SYNOPSICS
Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express (2010) is a movie. Philip Martin has directed this movie. David Suchet, Tristan Shepherd, Sam Crane, Toby Jones are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2010. Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express (2010) is considered one of the best Crime,Drama,Mystery movie in India and around the world.
Railway director and fellow Belgian Monsieur Bouc secures Poirot a last minute berth on the Orient Express, returning to England from Istanbul. Ratchett, an abrasive American businessman, traveling with his valet and male secretary, tries to secure Poirot's services as he fears that his life is in danger. Poirot turns him down, but the next morning, whilst the train is stuck in a snowdrift in Serbia, Ratchett is found stabbed to death. There is vague talk of a man seen fleeing the train, but many of the passengers in Poirot's compartment do not appear to know either Ratchett or each other, so what could the motive be? Poirot, assisted by Bouc and Dr. Constantine, attempts to find out.
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Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express (2010) Reviews
One of the greatest crime novels of all time... murdered, by Stewart Harcourt.
Agatha Christie's Poirot, starring David Suchet, who is simply perfect in the character, has been airing on British television since 1989. For the show's perfect first fourteen years, the episodes were faithfully adapted from the cleverly structured and written novels by Agatha Christie, and were enlivened by plenty of humour, supplied by the excellent characters of Chief Inspector Japp, Miss Lemon and, of course, Captain Hastings. However, this, bizarrely, all changed from 2003 onwards, when these characters were removed, and the show became humourless, dark and the stories only bore a passing resemblance to the originals (in some cases the only resemblance being the fact that Poirot is in the story - Appointment with Death and Third Girl, for example). Some adaptations were still well-done, and production values increased, making each episode more like a single, cinematic film, with beautiful direction and filming. Consequently Murder on the Orient Express had been eagerly anticipated by all fans of Agatha Christie. Naturally there will be comparisons to the 1974 film with Albert Finney, which stayed very close to Christie's original story. Unfortunately, this new adaptation, despite the fact that it has David Suchet reprising his role as Poirot, is dreadful. The first quarter of an hour is spent watching a Lieutenant in the army commit suicide in front of Poirot, and, even more shockingly, the stoning of an adulteress on the streets of Istanbul. These elements are unnecessary, and form the basis for the 'twist' on the original, which I shall elaborate upon later. Stewart Harcourt, the murderer of this wonderful book, seems to have got it into his head that because everyone surely knows who done it, he needn't bother with keeping the mystery central to the story. In fact, the murder and the investigation that ensues only takes up about half of the episode. Poirot rushes through the clues and the interviews as if he is desperate to get home (to his hugely missed friend Captain Hastings, perhaps?) and has no interest whatsoever in detection. The characters are badly introduced (in the novel, Mrs Christie's scene where all the characters are introduced is done marvellously), and therefore two characters just appeared without the audience knowing who they were - Countess Andrenyi and her companion - and then disappeared again, not to appear until Poirot's unravelling of the mystery. I am not sure why Mr Harcourt was entrusted with adapting what is surely the most important episode of Poirot ever to air, as he had not previously adapted any episodes. Surely Anthony Horowitz, Douglas Watkinson or David Renwick would have done far better jobs? Would it have hurt ITV to have brought back the wonderful scripts from Poirot's previous incarnation? Even Nick Dear, whose new scripts are still faithful to the novels (Three Act Tragedy, Mrs McGinty's Dead) would have done a fantastic job. Yet Mr Harcourt has made this the most disappointing Poirot episode ever. Poirot is grossly out of character, too, which is part of the 'twist' on the original - Poirot's 'battle with his conscience' over what to do with the murderers. There is a scene where he prays, clutching a rosary (which he also does at the end, after he speaks to the policeman) - this over-Catholicism of Poirot is highly unnecessary and is never spoken of previously. The constant referral to Poirot's 'moral struggle' with how to deal with the murderers is beyond irritating, and acts as padding after the rushed mystery is concluded. Poirot shouts and speaks in a gravelly voice, which is not him at all! David Suchet cannot be blamed for this, however, as he did not write the lines where Poirot shouts or talks about justice and morality. The moral, sentimental rubbish is something which television usually, and rightly, stays clear of, and unfortunately it has been brought into the jewel in ITV's crown. The episode almost becomes religious propaganda with the maid's constant babbling about Jesus, which is not in the novel. Is Mr Harcourt a priest, perhaps? Despite this, the episode is lavishly and sumptuously staged on the Orient express, and beautifully directed. The episode also benefits from a stellar cast - Hugh Bonneville, Barbara Hershey, Samuel West, Toby Jones, David Morrissey and Eileen Atkins, but I can't help but feel that their efforts were wasted on this poor script. I sincerely hope that ITV bucks up their ideas when choosing scriptwriters, and that they do not make a mess of 'Curtain: Poirot's Last Case' - which is another excellent novel, and one that requires Captain Hastings. Let's hope they see sense, and not let Stewart Harcourt anywhere near an Agatha Christie script ever again.
