BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Third Star

tonnaree · November 20, 2013 4:03 pm

Watched it.
Adored it.
Can't watch it again yet.

November 21, 2013 9:38 am

I watched the DVD yesterday again and every time I watch it I see something else.
The dream sequences are well done, just as the underwater scenes. Sad, but beautiful.
I had to compare his self-chosen death with the one human beings often have to experience in a hospital when being terminally ill and totally out of control with stangers around, nurses and doctors who maybe try their best, but do their job.
I imagined yesterday elderly people in a nursing home or me being ill and very old in a hospital and wondered about what bravery is.
Can be facing death and doing it on your own terms. Can also be facing your fate (if you believe in something like that) and walking your path untill the end.

The Third Star made me think...

BTW, does anybody know where the title comes from?

SusiGo · November 21, 2013 9:50 am

I think it might be an allusion to Peter Pan. In the Disney film the direction to Neverland is given as "second star to the right, and straight on till morning." However, I don't know why they changed it to "third star".

November 21, 2013 10:13 am

Thank you.

November 21, 2013 10:55 am

Found an early scipt by Sivell.

http://mug7.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/thirdstar_scriptmaster.pdf

Last edited by Be (November 21, 2013 11:00 am)

SusiGo · November 21, 2013 11:15 am

I have sometimes consulted this script and it is quite close to the film version. And on this page Sivell also gives interesting insights into the making of the film and work with the actors.

SolarSystem · November 21, 2013 11:35 am

SusiGo wrote:
I like the film very much and they really manage to avoid many clichés. James does not hide his anger that the world goes on without him and that his friends seem to waste their lives whereas he has nearly no time left. And I agree, it is wonderful that his difficult friendship with Miles is transformed in the end when he is the only one who sticks with James and helps him to fulfil his wish.

You are so right, Susi. It's great to see Miles stick with James until the very end... and do what has to be done. Although I'm not so sure about the others... I'm under the impression that they also wanted to be there, but then they had to turn around because Davy couldn't swim or something...?

SusiGo · November 21, 2013 12:24 pm

I just had a look at the script, Solar. You are right. Davy is the weakest swimmer of them all and swallows water, gets in panic. Bill takes him back to the beach. Davy wants to go back but Bill holds him and they remain on the sand and watch James and Miles.
I think it is a beautiful turn of the story that Miles who seemed to care less than the others and even slightly repelled by James' illness remains with him until the end. A bit as if he took something from James to pass on to his sister whom he loves.

SolarSystem · November 21, 2013 1:43 pm

SusiGo wrote:
I just had a look at the script, Solar. You are right. Davy is the weakest swimmer of them all and swallows water, gets in panic. Bill takes him back to the beach. Davy wants to go back but Bill holds him and they remain on the sand and watch James and Miles.

Yes, that makes sense. There also is a short moment when Davy wants to go back into the water, but Bill holds him back. And I always thought that he holds him back not because he doesn't want to be out there with James, but because he knows that Davy won't be able to make it. So they both want to be there with James, too, they just can't. Which in some ways probably is as tough for them as it is for Miles to be with James until the end...

SusiGo wrote:
I think it is a beautiful turn of the story that Miles who seemed to care less than the others and even slightly repelled by James' illness remains with him until the end. A bit as if he took something from James to pass on to his sister whom he loves.

I love the scene in which Davy and Miles get into a quarrel because Miles doesn't want to carry James. And then Miles confesses his feelings, and every time I see this I think 'yes, I understand him so well, because let's be honest, it's not easy to see someone you love suffer like this and know that he will die'.

SusiGo · November 21, 2013 1:58 pm

Yes, that is a very good scene. Very honest. Nobody is depicted as a saint. And that is what I like about Miles - he actually does not really want this, he is preoccupied with other things and yet he proves to be so strong in the end. Because he does more than James originally asked - they were to let him swim but Miles even helps him to die.

SolarSystem · November 21, 2013 2:15 pm

When they sit by the campfire the previous evening and James talks about swimming out into the middle of the bay to die, Miles is the only one who doesn't really say anything. I like to believe that he keeps quiet because he knows exactly what James means and understands why he wants/needs to do this. But Miles can't bring himself to agree with James... after all, if he did, James' death would be as manifest as never before. But then after that horrible night with all this pain James has to go through... they just can't deny him his wish anymore, can they? It breaks my heart every single time I watch the scene the morning after when Bill holds James in his arms...

Btw, when Miles follows James into the water, I always have to think about Miles' line going something like: "Why does everyone have to throw my stuff into the sea?"
I know, it's probably just me, but... he lost his watch and his phone to the sea... and now... he will lose James to the sea... it's just... I don't know, I somehow make a connection there...

SusiGo · November 21, 2013 2:30 pm

That is a good point I did not think of before. But you are right about him losing things to the sea. And they increase in importance - the watch was just expensive, the phone was his connection to the "normal" world and his girlfriend, but James is his friend and the most precious loss.

SolarSystem · November 21, 2013 2:40 pm

Oh, you are so right. One can only imagine what this loss will do to him, and I think that at the end of the movie Miles has learned to distinguish between the important and the unimportant things in life (and probably more than Davy and Bill).

SusiGo · November 21, 2013 2:51 pm

Yes, because he had a longer way to go, learning about humility and taking care of others even if they are difficult. And when he stays together with James's sister he will remain close to him in a special way.

Last edited by SusiGo (November 21, 2013 3:45 pm)

SolarSystem · November 21, 2013 3:36 pm

Yes, and that is such a beautiful thought... oh, I guess I have to watch it again quite soon.

November 22, 2013 9:56 am

I watched it yesterday again and wondered about the scene with the man on the beach and his talk with Davy about friends and being needed.
James also mentioned it. I am not quite sure what it means.

I like the film especially because it plays with hints and makes you think about it.

SusiGo · November 22, 2013 11:08 am

There are some scenes that have a slightly bizarre touch. Like the one with the ferryman which also has a certain symbolic meaning I suppose. In Greek legend there is Charon, the ferryman, who brings the dead into the underworld.
And then there is the scene with the boy with the angel's wings.

gently69 · November 22, 2013 11:17 am

I received the DVD today. Guess what I'm going to watch tomorrow. Want to talk with you about this.

SusiGo · November 22, 2013 11:22 am

Yes, do that. And the script linked above is really a good help. I sometimes really had problems understanding the dialogue. But it is a wonderful film. Enjoy.

Mattlocked · November 22, 2013 3:39 pm

Don't forget the roll of Zewa and the chocolate!