listening

Yesterday I arrived back to Croatia after an painfully long journey just in time to watch a BBC production of a Sherlock Holmes adventure entitled "Sherlock Holmes and the case of the silk stocking."

I was so excited about the fact that i'm going to watch it , so I ate hastily what my grandma prepared with most love for me (sorry grandma) and positioned myself in front of the TV, armed with all sorts of nibbles.

Thanks God the Croatians don't dub neither series nor films, so I had the opportunity to listen to Queen's English for a bit less than two hours.

The film was fantastic (even better than that-What word could I use to describe it?) with all the ingredients that make a great detective story- an amazing cast of actors (Rupert Everett was juts out-of-this-world in his portrayal of Holmes), perfect scenery, costumes and perfect English.

Here is just a brief taste of the plot:

Young wealthy women are being murdered on the streets of London, which are heavy with dense fog (contributes ot the eriee atmosphere), one after another. The police finds their bodies in dimly lit side streets. They have all been killed by a stocking around their throats and another in their mouths. Sherlock Holmes, who is fighting at that time against his opium addiction, decides to assist the police. Soon enough, they realise that the murderer is a sexual sadist, who derives pleasure from undressing his victims and kissing their feet before killing them with their own stockings.

The rest, I'm afraid, yu have to see for yourself.

Here is some of the vocabulary that caught my attention:

chaperon- (noun and verb)- mainly humorous use today- an older person, especially a woman, who goes with and takes care of a younger woman who is not married when she is in public:

Do you trust him on your own, or do you want me to chaperon you?

water-tight alibi- He has a water-tight alibi for the night of the murder.

red tape-official rules and processes that seem unnecessary and delay results:

We must cut through the red tape.

footman-a male servant whose job includes opening doors and serving food, and who often wears a uniform

And finally, if you wish to find out more about Sherlock Holmes, visit http://www.sherlockian.net/

if you, on the other hand, wish to read what viewers wrote about the film "Sherlock Holmes and the case of the silk stocking", take a look at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/forum/silkstocking_20060207.html

If you prefer to read, here is the unabridged version of all the short stories that feature Sherlock Holmes (needles to say, I've read them all):

http://www.citsoft.com/holmes3.html