#bajazzo

Some days ago I started rewatching the Russian Sherlock Holmes adaptation directed by Andrey Kavun, with Igor Petrenko and Andrey Panin as Holmes and Watson, from November 2013. When I looked up the new HD links on Youtube I noticed something that led to an interesting idea. Back in 2016 I started a series of posts (still ongoing) about each episode. The third episode of the series was titled 'CLOWNS' and this caused some short-tern confusion when I watched it for the first time. :) 

My descripion from July, 2016:

If you read this from start to finish, I’m sure you will have one big question at the end:  “But …. where are the clowns?“  At least this was exactly my thought after I’d watched it the first time without subtitles. Then I watched it again, this time with subtitles … but still no clowns in the dialogs too. Then something clicked and finally I made the connection: the clue lies in the music!  (look and listen x)   And what a gorgeous music it is! The soundtrack alone makes this episode to one of my favourites.

Yes, the clue lies in the music. And the music in question is from the Italian opera PAGLIACCI (literal translation: Clowns) by Ruggero Leoncavallo.

As you see, the title for the third episode of the new Russian Holmes has been changed from CLOWNS to PAGLIACCI. And this renaming of the title caused a massive 'click' in my head.

What if one would (metaphorically) replace the CLOWNS of Sherlock BBC with PAGLIACCI the same way? Or more precisely .... with the deeper significance of PAGLIACCI

Because the plot of PAGLIACCI can be easily summarized in two words:  MURDEROUS JEALOUSY

And what's more ... PAGLIACCI is a perfect example for a 'play inside a play'. And from the very beginning the play itself leaves no doubt about that.

During the overture, the curtain rises. From behind a second curtain, Tonio, dressed as his commedia character Taddeo, addresses the audience. He reminds the audience that actors have feelings too, and that the show is about real people.

We - the audience - watch actors who play actors while they are  performing a play in front of an acting audience.

And the play, the actors are performing, mirrors itself in their real life almost completely.

A husband, his cheating wife, her lover and a rejected lover.

The 'lover' is portrayed by two different characters. One for the play, and another one for the play inside the play.

The play inside the play is about the characters Pagliaccio (husband), Columbina (wife), Arleccino (lover) and Taddeo (rejected lover)

This play is performed by the actors of a commedia troupe: Canio (husband), Nedda (wife), Beppe (not the lover) and Tonio (rejected lover) 

Nedda's real lover is Silvio, who is no member of their troupe. He is not an actor involved in their play. He is a member of the acting audience ... sitting among them and watching the performance of the actors unfold.

The 'rejected lover' on the other hand is represented by one and the same person on both levels (Tonio the fool=Taddeo)

Tonio the 'fool' is rejected by Nedda the same way Taddeo is rejected by Columbina in the play the actors are performing on stage but he behaves differently on each level.

In the play, Tonio, who just had been rejected by Nedda, observes later her date with Silvio. Tonio informs Canio that his wife is cheating on him. Canio sets out to catch them in the act. Unsuccessfully. Silvio is able to escape undiscoverd.

Inside the play of the play, Taddeo (the character Tonio is playing) warns Columbina (Nedda) and her lover Arleccino (played by Beppe, another actor of their group) that Pagliaccio (Canio) is on his way to catch them in the act. Arleccio (Beppe) is able to escape undiscoverd.

Columbina's/Nedda's words 'I will always be yours', directed at her escaping lover (on both levels of the play), mark the moment when the play they are performing gets out of hand, when the two different levels are blending together. It's tthe moment when for the actors on the stage, acting becomes real life and the fourth wall breaks.

Beppe asks Tonio to intervene. (Inside the play of the play those characters reprsent Arleccio and Taddeo ... lover and rejected lover)  But Tonio refrains. He prevents Beppe from halting the action .... and people die. 

Tonio the Fool - who speaks the first words of the play, dressed as Taddeo, his character inside the play - ends then both plays with the words  'La commedia è finita!'

Pics taken from:  PAGLIACCI   movie directed by Franco Zeffirelli (Placido Domingo, Teresa Stratas, Juan Pons, Florindo Andreolli, Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Alla Scala, Milano)

The Russian Sherlock Holmes Episode: Pagliacci

No clowns - neither word nor Image of them - can be found in the whole episode. It is the music and the plot that builds the bridge between this case and Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci. A jealous husband, a cheating wife, a secret lover ... the US ambassador, his wife and the French ambassador.

There's no 'rejected lover' in this story, but someone who pulls the strings and triggers the action. A recognizable coat, left behind in the ambassador's bedroom, together with a note, supposedly written by the 'secret lover' ... both found by the jealous husband. This role is played by two characters. Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty.

Moriarty is the puppet master who has developed the devious plan. He abductes Irene Adler and uses her as leverage to control Sherlock and bend him to his will. She will be tortured to death if Sherlock doesn't place the evidence of the wifes' infidelity for her husband to find .... which is going to lead not only to a drama of murderous jealousy but also to a dangerous international conflict .... even to war.

