Frances Li

Professor Haas
Writing 39B
17 Aug 2014
Playing the Bigger Game
The detective genre, marked by stories of detectives solving mysteries, first became
popular centuries ago in Victorian England with the works of Sir Conan Doyle. The character
that Doyle curved out was so successful that it shaped people's impression of detectives for the
next hundreds of years: a deerstalker hat and a calabash pipe saying "Elementary, my dear
Watson" (Panek, 95). One of the reasons of the genre's success is its function as a relaxing and
entertaining medium. As literary critic George Dove points out in his book The Reader and the
Detective Story that classical detective stories appeals to readers because they're stress-free and
absent of strain. He further states that: The rules of the tale of detection are the rules of
organized play; they exist only to make possible the playing of the game (15). The 'game' here
refers to writers of detective stories manipulating a formulated structure of the genre, and
meeting a set of expectations from the readers. However, in the recent adaptations of Doyle's
work, the game is no longer just played by the author but extends further into the plot of the story
itself. The central idea is unclear, need to be changes.
Both of the films A Game of Shadows directed by Guy Ritchie in 2011 and the episode
Sherlock: The Great Game produced by BBC are adapted partially from Doyles short story
"The Final Problem" where Watson accounts for the death of Holmes. The films reflect the idea
of 'playing the game' not only in their title but also throughout their plot. A Game of Shadows is
set in the 19th century, beginning with Sherlock Holmes investigating in a series of small cases
which all eventually points to a powerful, mysterious, and evil man named Moriarty who
inevitably became his biggest rivalry. Similarly in The Great Game which is set in the 21st
century England, Holmes is challenged by Moriarty with multiple murder cases where bombs
will explode on victims if they were not solved within time limit. Even though different groups
of people made the two works, they both saw the need to create evident competitions between
Holmes and his opponent, applying the game convention to a broader scope in order to meet the
modern standard of entertainment. This paragraph is an extension of the introduction paragraph.
Serves to introduced and summarize the texts that will be used later.
Conan Doyles original works focus on the development of independent cases where the
21st century adaptations adhere to a successive story line and aims to attract audiences with the
personal emotions and charisma of the detectives themself rather than the puzzles. For example
in Doyles short story A Scandal in Bohemia, Sherlock is commissioned by the king to recover
his photographs with a woman named Irene Adler. The story angled at the brilliant tricks Holmes
used attempting to deceive the woman to show him the location of the photograph, leaving only
a small portion at the end to demonstrate his respect toward Adler when he found out the woman
had in fact deceived him. However in the recent films, Irene Adler, the special woman, have
been given a much more important role to depict the character of Sherlock Holmes. In the first
episode of the second season Sherlock, A Scandal in Belgravia, Holmes interaction with Adler
extends beyond just a showcase of his observation and deduction skills. The special sentiment he
had developed for Irene Adler became the major string of the story where puzzle solving became
decorations of the plot. Be careful to stay in the present tense while narrating the film and add
scene analysis if this is one of the two scenes.
Diverging from simply revealing the truth of a crime in Doyles detective stories, the
new adaptation often creates a strong rivalry to hold together the story. As literary Leroy Panek
discussed in his book An Introduction to Detective Stories that theres a pattern in detective
stories, Doyles stories followed the formulated structure of the genre where first, Sherlock Holmes
will encounter a case; then he will go through a process of following the leads and collecting
evidence, and lastly solves it and explain it to the readers through Watson. In the recent texts, authors
update the predictable structure to appeal modern audience who is already very familiar with the
classical puzzle-solving pattern by introducing a criminal mastermind.
Dove once quoted philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer in his book: Play becomes a game
when the player faces some kind of opponent (15). Modern adaptations present the genre as a game
of intelligence between the genius detective and an evil force. For example in The Great Game,
Moriarty could have easily killed the hostages but he didnt; instead, he released them when Holmes
solves the case. He is playing by the rules of their game which Holmes chose to play as well. In the
third case about the death of television celebrity Connie Prince, the hostage is an old lady who might
have heart disease. Inspector Lestrade questioned Holmes concernedly what are they dealing with,
referring to the man behind all the cases, yet Sherlock answered with an interesting tone of
playfulness that its something new. The camera gave him a close-up shot emphasizing the smile on
his face to indicate he is very much enjoying the game. Later on Holmes replied Moriarty his answer
