Lost
I will try to keep this rant small and light. One of the best Agatha Christie novels is Murder on the Orient Express. Okay, you can make your case for And Then There Were None. Or the sparkle of the Miss Marple stories. Are you done? Good. Murder on the Orient Express is genius. And David Suchet playing Poirot is genius. And that is why the Masterpiece Mystery Poirot Series X: Murder on the Orient Express is so upsetting. Disappointing. Infuriating.
When I saw that Poirot was on Sunday, I was delighted. My heart skipped a beat. Orient Express. Woohoo! Long awaited. By me. If you haven’t read the book, you should. But look away from the rest of this as it will have spoilers. I watched the movie via DVR with Miranda. And I wanted to explain the story to her. The jumble of characters. The hidden patterns. And this movie hewed to the book plot far more closely than some of the movies. But the introduction of an adulterous honor killing in the Middle East seemed forced. And was a pain to have to explain. On the upside, she can’t imagine anyone killing someone over their marriage or family honor orreally for any reason. I find that innocence lovely.
And then Poirot defends honor killings as cultural, he has zero compassion for liars and he has not wit or joie de vivre. His “I do not like murder” stance is clear, but Papa Poirot has a twinkle in his eye and mercy in his heart. In this movie, Poirot seems old. There are so many of the later novels that stress that Poirot is aging and feels old, but Orient Express has never fit that category for me. Orient Express is Poirot as a genius. Agile, able, and in the end, compassionate. In this movie, Poirot is old, rigid, slow. I couldn’t help but think this portrayal will fit Poirot in Curtain, the final novel. And even in that tale, he is more thoughtful.
I know Orient Express will be remade. I am dismayed that David Suchet did not create the definitive work. And Miranda didn’t even really watch the end, turned off buy the darkness. Explaining liking murder mysteries is difficult enough. What a waste.
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