Holmes
I wonder to what extent the inner workings of
elder Sherlock’s heart as it begins to open
becomes the hologram for our society’s own
gradual collective opening to the pain and
suffering we believe we both avoided and collided
with simultaneously.
And if prickly ash is no guarantee we can
remember what we’ve done and not repeat
history maybe this film can help us to bridge
between our rational and deductive powers to create
and destroy and our hearts that can mend and
heal.
I heartily recommend viewing Mr. Holmes. But
don’t trust the internet (or just plain ole
human error?) Call the venue first to make sure
it’s playing.
P.S. Uncannily, the author is traveling to Italy
in September to support a training of Japanese who
are leading the passion movement in Japan. Must be
about the Axis of Goodness, a new term you just saw
here.
©2015, Randy
Crutcher
* * *
Randy
Crutcher has over three decades of experience as a
teacher, counselor, and community
organizer/builder. He is a personal and
professional development coach, facilitator, and
consultant to both large institutions and small
organizations in the public, private, and
non-profit sectors. He has done extensive work with
men and boys to become all they can be having
opened one of the first state grant funded
men’s counseling center’s in America. He
developed programs to assist men in learning
alternatives to violence, father and son workshops
and gatherings.
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