La Chute de Reichenbach

[awanderingbard]

The last of my French Sherlock rantings. This week: La Chute de Reichenbach. 'Chute' (fall) has the same double meaning in French as it does in English. It can mean a waterfall, a literal fall or a fall from grace. Also, they pronounced Reichenbach like 'ry-shen-bock', which made the Richard Brook thing work really well, as the French pronounciation (Ree-shar Bruk) is much closer to how they pronounce Reichenbach.

Maybe I've just gotten used to the voices now, but I think the doubles did a great job. I like Moriarty's voice much better this episode and John's double made me tear up, which is hard to do since I normally feel a bit disconnected from the plot when the voices don't match. I always feel like there's a distinct layering over of the voices, rather than the characters actually speaking the words. But John's double's little whimpering made my heart break a little.

Translation Notes:
- Sherlock informs Lestrade that Miss McKenzie will need 'an oxygen mask', rather than to breathe into a bag.
- He also calls Jim Molly's 'fiance', instead of ex-boyfriend.
- I was wondering how they were going to handle the IOU thing, but they just put a little subtitle translating what it meant every time it came up.
- The translation of 'the side of the angels' thing is kinda of nice in French. 'I may be on the side of the angels, but don't think for a single second that you have an angel in front of you'.
- I also like that rather than calling him a machine, John tells Sherlock he doesn't have a heart. Which is a nice call back to The Great Game when it's Sherlock himself who says that he doesn't have a heart.
- For the curious (read: me) Sherlock and Moriaty call each other 'vous', which seems a little weird on Moriarty's part considering how intimate he considers himself with Sherlock. Maybe it's a sign of respect. John also calls Mycroft 'vous'.

Rewatching Notes:
I still love the handcuffed together moments. I also noticed that John has a hold of Sherlock's sleeve when they're against the wall together, which amuses me. They're joined together by metal handcuffs, but John is still obviously convinced that he's going to somehow lose track of Sherlock. Or maybe he just wants extra leverage to try and control his movement.

One thing that I've never understood: why does John go back to Baker Street when Mrs Hudson has been 'shot'? I know he needs to go there plotwise to see that she's alive and well and he's been tricked, but if she's been shot, why isn't he going to a hospital? Or does he think she's dead?

Comments

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm glad my ramblings weren't too annoying. I am a language nerd and I love seeing how things translate into other languages. I was just reading somewhere that in Germany, they translated the nickname that Moriarty gives to Mycroft (Iceman) as the literal eissman. Which is what they call the man who sells ice cream from a truck over there. :D

I see what you're saying and I think you're right. Sherlock is special to Moriarty, so he gets respect. I do think it would be equally in character for Moriarty to use the informal, though. Or swap back and forth. Because he's sooooo changeable! :p