Hollywood took on a classic piece of literature for its adapted screenplay, but despite an ensemble star-studded cast and a dedicated director, the material falters because of the shifting interests of the current era.
To play Hercule Poirot, it takes an actor dedicated to performing old school literary works with precision. It takes a man who can play intellectual and heavy - and usually British - characters as if they themselves were. Good choices for the role would have been Colin Firth or Ralph Fiennes, but in tackling a character of gigantic significance, the job was finely done by Kenneth Branagh.
Branagh both directed the latest film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express and stars as its main character, Belgian private eye Poirot.
Poirot's name and impact in the Western literary scene is matched only by Sherlock Holmes. The OCD-suffering detective is witty, charming and excruciatingly posh, at least in Branagh's portrayal, and is the central character to many of Christie's novels.
Filming a Christie work can be very laborious. This ia because of the grandiose nature of her mysteries as well as the problem of keeping a contemporary audience interested in such a simple premise.
Murder on the Orient Express is not simple by any means, but the action that mainstream audiences crave is simply not there. Suspense is limited, but curiosity is high, as a crime detective film would convey.
The story behind the murder reveals itself to be tragically complex and long-winded, twisting the identities of the characters almost immediately as we get to know them. In this sense, everything seems convoluted.
An ensemble cast helped only slightly in stirring interest in this film. In a rather odd role, Johnny Depp performs surprisingly well there, while classic leading ladies Michelle Pfeiffer and Penelope Cruz show us that they have not lost their acting chops even after all these years.
Christie's work is known, stereotypically, as British posh in nature and the film itself tries to balance out this kind of style with something more appealing to the public.
Many of the characters in the film come from high society. However, in the realm of crime, the dowager, the countess, the assistant, the doctor and the bohemian traveler are all treated and viewed the same way.
The film starts and finishes on satisfying notes, with the ending evoking particularly interesting emotions toward the fair and just Poirot. Branagh portrays the character well and is undoubtedly the one that keeps the audience fixated.
The level of violence in this film is not really exaggerated or cinematic. It may be dramatic, sure, but Christie's novels focus less on the violence of a crime and more on the complex cruelty of the human mind.
Most of Poirot's murder cases, both in the books and in ITV seriea Agatha Christie's Poirot, seem to revolve around intricate back stories and surprising reveals, based mainly on feelings of jealousy, revenge or greed.
In the end, the movie is rather tepid, especially for those that are unaware, it shows itself as dramatic intensity that one might look for in Sherlock Holmes.
Branagh as the director keeps the film as true to the book as possible, but his efforts are ultimately defeated by the scale of the story itself.
Christie's novels work better in a television series setting, as done previously with mystery opus And Then There Were None or the aforementioned Poirot series.
Film adaptations of her works have been done before, but it seems that no depiction has truly matched the cultural impact of her books.
This film is certainly not the one that will drive that impact for this century, but it does play a role in reviving interest in both Christie and the mystery genre as a whole.
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Produced by Ridley Scott, Mark Gordon, Simon Kinberg, Kenneth Branagh, Judy Hofflund and Michael Schaefer
Based on Murder on the Orion Express by Agatha Christie
Starring Kenneth Branagh, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Daisy Ridley
Running time 114 minutes
Dylan Amirio
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
To play Hercule Poirot, it takes an actor dedicated to performing old school literary works with precision. It takes a man who can play intellectual and heavy - and usually British - characters as if they themselves were. Good choices for the role would have been Colin Firth or Ralph Fiennes, but in tackling a character of gigantic significance, the job was finely done by Kenneth Branagh.
Branagh both directed the latest film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express and stars as its main character, Belgian private eye Poirot.
Poirot's name and impact in the Western literary scene is matched only by Sherlock Holmes. The OCD-suffering detective is witty, charming and excruciatingly posh, at least in Branagh's portrayal, and is the central character to many of Christie's novels.
Filming a Christie work can be very laborious. This ia because of the grandiose nature of her mysteries as well as the problem of keeping a contemporary audience interested in such a simple premise.
Murder on the Orient Express is not simple by any means, but the action that mainstream audiences crave is simply not there. Suspense is limited, but curiosity is high, as a crime detective film would convey.
The story behind the murder reveals itself to be tragically complex and long-winded, twisting the identities of the characters almost immediately as we get to know them. In this sense, everything seems convoluted.
An ensemble cast helped only slightly in stirring interest in this film. In a rather odd role, Johnny Depp performs surprisingly well there, while classic leading ladies Michelle Pfeiffer and Penelope Cruz show us that they have not lost their acting chops even after all these years.
Christie's work is known, stereotypically, as British posh in nature and the film itself tries to balance out this kind of style with something more appealing to the public.
Many of the characters in the film come from high society. However, in the realm of crime, the dowager, the countess, the assistant, the doctor and the bohemian traveler are all treated and viewed the same way.
The film starts and finishes on satisfying notes, with the ending evoking particularly interesting emotions toward the fair and just Poirot. Branagh portrays the character well and is undoubtedly the one that keeps the audience fixated.
The level of violence in this film is not really exaggerated or cinematic. It may be dramatic, sure, but Christie's novels focus less on the violence of a crime and more on the complex cruelty of the human mind.
Most of Poirot's murder cases, both in the books and in ITV seriea Agatha Christie's Poirot, seem to revolve around intricate back stories and surprising reveals, based mainly on feelings of jealousy, revenge or greed.
In the end, the movie is rather tepid, especially for those that are unaware, it shows itself as dramatic intensity that one might look for in Sherlock Holmes.
Branagh as the director keeps the film as true to the book as possible, but his efforts are ultimately defeated by the scale of the story itself.
Christie's novels work better in a television series setting, as done previously with mystery opus And Then There Were None or the aforementioned Poirot series.
Film adaptations of her works have been done before, but it seems that no depiction has truly matched the cultural impact of her books.
This film is certainly not the one that will drive that impact for this century, but it does play a role in reviving interest in both Christie and the mystery genre as a whole.
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Produced by Ridley Scott, Mark Gordon, Simon Kinberg, Kenneth Branagh, Judy Hofflund and Michael Schaefer
Based on Murder on the Orion Express by Agatha Christie
Starring Kenneth Branagh, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Daisy Ridley
Running time 114 minutes
Dylan Amirio
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
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