We discussed this in another thread and as far as I remember Germany was the only country that waited so long for them to use the informal way of address. It is really quite ridiculous and makes me wonder if the distance created by this for so long is in some way responsible for the fact that the show was never such a big success over here. If we assume that their relationship is at the heart of the show, much is lost in this regard. 

True. There is far less intimacy even though the looks etc. are all there. 

Yes, we have talked about this again and again, and the moment when they meet in front of 221B would have been perfect to introduce the "Du". I think someone here from another European country (Poland? I'm not sure...) once mentioned that that was the moment when they switched to the informal adress in their dubbed version. 

As for the voice: I have gotten used to the German voice of Sherlock, I think the actor is doing a pretty good job. But of course it is not and will never be comparable to Benedict's voice.
And speaking in general, the voice is such an important instrument of every actor... take it away and replace it by another voice, and you diminish the actor's achievement.

That's true. Ironically this scene is even more charged with meaning in the dubbed version now than in the original version. 

Thanks to my tech wizard brother I've now watched some clips from the German S3, and happily the "best man question" was among them. Well done, is all I can say! There's actually a moment when Sherlock stumbles over the Du/Sie thing, starting a sentence with Sie and then switching very deliberately to Du. Very poignant indeed!

I must admit - although of course it's not Benedict's real voice and there is nothing on earth (including Germany) to compare to Benedict's voice, I thought the German voices weren't bad at all! Sherlock's is suitably posh and nonchalant and John's got a suitable edge to it.

I have another question about the Du/Sie thing. Until TSOT they say Sie but they do address each other by their first names. Who, in 21st century Germany, ever does that?

Last edited by La Jolie (August 29, 2014 9:45 am)

SusiGo wrote:

And I am quite sure that the "Sie" creates a distance which changes people's perception of the show as a whole. 

Yup, it do it to me. 

If you are used to it and don't know the original version, I am sure you don't miss something.
Until autumn last year I only knew the dubbed version as well and it was okay for me. Then experiencing the original was a complete change.

Harriet, jetzt reden Sie mal keinen Unsinn...!
See, I'm friends with you and would never say "Du" to you!

Harriet wrote:

Some teachers address their highschool students that way.

Yes, I seem to remember that.

Not quite the sort of relationship I picture for Sherlock and John (either way).

What about the other characters then, do Sherlock and John "ARD-Sherlock" them, too (since this seems to be our new word for "first name plus Sie")?

Mycroft? Greg? Molly?

Let me guess: Sherlock duzes Mycroft and Molly and ARD-Sherlocks Greg, and John ARD-Sherlocks them all?
 

Last edited by La Jolie (August 30, 2014 12:22 pm)

Harriet wrote:

La Jolie wrote:

I have another question about the Du/Sie thing. Until TSOT they say Sie but they do address each other by their first names. Who, in 21st century Germany, ever does that?

Hardly anybody. Especially not flatmates or friends.

Plus, the use of first name and Sie is not common in Germany at all.
Some teachers address their highschool students that way.

The combination of first name plus Sie is not very common indeed but it still exists. The first time I heard it was at university, and I learned that this term of address is called "Hamburger Sie"
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger_Sie

I am quite fond of this and would be happy to use it more often. Sometimes Sie + family name is too formal yet Du + first name would feel too close. Why don't we use the subtle nuances that our language offers to express the different kinds of formality or closeness in a relationship? I particularly remember the time when someone who is very dear to me switched from Sie + family name to Sie + first name. Later on we progressed to use Du but somehow the time when we used the Hamburger Sie stayed in my memory as a particularly beautiful stage of our relationship. So maybe I am biased by my personal experience but I thought the use of Sie + first name was quite appropriate at least in the first series of Sherlock. I admit that it sounded a bit formal when they stayed with it but then again it offered them a great opportunity to make the best man request even more meaningful when John finally changed from Sie to Du.