for the case closely before time runs out even though he solved it hours ago. Watson realized and
criticized Holmes for leaving the hostage there all day, but Holmes replied: Dont you see Watson?
Im one up on him! Clearly Holmes is very engaged in his competition with Moriarty, prioritizing
playing the winner over the welfare of the old lady. At the end, he met with Moriarty in a pool, luring
him out with a flash drive containing high credential information that may harm the country. Holmes
is so addicted to the challenge Moriarty posed that risks are no longer a consideration. Similarly,
Moriarty enjoyed the game so much that he did not choose to kill Sherlock when he could easily do
so. Add more reference to cinematic elements instead of summarizing the plot. Name the techniques
that were used and their function.
The convention of a game allowed the film makers to play around with the plot of the story
and the morality of the character at the same time preserving a stress-free atmosphere. Like the
classical detective stories, The Great Game does not preach or focus on serious matters that would
affect the audiences entertaining experience. Even though Holmes sociopathic mentality keeps him
away from being a completely good guy, this does not prevent the audience from loving the character
because the film is set on a playful and easy-going level. Also, knowing that the two opponents are in
the mood of a game, the audiences are assured neither Watson nor Holmes will be dead, at least in
that episode. This paragraph is a transition from game to rival relationship between Holmes and
Moriarty.
Using a rival relationship to hold the development of the story can also be seen in the film A
Game of Shadows. Many crimes that Holmes was investigating led his attention to Professor
Moriarty who is believed to be the most powerful man behind the scene. In the film when Sherlock
first met the Professor in his laboratory, many cinematic techniques were used to build up the battle
between them. For example, there was a snapshot of Holmes standing face to face with Moriarty on
the two sides of the screen. This picture follows the rule of third where the screen is divided into
three sections, left, middle, and right. The bookshelves in the back and the displays in the room along
with the characters balanced the view and created a strong hostile atmosphere between the two men.
In the next few minutes of their conversation, many close-ups were used to depict the intensity of the
fight. The viewer can clearly see Holmes agony and anger when he saw Irene Adlers
handkerchief with blood on it. On the other side, the close-ups showed the hideous face of Professor
Moriarty distorted by the confident to destroy Holmes. Lastly, the scene ended with an extreme
close-up shot of a piece of chess on the chess board in front of them. This further symbolizes the
game convention of the film, a game between two men of great intelligence.
In an online review written by American journalist and film critic A.O. Scott that was publish
on The New York Times, he describes the atmosphere of the film to be jocular hairy laddishness.
And he commented: There is a plot, but no real intrigue, mystery or suspense, and no inkling of
anything at stake beyond a belligerent idea of fun. A Game of Shadows is more like a competition
between Sherlock Holmes and the evil Professor Moriarty than a puzzle that needs to be solved like
in the original Conan Doyle stories. The paragraph should be edited or deleted because the quote
seems to shadow a negative attitude which is not the intent of this essay.
Overall, the modern day adaptations of the detective stories fully incorporate the entertaining
purpose of the genre by creating a relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere in the adventurous plots of the
films. Moreover, new adaptations of Conan Doyles detective stories tend to use a competitive
relationship that resembles game playing between Holmes and his opponent to create a diverse and
interesting plot. The last paragraph can be extended by giving general statements of the detective
genre in the modern context or by looking into the future.

The two scene analyses are not strong enough. I need to employ more cinematic terms and state their
functions in the scene. Also I should fix the thesis, make it clearer.








































WORK CITED

A Scandal in Belgravia. Sherlock. BBC. United Kingdom. 1 January, 2012. Television.
Dove, George N. The Reader and the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State
University Popular Press, 1997. Print.
Doyle, Arthur Conan. "Adventure 1: A Scandal in Bohemia." The Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes. Lit2Go Edition. 1892. Web. <http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/32/the-adventures-of-
sherlock-holmes/345/adventure-1-a-scandal-in-bohemia/>. July 26, 2014.
Panek, Leroy. An Introduction to the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State
University Popular Press, 1987. Print.
Scott, A.O.. "Holmes and Watson, but Is There Mystery?" nytimes.com. The New York Times, n.d.
Web. 02 Aug. 2014.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadow. Dir. Guy Ritchie. Perf. Robert Downey and Jude Law.
Warners Bro, 2011. Film
The Great Game. Sherlock. BBC. United Kingdom. 8 August, 2010. Television.