I enjoyed the finale of the Singing Detective, and I thought it was interesting how Gambon’s dreamworld helped solve his inner demons. Granted Michael spent half his time applying the novel to his reality, and reflecting on his troublesome past dealing with love, but he found peace in his heart by being a detective. Realizing that he was the root of his problems due to his negativity, an interesting twist in the series occurrs when the two intelligence officers interrogate Gambon in the hospital ward. They ask him who they are, and what their purpose is? For me, this is Michael’s epiphany about which type of detective is best suited for his well being, the two intelligence officers or the singing detective.
The two intelligence officers are constanly suspicious and unsubstantiated in their work. This helps Gambon’s mind develop incriminating assumptions, like his wife stealing his work, or how the psychologist is trying to barge into his life. These intelligence characters represent Gambon’s fear of trust and happiness because he has been emotionally hurt by his former family and wife. The two men fester negative thoughts in his creative mind; thoughts which bring out the worst in him. However, after his breakthrough standing up, and dream sequence with his former wife about not returning to her the same crabby man, he finds peace. It is neccesary for his old self to die, and in the shootout by his bedside, Gambon’s better half prevails. He decides to be the cool, confident, and calm Gambon. Which only exists in his dreams, and novel, until he is “shot” by his better half in the hospital bed.
Throughout the entirety of the series I enjoyed the musical style. Not only did it provide an exaggerated sense of the mood that Gambon is feeling, but it established an addtional fantasy world that motivated the szyuhet. For example, in the final episode, Gambon mentions a song to the doctor when trying to stand up. First the camera is positioned on the doctor in the szyuhet, then it jumps to the face of Gambon in the szyuhet, and back to the doctor in the new reality of the joyful fabula. As the medium ranged shot positions itself on the doctor, the audience witnesses him singing the song that Gambon mentions, and one realizes the new subjective reality. Not only does the song emotively aid Gambon in standing up, but it captures his internal mindset in his attempt. This musical style was original and effective