I am finally getting around to writing my review of the movie I saw on Saturday: Murder on the Orient Express.
Before I went and saw the film, I read the book in anticipation of it. I thought it was a rare thing that I actually had very little idea of what it was about for such a famous story. I took advantage of that and decided to find out “whodunit” through Agatha Christie’s writing since 99.99% of the time, the book is better than the movie.
I have to say, my assertion was correct in this case, the book was better than the movie since I really enjoyed reading about all the meticulous and seemingly insignificant details and connections that lead to the discovery of the murderer. There was a lot left out in the movie, but I think that it did a very decent job of including as much as possible. Also, the struggle with cinema is that it is difficult to convey inner thoughts without a narrator or having the characters actually speak them out loud.
With that said, however, I still think that the movie did the story justice. It changed a few things up, I couldn’t really say if those changes were for the worse or the better. For example, Hercule Poirot, the detective. Hs personality and persona were altered, which may have upset the purist fans of Christie’s books. He was not the “odd little man” described in the books, but more of a daring, almost dashing gentleman. He was a little strange and had his quirks, but he was definitely altered. (He had the outrageous mustache that he prides himself on thoug, so people could not complain about that.) One could argue that he sort of fit the tone of the movie which was more dramatic than the original novel.
I did notice that a couple things they added sometimes made some of the suspects seem either more guilty or less guilty which took away from the point of the book; because what was frustrating to the investigators was that everybody seemed equally not guilty. I guess having suspicion on one or people is more dramatic in the eyes of some people, but to m., I thought that it was very frustrating to not be able to point a finger at anybody.
On the subject of the overall tone, it was very dramatic. Not that the novel wasn’t dramatic, but I mean to say that certain things were added, characters were altered, situations were changed up in order to change the tension. There were even some action scenes (nothing outrageous or over the top, but still). I believe all these things are to appeal to modern audiences. While I personally am enthralled with simple mystery stories with a lot of thinking and dialogue, some people grow bored with people sitting around and talking about what they saw and heard, no matter how interesting their characters are.
Thus, I am lead into the characters. I was a little disappointed in that department. In the book, the characters all have very distinct personalities with memorable traits, quirks, features, etc. Poirot latches onto each of them and questions them according to their personalities. Their “psychology” is very important to him. In this film however, they’re all sort of bland. Even Mrs. Hubbard who was such a funny and interesting character in the book was toned down. It’s such a shame because they all play such an important role in figuring out who did it. It wasn’t that they weren’t well acted, it’s just that they weren’t as well written as they could’ve been. I was impressed with the star-studded cast though.
I’d say that only Poirot himself was the most interesting. Kenneth Branagh did an excellent job at his interpretation of the observant, ponderous little detective.
The sets, atmosphere, costumes, cinematography, etc. were stunning! One of the prettiest films I’ve seen this year I’d say. The train as it traveled through the mountains was a sight to behold. It really made you want to go for a ride on a train... until someone is murdered that is.
Overall, even though I knew who did it, I still really enjoyed watching it all play out. It was even more fun sitting around people who had no idea what would happen and seeing the shock on their faces and hearing the gasps. Agatha Christie is a master! I highly recommend her books!
I’ll give the movie an 8/10.
TRAILER
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