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Murder On the Orient Express (2017)

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AnotherGuy Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#1: Oct 17th 2017 at 12:23:22 PM

So, Murder on the Orient Express written, directed and starring Kenneth Branagh.

Hoo boy, this will either be a masterpiece or a trainwreck. Branagh as Poirot? Well, he certainly doesn't look like any Poirot I remember (Finney, Suchet), but at least he has a Badass Mustache, if white and not black.

jamespolk Since: Aug, 2012
#2: Oct 17th 2017 at 5:50:20 PM

I have a feeling that this is going to tank. Even if it's good, which I hope it is.

KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#3: Oct 17th 2017 at 8:42:31 PM

I wonder how well Poirot's signature accent and intentionally broken speech is going to go over in the modern day. They could get rid of it, but that comes with its own problems.

Since this is a movie that is probably going to try to get as fans of the stories into the seats, given how Poirot doesn't yet have the wide, pop-cultural exposure of some other literary detectives, you risk pissing off those die hard fans. But keep it, and you're up the wazoo with Unfortunate Implications accusations.

InkDagger Since: Jul, 2014
#4: Oct 17th 2017 at 8:53:12 PM

It looks like it'll be good. Cinematography looks amazing and it has an all-star cast. I've seen advertisements EVERYWHERE too.

My major worry about it is how much it'll depart from the original since it looks more... action-y compared to the book where it was literally one interview after another until the reveal. I mean, I'm not objecting since I trust Braunagh, but it does give me pause for a second.

jamespolk Since: Aug, 2012
#5: Oct 18th 2017 at 12:35:26 AM

I wonder how many Agatha Christie fans there are out there, 40 years after she croaked.

A while back I got a kick out of watching the David Suchet TV edition of this story, and noticing a pre-stardom Jessica Chastain in the cast.

Punisher286 Since: Jan, 2016
#6: Oct 18th 2017 at 3:03:23 AM

It's nice to see Michelle Pfeiffer having something of a career resurgence (along with her Batman costar Michael Keaton ironically enough). And films like this are going to show whether or not Daisy Ridley is a legitimately talented actress, or just really well suited to one particular role (her Star Wars one).

EndlessSea LEGENDARY GALE from oh no you don't Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
LEGENDARY GALE
#7: Oct 18th 2017 at 6:37:19 AM

I honestly didn't think too much of her as Rey, so it'll be interesting to see if she does better with a different director.

but HOW?
Tuckerscreator (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#8: Oct 18th 2017 at 12:46:14 PM

I thought she was good as Rey, towards the beginning when she’s this mix of bitter yet idealistic. It’s towards the latter half that Rey got less to do besides react to things.

EndlessSea LEGENDARY GALE from oh no you don't Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
LEGENDARY GALE
#9: Oct 18th 2017 at 5:26:53 PM

Oh, yeah, definitely. I feel like I would have warmed up to the character much better if the story gave her more moments like her in her scavenger hut, just being herself.

but HOW?
Robbery Since: Jul, 2012
#10: Oct 19th 2017 at 12:45:49 PM

@ jamespolk: There are loads of Agatha Christie fans worldwide, even 40 years after her death. She continues to be one of the bestselling authors in history (and, according to some figures, she's the best-selling author in history).

I was surprised when I read that Johnny Depp was in this film, and Branagh is still playing Poirot himself. Poirot strikes me as the kind of character part that Depp really seems to enjoy, and I think he'd have done a great job. Branagh is certainly going for a non-traditional Poirot (not bald, not short and pudgy, not dying his hair black). For the first time, though, they've got his mustache the right size; most other versions have it a meticulously trimmed little mustache, when it's described by Christie as being, while meticulously groomed, huge.

Quag15 Since: Mar, 2012
#11: Oct 19th 2017 at 5:26:23 PM

But keep it, and you're up the wazoo with Unfortunate Implications accusations.

There are? His way of speaking (especially the way Suchet did it) is so well-remembered here that people don't really complain about that sort of stuff. If there are unfortunate implications about a character peppering his second-language English with some words from his native language, then a whole lot of real life people around the world who are speaking or might have spoken X-glish (or using certain native language words in their daily conversations in English) are screwed.

Unless you're referring to something else.

Hodor2 Since: Jan, 2015
#12: Oct 19th 2017 at 5:31:40 PM

I can't recall how explicit it is in Murder On the Orient Express, but IIRC it's pretty explicit, especially given two other characters playing up or faking an accent, but Poirot is often suggested to be playing up a Funny Foreigner persona as a method of Obfuscating Stupidity.

So, I'm not sure how many Unfortunate Implications there would be, especially because unlike in some of Christie's other books, Poiriot is basically the protagonist.