And in the Russian episode too, just as in Leoncavallo's opera, the drama happens as a play inside a play. Holmes is able to bypass Moriarty's plan. He informs the participants about the situation and they all agree to act the drama. Not on stage but in front of a considerable audience. They deliver a show inside a show ... and they are really good. :)))

Sherlock BBC and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci

A lot of things sound indeed very familiar. Performances on different story levels, plays inside plays, mirrors and masks, love and rejected love, the wish to elope, revenge, breaking the fourth wall ...  and most of all ...  murderous jealousy ....

The question is: can the above mentioned clown scenes of Sherlock BBC be associated with the term 'murderous jealousy' as well? Is indeed  'murderous jealousy' the hidden meaning behind each of those scenes?

Clowns stealing tons of gold .... Stealing a treasure=stealing a very precious and 'beloved person'?

Clowns inside a secret data base of scandals .... Hidden informations regarding a case of murderous jealousy?

Clowns on the walls of Rosie's room ....  Nurturing a growing love leads to murderous jealousy by someone else?

A terror-clown in ones own home .... A case of murderous jealousy in ones own home? A suppressed threatening memory?

Hiding behind a clown mask is 'satirically irrelevant' .... Irene's words that 'disguises are always a self portrait' come to mind ...

I think it could work. But whoes jealousy is the story dealing with? The jealusy of a husband/wife, of a secret/rejected lover, the jealousy of a sibling, of a grown person or a child? Is it something from the past? A buried memory inside a mind palace? Or is it something that happens in the present?

And is there a 'fool' in Sherlock BBC as well?

The FOOL is an important character. The FOOL starts the play. 'Si può? Si può?' He appears 'in character' and talks to both audiences - the one in the play and also to us, when we watch the opera/the film. The FOOL talks to both audiences 'out and inside of his character'. The FOOL crosses the levels of both plays. 

Please? Will you allow me? Ladies! Gentlemen! Excuse me if I appear thus alone. I am the Prologue. Since our author is reviving on our stage the masks of ancient comedy, he wishes to restore for you, in part, the old stage customs, and once more he sends me to you. But not, as in the past, to reassure you, saying, “The tears we shed are false, so do not be alarmed by our agonies or violence!” No! No! Our author has endeavoured, rather, to paint for you a slice of life, his only maxim being that the artist is a man, and he must write for men. Truth is his inspiration. Deep-embedded memories stirred one day within his heart, and with real tears he wrote, and marked the time with sighs! Now, then, you will see men love as in real life they love, and you will see true hatred and its bitter fruit. And you will hear shouts                                    both of rage and grief, and cynical laughter. Mark well, therefore, our souls, rather than the poor players’ garb we wear, for we are men of flesh and bone, like you, breathing the same air of this orphan world. This, then, is our design. Now give heed to its unfolding. (shouting towards the stage) On with the show! Begin! (X)

The FOOL triggers the action and is responsible for the murder. Does he feel guilty afterwards?

In Franco Zeffirellis film it is the FOOL who offers the knife to Canio/Pagliaccio, that becomes the murder weapon.

In Leoncavallos original, Pagliaccio grabs a random knive from the table. It is not given to him by the FOOL. But here too, the FOOL doesn't interfere and hinders others to stop the drama.

The FOOL finally ends the play. Like at the beginning, he talks to both audiences and tells them ....  'La commedia è finita!' ....

Of course, I did a little research for ...

THE FOOL throughout the episodes of Sherlock BBC 

Only three hits .... but interesting ones. :)))

SHERLOCK (to Lestrade): And only a fool argues with his doctor. (PILOT)

WATSON (to Sherlock): I’m happy to play the fool for you. (TAB)

MYCROFT (talking about Sherlock): What’s he doing? Why’s he just wandering about like a fool? (TLD)

Sherlock thinks he is not THE FOOL because he doesn't behave like one.

John (the heart) isn't THE FOOL but would be happy to play THE FOOL for Sherlock.

Mycroft (the brain) assumes Sherlock is THE FOOL becaus he thinks he behaves like one.

Sherlock, John and Mycroft. What a surprise. The mysterious promo pics (never seen on TV) for S4 come to mind. Three characters sitting round a chess board .... playing a game.

Side note 1: This is NOT an April fool post

Side note2: The new Russian Sherlock Holmes series aired for the first time on November 28, 2013 (X).  Series 3 of Sherlock BBC aired on January 1, 2014. That's just one month appart. If the clowns of TSOT and HLV are indeed connected to the plot of Pagliacci ... to murderous jealousy ... that idea is not adopted from the Russian series, because S3 of Sherlock had finished filming already in August 2013. And of cours, the same applies in reverse.

Related topics:  Pierrot  Harlequine  Pulcinella  Pinocchio

I leave you to your own deductions. Thanks @callie-ariane for the scripts.