Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
TRAILER 1
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A lavish train ride unfolds into a stylish &
suspenseful mystery. From the novel by Agatha Christie, Murder on the
Orient Express tells of thirteen stranded strangers & one man's race
to solve the puzzle before the murderer strikes again.
Director:
Kenneth BranaghLanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
10 November 2017 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Asesinato en el Expreso de Oriente See more »Company Credits
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Dolby AtmosColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1Did You Know?
Trivia
Michelle Pfeiffer described the making of the film as "deceptively challenging" due to the nature of the period and the language used during that era. See more »Quotes
Hercule Poirot: I see evil on this train.Connections
Version of Murder on the Orient Express (2015)Soundtracks
Never ForgetMusic by Patrick Doyle
Lyrics by Kenneth Branagh
Performed by Michelle Pfeiffer
When the biggest difference between the new version of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express and
its 43-year-old predecessor is arguably the size of the respective
Hercule Poirot's moustaches, one has to wonder as to the pressing need
for a remake. All the same, director-star Kenneth Branagh has delivered a
version of Agatha Christie's 1934 murder-on-a-train mystery gem that
may not be as starry but is snappier than the highly successful 1974
outing. Given the confined nature of the material as well as its
period-specific aspects, this is a yarn that does not exactly invite
radical reinterpretation. As such, its appeal is confined to the
traditional niceties of being a clever tale well told, with colorful
characters that are fun to watch being made to squirm by the inimitable
Belgian detective. Moderate box-office results would appear to be in
store for this Fox release that chugs out on Nov. 10.
Now as then, the roster of luminaries
brought aboard for Sidney Lumet's uncharacteristically lush
entertainment looks pretty astounding, beginning with Albert Finney as
Poirot and also including Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, Vanessa
Redgrave, Richard Widmark, Lauren Bacall, Anthony Perkins, Jacqueline
Bisset, Michael York and Wendy Hiller. Nonetheless, seen today, the film
definitely takes its own sweet time with things, and the fact that
Bergman won a best supporting actress Oscar for her work in a relatively
drab role is utterly confounding; there's nothing special about either
the part or performance.
So perhaps it's no coincidence that
refashioning that role, by casting Penelope Cruz, is among the
relatively small number of alterations screenwriter Michael Green has
made in reconceiving this new edition. The other notable change lies in
the introduction of a black character, Dr. Arbuthnot, played by Leslie
Odom Jr., as a substitute for Connery's army colonel. Neither
reconfiguration makes much difference in the bigger scheme of things.
Indeed, the most immediately noticeable
distinction between the two versions is the size and design of the
inspector's moustaches. While Finney's growth was a modest wee thing,
Branagh's brush provokes one-of-a-kind fascination. The salt-and-pepper
tendril sweeps back from above his thin upper lip at least halfway to
his ears, while a dabble on the middle of his chin adds an exclamation
point. The creation is immaculately tended to, particularly at night,
when it's carefully protected by a special moustache mask, certainly the
most important item in the impeccably attired investigator's suitcase.
Christie's yarn retains its ability to
tease and amuse in a time-killing sort of way. As the remainder of the
tale will essentially be confined to narrow railway cars, Branagh packs
all the hustle and bustle he can into the first 20 minutes, which sweep
through scenic parts of old Istanbul on its way to getting the
characters aboard the Simplon-Orient Express back to Europe in the
evening.
Naturally, the passengers on this last
word in luxury trains are affluent and dressed accordingly (Alexandra
Byrne designed the playful, spiffy wardrobe), but that doesn't make them
classy; rather, they are a largely louche and suspicious bunch,
deliberately endowed by their creator to harbor ulterior motives and
possibly sinister designs. They are also outfitted with labels as well
as names: Cruz is “The Missionary”; Willem Dafoe plays “The Professor,”
who voices pro-Nazi sympathies; Michelle Pfeiffer (in Bacall's former
role) essays “The Widow”; Daisy Ridley (taking the baton from Redgrave)
becomes “The Governess”; Judi Dench (stepping in for Hiller) is in her
element as the imperious Princess Dragomiroff; and Olivia Colman is “The
Maid” for the latter (Rachel Roberts in the original).
But dominating the early-going is “The
Gangster,” a swaggering tough guy with an accent to match played by
Johnny Depp (Widmark embodied a more low-keyed version in the original);
Josh Gad plays his assistant (following in Perkins' footsteps). The
Gangster's motives, and his interactions with Poirot, become more
complex than initially seems apparent, but what the fellow passengers
all seem to share is some sort of acquaintance with a prominent American
family whose child was kidnapped and ultimately found dead, a plot
point lifted by Christie from the ghastly abduction of Charles and Anne
Lindbergh's baby in 1932.
Christie's plot officially becomes a
murder mystery when one of the main characters is killed in his
compartment overnight; most of the remainder consists of a now aroused
Poirot interviewing the key figures on board the snow-drift-stalled
train and applying his extraordinary deductive skills to figure out who
among the passengers did the deed.
In his direction but even moreso in his
performance as the determined genius investigator, Branagh is energetic
to the point of passionate fanaticism. For a good long while, the
blunt-spoken, sometimes rude Belgian is flummoxed by a case that's
unique in his experience, his frustration driving him to distraction.
But his penetrating intelligence can never be denied for long, and
Branagh the director has come up with a novel, if far-fetched, way of
transferring his climactic revelation scene — where he spins his
conclusions to the whole group — out of the train to a more scenic
location.
Like Dunkirk earlier in the year, this Murder on the Orient Express was
shot on 65mm film. While this format is a connoisseur's delight and
always adds extra pleasure in the form of greater visual detail and
sumptuousness, it remains mysterious why this story, confined as it is
to cramped interior settings most of the way, called out for the rarely
used higher-resolution film gauge. On it own merits, Haris Zambarloukos'
cinematography is fine and functional, but the nature of the project
rather severely restricts the visual opportunities.
Branagh's Poirot is fearless, penetrating
and amusing in his relentlessness; in the end, it's pretty much a
toss-up between Branagh and Finney as to who is more effective, although
you could say Branagh's moustache alone gives him the edge by more than
a hair.
FINAL RATING: 6/10 FOR THE GENRE & 5/10 OVERALL. A sadness in a way that I did not expect that movie to be so much average, but there was more in it because of starting with the cast already. But the Director does not use them well and so the movie and the script is flat and tiring, no, not comparable to the original from 1974.
Thanks for reading and have fun watching movies.
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