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murder-orient-express
Whodunnit? Whydunnit? This is a true classic and looks fabulous.

I very much enjoyed 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express. As an avid mystery book reader, I’d heard of the 1934 novel in question, of the writer Agatha Christie, and even knew bits and pieces about her recurring eccentric detective Hercule Poirot. (It’s the kind of name that sticks with you.)

But that is ALL. I. KNEW. For a book almost a hundred years old. I don’t know how I wasn’t spoiled. Even after this movie came out, I still wasn’t spoiled. That’s got to be a miracle. It’s not like 1934 was within the statue of limitations for spoilers. But I won’t spoil you here.

The story played fair enough to guess the at murderer

The clues were very good, the misleads worked, and the backstory was tragic. I thought the ending was perfect. I guessed early on who the actual killer was (there’s one clue in particular that I thought made it clear). Then I KNEW I was right at the ‘Last Supper’ blocking during the climax. No director goes to such lengths without due cause. It’s beautifully done. Again, I’m not spoiling anything. You’ll know the scene when you see it.

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The setting is gorgeous

Throughout, the setting is sumptuous, impressive both inside and out in the snow-locked mountains. Note how often mirrors, reflections, and distorted images seen though beveled windows work to carry the themes of identity and madness. I loved seeing the bit players in the background actually digging the train out, and watching the progress in the background — a constant reminder of the how much ticking time was left to solve the mystery.

I recently saw Orient Express on my airplane seatback, and would have been excited to have seen it in 2017 on the big screen. But as it was, personal flight seatbacks are great for constant playbacks of everyone’s reaction shots. I think that helps a lot. It also helps with the frequently unintelligible lines by many of the actors, which should never happen in the film with such otherwise loving directorial quality (by Kenneth Branagh, who was starring in it).

The staging was Baroque

And now I wonder if the Last Supper blocking was hinted at in the novel, or was something Branagh himself devised. You see a lot of Jesus callbacks in a lot of entertainment — La Pieta pops up a lot, and of course the Christ on a Cross imagery. Stigmata, the grail, and blood symbolism are common symbols in film. Very stylized movies might even have lighting worthy of a Caravaggio.

But you need a big cast for The Last Supper, and a reason to stage people so carefully.

Christie on a Kindle?

Anyway, I enjoyed Orient Express greatly. I’m going to grab the book on Kindle and see how Christie reads. There’s a nod to Death on the Nile at the end of Orient Express (the movie) …and there’s news Nile is in the pipe for the next film. YAY! Should I read Nile first or wait for the movie? I think the movie will be more fun to do first. I tend to like a movie better if I read the book later. Sometimes reading a book first sets up unrealistic expectations for the transition to film.

This is a solid B for me. It misses a B+ by nature of the dialog that either some of the actors couldn’t handle, or a ball-dropping by the production team. Mysteries, especially, need lines you can understand. You want to be carried along guessing whodunnit and howdunnit. The film also lacks a certain energy: things get bogged down in the middle. This might have been from difficulties translating all the important details/red herrings from the Orient Express novel to the screen.

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Did you correctly guess who the killer was?

Movie Grade: B

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Movie Review – Murder on the Orient Express

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Comments

4 responses to “First View Movie Review – Murder on the Orient Express (No Spoilers)”

  1. Since you like this you might want to check out the David Suchet Hercule Poirot series https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094525/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_15 . He has done all 34 Agatha Christie Hercule stories over 20+ years. David plays the role quirkier than Branagh and I like him better but that may be because I watched him for many years before seeing Branagh. As I write this you’d have to rent it but it periodically comes on a subscription streaming service.

  2. @Michael, thank you! This looks right up my alley, and I appreciate your adding a new series for me to check out. Quirky is awesome. The smartest people can often be obsessive and strange, and I like that in my characters.

    Do you you prefer the basic story of Orient Express, Death on the Nile, or something else?

  3. I didn’t care for the way Orient Express ended – I don’t want to say to much. I liked Nile better. I really like Knives Out and the story about Agatha Christie doing detective work of her own, Agatha and the Truth of Murder. Even though neither were written by her I didn’t know until I check.

    There are a number of the one’s done by David Suchet I really liked, but it has been so long I can’t name them.

  4. @Mjprocopio, thanks for your knowledgeable thoughts. I think I liked Orient Express bc I guessed the ending (again, one early clue I thought made it obvious, and another clue later on was also implying the truth).

    And I totally want to take this sumptuous, glorious train ride now. Probably too expensive to be a real Bucket List item, but it makes for a lovely fantasy.

    I’m glad Nile should be even better!

    We really adored Knives Out here at RunPee. All of us had to see it to make Peetimes that didn’t offer important clues (or important red herrings).

    This is one of the best, most insightful comment threads on RunPee, about hidden clues in Knives Out:

    https://howditgo.app/7-hidden-clues-humor-you-might-have-missed-in-knives-out/

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