#boryslav brondukov

[goodassmotherliker]

On Soviet Holmes

This summer, my boyfriend and I strolled through the beautiful downtown district of Kyiv when a memorial tablet on a quite ordinarily looking panel house caught our eye: the People's Artist of Ukraine Boryslav Brondukov used to live here. We knew this actor from the landmark Ukrainian films of the Soviet era. Internationally, though, he is remembered for portraying inspector Lestrade in Soviet Sherlock Holmes. Not the most beloved Lestrade, but a formidable Lestrade nonetheless. 

Since our walk, a couple of russian missiles landed in dangerous proximity to this spot, bringing death and destruction to the city where Brondukov lived and worked. His very apartment is probably subject to power and water shortages like mine or anyone else's in Kyiv. It reminds me of the Soviet or, as some might call it, russian Sherlock Holmes adaptation and the dark context behind its cast and production. It might seem that such an innocent series has nothing to do with russian unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, but, sadly, it does. 

Firstly, another actor voices Brondukov, the Lestrade, in the final cut of the Soviet Holmes films. The director Igor Maslennikov explained this decision by Brondukov's "thick Ukrainian accent", which, in his opinion, would be unworthy of a respectable London policeman. In the director's eyes, this accent was considered provincial and something any russian speaking career professional would try to disguise. 

Also, the Baker Street scenes of the series were filmed in Riga, the capital of Latvia, the Baltic country, which suffered greatly under the Soviet occupation until the dissolution of the USSR. The Soviet Union denied independence and repressed the population of Latvia, yet never hesitated to exploit it for fine architecture.

Still, it would not be a big deal for anything filmed in the 80s if not for the persona of Vasiliy Livanov, the Holmes himself, who has been a consistent supporter of putin and endorsed the illegal occupation of Ukrainian territories back in 2014. In 2022, he, among other russian actors, signed an open letter in support of the war against Ukraine (btw, you can google it in English). 

Recognizing that the creator of the beloved Holmes persona, the face of the entire series, is a vicious genocide supporter might be challenging to say the least. It would impair the sentimental value one might attach to the Soviet Holmes adaptation, which is, admittedly, a highly entertaining and meticulously executed one. You will hardly do any harm simply by watching Soviet Holmes on YouTube, provided that this platform has disabled monetization for russian channels. Yet it is morally wrong to entirely overlook the warmongering and genocide support for the sake of entertainment. 

Context is essential. Know the context. 

[quietparanoiac]

"В милицию просто так, Андрей Павлович, не забирают... теперь".