Why Do "Artists" Feel the Need to Reinvent Christie
I totally agree with the few other voices of reason about this being just an awful reworking of a Christie Masterpiece. Up until now, I wasn't that big of a fan of some of the characterizations from the 1974 Albert Finney version - namely Lauren Bacall as Mrs. Hubbard (not ridiculous enough) and Tony Perkins as McQueen (very uneven - Perkins played him both weird and fey, but the McQueen in the book was both strong and confident). Now I feel they were all brilliantly portrayed compared to the dark and repelling characterizations found in this piece of crap. All the recent Poirot movies are so stark and bleak as to be unrecognizable when compared to the humor and warmth of earlier David Suchet portrayals. Here we have him playing a Poirot who seems to hold everyone he meets in utter contempt! And what happened to one of the best lines in the whole book - "they couldn't have ALL done it!" That's how Hercule solves the mystery!!! I could have screamed in utter frustration last night when all that moralistic claptrap they added took up almost the whole last third! What a waste of celluloid! And what a waste of David Suchet. ARRRGH!!! As far as the Catholicism goes, I don't mind that being added since Agatha Christie had already mentioned that in other books. What I DO mind is making Poirot into some "holier than thou" character who probably would have cast that first stone in the story from the Bible! What did the writer do with Poirot's famous compassion??? Its gone, along with his kindness and forebearance. Earlier in the week, I watched a special about the Orient Express staring David Suchet. Now THAT was entertaining. If this had been even one fourth as warm, witty, and wonderful, I probably would have enjoyed it. For those of us who don't want to see Madam Christie's works "improved upon" by so-called "artists" skip this dreck!
Did they read the same book I did?
I had been looking forward to this episode for some time. Murder on the Orient Express is my favorite Christie novel. And David Suchet is the best Poirot. But apparently the writers forgot to read the book. They added and took away characters. They totally changed characters; so much so, one went from being totally innocent to being one of the executioners. In the book, Poirot is his usual pain, but in this story he was just down right nasty. Why all the religion? That wasn't in the book. And there wasn't nearly enough of the actual train footage. Masterpiece did a beautiful special, hosted by David Suchet, on the train, but from what I could see, they used very little of the footage. When it was over, I was so very disappointed. I had such high hopes. I was wrong.
Very good episode in which Poirot investigates the killing of a mysterious person stabbed in his compartment
The film gets marvelous interpretations , lush costume design and adequate production design along with glimmer photography . The movie is an excellent whodunit and this version of the story takes place in 1938 , concerning about one murder on the Orient Express train with Hercules Poirot , David Suchet , as the intelligent sleuth-man to solve it . There Hercule meets various passengers and Ratchett , Toby Jones , an American executive , traveling with his valet and male secretary , and he attempts to secure Poirot's services as he fears that his life is in danger . When the murder of the abrasive American businessman occurs on the train he's travelling on , celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is then recruited to solve the case . Shortly after , the Orient Express is blocked by a blizzard in Croatia . There are many suspects , all support cast : David Morrissey , Susanne Lothar ,Barbara Hershey , Hugh Bonneville , Steven Weaver , Jessica Chastain ... As usual , the final scenes, Poirot shares his solution of the case. In the picture there is mystery , emotion , suspense , twists , actors's interpretations are wonderful and including snowy outdoors . At the beginning of the film talks about a kidnapping and killing a baby similarly to the Lindberg's son and which the murderer was condemned to death row , this one will be related with the death of the train . In fact , Agatha Christie's story , being published in 1934 , was inspired by the notorious kidnapping, and subsequent murder, of famous aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh's baby, Charles Lindbergh Jr. in 1932 . The pace is deliberate , slow and relaxed . And while the dialogue is in English, the film has a deliciously international flavor , with a mix of interesting accents and word pronunciations . The motion picture is only set on two scenarios : the station and train . However this doesn't make boring it . The support cast is pretty good , formed mostly by British and American actors , such as : Jessica Chastian , David Morrissey , Toby Jones , Stanley Wever , Samuel West , Joseph Mawle , Serge Hazanavicious , Marie-Josée Croze and special mention for Eileen Atkins as the veteran as well as bittered Princess Dragomiroff and Hugh Bonneville who portrays a trusted valet of a wealthy gentleman . The set design and costumes are riveting , the flick is magnificently set by that time . Evocative and suspenseful musical score by Christian Henson . Alan Almond's cinematography is atmospheric and colorful ; being shot at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, where the design team built a believable replica of an Orient Express carriage . This Hercule Poirot episode was efficiently directed by Philip Martin .The TV movie will appeal to suspense enthusiasts and thriller lovers. There are several adaptation based on this known novel by Agatha Christie : Murder on the Orient Express (2001) by Carl Schenkel with Alfred Molina as Hercule Poirot , Meredith Baxter , Leslie Caron , Adam James , Dylan Smith , Tasha de Vasconcelos , Amira Casar and Peter Strauss . And the outstanding rendition was Murder on the Orient Express (1974) by Sidney Lumet Sean Connery , Anthony Perkins , Vanessa Redgrave , Jacqueline Bisset , Richard Widmark , Rachel Roberts , John Gielgud , Michael York and Ingrid Bergman's Oscar-winning performance . And finally Murder on the Orient Express (2017) starred and directed by Kenneth Branagh with Johnny Depp , Josh Gad , Derek Jacobi , Adam Garcia , Judi Dench , Penelope Cruz , Olivia Colman and Daisy Riley .
Where is Hastings when you need him?
I, too, was waiting with bated breath for this incarnation of MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. I love Poirot. I love David Suchet. I did not love this filming of the Agatha Christie classic. It was so dark, both visually and emotionally. And Poirot himself seems to be more jaded given to darkness and explosions of anger. His hardness seems out of character especially regarding the stoning of the unfaithful woman prior to boarding the train. The essence of Poirot is his compassion in the midst of his seeming aloofness. This episode shocked me in the changes in his character. Poirot and his "little grey cells" are above the maudlin religious scene, the anger at Mary Debenham, the aforementioned agreement regarding the punishment of the infidel. I know the later stories did not include Japp, Hastings, and Miss Lemon, but, these later episodes make me see how much their characters kept Poirot human in the context of the stories. I am giving 5 stars for the production values....always true to the time period. I am going back to watch my tapes of the earlier episodes...THE ABC MURDERS, POIROT'S Christmas, and many, many more wonderful stories that I thank David Suchet for starring in.... Just hope the next ones show the debonair, fussy, human Poirot to us again.