Thrilling story, but absolute MURDER on the senses
I quickly finished the Murder on the Orient Express novel by Agatha Christie this weekend so that I could go to the new movie out in theaters. I’ve been looking forward to this adaptation since I saw the previews; and oh boy do I have some opinions about it…just ask my husband!
Per usual, there are a few differences in the arrangement of clues, and some very small ones left out all together. At this point in my movie going experience I’ve come to expect (and somewhat accept) these changes. What I absolutely hated was the cinematography for this movie. There were a million (probably literally) cut shots and rapid pan shots. A smattering of these will never get a criticism from me; I don’t hate pan shots so much that I won’t allow them in the same room…I’m not a monster. What I believe happened in this film is that the cinematographer was scared that they entire book takes place on a train, and how boring is that, so their job was to spice things up as much as humanly possible. But the angles and style were so distracting that I couldn’t really even get into the storyline. It felt as if the film were an assignment from a freshman MTA major (Media & Theater Arts) where a student thought to their self: “Let’s see how many different camera angles I can fit into one movie. It’s so artsy!” I could spend a lot more time ranting about how much I loathed this element of the film…but I’ll move on.
Now, on to the happy part where I talk about the things I actually enjoyed about the film. I thought the casting was quite perfect. In fact, that was what got me so excited to see the movie in the first place. The other thing I mentioned in my book review is that the Hercule Poirot series always have so many characters (which makes sense since you need suspects). The amount of personas I have to keep straight can often confuse a simple mind like mine; so watching the actors is more helpful to keeping everyone straight. I also love the settings used in the film. The train was gorgeous, the cities they briefly stop in are bustling and exciting, and even the snowy pass was handsome. This is where I thought the pesky problem of one boring shot on a train was taken care of (no need for the extra from the cinematographer). In the book, the detective basically sets up shop in the dinning car and brings all suspects in to be interviewed there. In the film they set up interviews in the drink car, the dinning car, the hallways, the storage car, and even at a tea table outside.
The movie is an acceptable adaptation of the book. In fact, if you aren’t bothered by the odd camera shots like I am, the movie was spectacular. So take it or leave it, I would at least say I would watch it again. Happy watching and bonsua.