Edit- That is a good point that Poiriot is the kind of character that Depp would want to play, what with his predilection for funny accents and mustaches. I'm kind of glad he isn't though, due to a combination of being put off by seeing movies with Depp due to his personal life, and because he increasingly plays up the wackiness of his characters. While Brannagh is no slouch in the Large Ham department either, I'd expect some more nuance from him.

edited 19th Oct '17 5:35:07 PM by Hodor2

pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#13: Oct 19th 2017 at 6:28:41 PM

That was an integral part of Poirot's game: He was fully capable of speaking fluent, correct, idiomatic English, but chose instead to play the role of the Funny Foreigner to appear harmless and lull people into a false sense of security. Ditto his eccentric mannerisms and fastidious style of dress. People would think to themselves, "This fellow is so vain, he must be too self-centered to notice anything."

edited 19th Oct '17 6:40:15 PM by pwiegle

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
Robbery Since: Jul, 2012
#14: Oct 19th 2017 at 10:02:09 PM

I forget which book it was, but Poirot says once that part of his success is that people are willing to talk to him because he's a "funny little man."

It's interesting to note that Christie actually didn't much like Poirot (she much preferred Miss Marple), and only continued to write him because her readers wanted her to. She wrote Curtain, the last Poirot story, around the tail end of WWII, but was talked out of discontinuing the character (it ended up being published in the 70's, just before Christie died).

jamespolk Since: Aug, 2012
#15: Oct 19th 2017 at 10:35:08 PM

Yes, Poirot always played up Funny Foreigner deliberately. And for that matter, is Funny Foreigner bad? Christie even played Funny Foreigner with Americans...I specifically remember a Tommy and Tuppence story with an American character, where Christie makes fun of his accent, as he's visiting "Yurrop".

As for how many fans Agatha Christie has, I should make clear that I had a whole shelf full of Christie novels when I was a kid 30 years ago. But one does wonder if her moment is something from the cultural past. Guess we'll find out.

AnotherGuy Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#16: Oct 20th 2017 at 9:41:32 AM

Poirot gets all the attention. Poor Miss Marple.

Punisher286 Since: Jan, 2016
#17: Oct 20th 2017 at 9:45:03 AM

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle didn't much care for Sherlock Holmes either (he felt like his nonfiction work was what he'd ultimately be remembered for). So it seems to be something of a trend, artists not realizing which of their creations the audience/readers will really latch onto.

Robbery Since: Jul, 2012
#18: Oct 20th 2017 at 1:42:20 PM

They could still write their characters effectively, even though they didn't like them. I've read any number of writers who are clearly in love with their protagonists, to the point where the character becomes a veritable Mary Sue. I don't think Christie was ever unfair to Poirot (except, perhaps, in Curtain, where time has punctured his vanity a bit, and he comes off as significantly more abrasive than usual—to be fair, he was in very poor health in that one, so it's not like his behavior is unbelievable).

Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#19: Oct 20th 2017 at 2:40:28 PM

And Doyle never really hated Holmes, he just felt he was a comparatively lesser work of his that he wanted to put an end to.

What we really need is Holmes vs Poirot vs Miss Marple in which Holmes just fucking pummels an old lady and a fat man with impunity.

edited 20th Oct '17 2:41:58 PM by Gaon

"All you Fascists bound to lose."
AnotherGuy Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
jamespolk Since: Aug, 2012
#21: Oct 26th 2017 at 1:12:41 PM

Saw a commercial and Branagh's mustache is ridiculous. Not a good idea.

Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#22: Oct 26th 2017 at 2:45:28 PM

Eh. It is, but I feel like Brannagh might actually be able to pull it off. Little messy, though. I don't mind it being big, I know that's more accurate to the books, but I still imagined it being more...tapered, I guess?

Since it wasn't embedded on the thread. I do like that first-person gimmick shot with the different roles appearing and the looped (I think?) dialogue. I kinda like it when trailers do shots like that. I'm hoping it's not actually in the movie proper, though, along with the Imagine Dragons song.

edited 26th Oct '17 4:50:03 PM by Unsung

Robbery Since: Jul, 2012
#23: Oct 26th 2017 at 2:45:49 PM

Poirot's mustache is supposed to be ridiculous. He's meticulous, affected, and terribly full of himself.

jamespolk Since: Aug, 2012
#24: Oct 26th 2017 at 4:44:32 PM

Well David Suchet's mustache wasn't ridiculous. And the tone of that commercial, which is drama/thriller, does not match well with Branagh's vaudeville villain mustache.

edited 26th Oct '17 6:26:34 PM by jamespolk

Robbery Since: Jul, 2012
#25: Oct 26th 2017 at 5:26:01 PM

I loved Suchet's Poirot, and his mustache actually fits with Poirot's fussy, meticulous character. I agree that Branagh's mustache looks weird, but Chrstie's descriptions actually say flat out that it isn't a tiny, clipped thing but a big, exquisitely manicured walrus-y thing.


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