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Agatha Christie’s life rivaled the mysteries she created

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Re: Agatha Christie’s life rivaled the mysteries she created

#21

Post by lobster_johnson »

gajjanag wrote: post #17

For fans of film, essentially all of Agatha Christie's mysteries featuring the Belgian detective character Hercule Poirot have been adapted by ITV into a fantastic TV series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_Christie's_Poirot I find it fascinating that they did this series over a span of over 24 years, with the same lead actor (David Suchet, CBE) as Hercule Poirot throughout! There is a behind the scenes intervie…

I think the Poirot series is superb, but some of them suffer from stretching the runtime -- the best ones are about 51 minutes long, whereas the longer ones (which includes all of the last few seasons) click in at 1 hour and 29 minutes, some of which are based on short stories, not novels. As delightful as Poirot and his mysteries are, these are also admittedly somewhat shallow, implausible puzzles that rely on acting and cozy English nostalgia to entertain, not deep characterization or touching character arcs. Stretched to two hours, there's often not enough meat to hold one's attention.

David Suchet is a national treasure, though. I wish he would be in more movies and shows.

Re: Agatha Christie’s life rivaled the mysteries she created

#22

Post by thaumasiotes »

lobster_johnson wrote: post #21
gajjanag wrote: post #17

For fans of film, essentially all of Agatha Christie's mysteries featuring the Belgian detective character Hercule Poirot have been adapted by ITV into a fantastic TV series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_Christie's_Poirot I find it fascinating that they did this series over a span of over 24 years, with the same lead actor (David Suchet, CBE) as Hercule Poirot throughout! There is a behind the scenes intervie…

I think the Poirot series is superb, but some of them suffer from stretching the runtime -- the best ones are about 51 minutes long, whereas the longer ones (which includes all of the last few seasons) click in at 1 hour and 29 minutes, some of which are based on short stories , not novels. As delightful as Poirot and his mysteries are, these are also admittedly somewhat shallow, implausible puzzles that rely on acti…

> the longer ones (which includes all of the last few seasons) click in at 1 hour and 29 minutes, some of which are based on short stories, not novels.

What matters is how much content there is in the episode. People have gotten the idea from Peter Jackson's awful, awful Hobbit movies that pages of source material are a restriction on how much movie you can make. But the problem there was that the movies were terrible, not that The Hobbit was shorter than a three-book series. Shrek is a 90 minute movie based off of a children's book of just 1,150 words. Nobody ever complained about the quality of Shrek.

Re: Agatha Christie’s life rivaled the mysteries she created

#23

Post by barking »

gajjanag wrote: post #17

For fans of film, essentially all of Agatha Christie's mysteries featuring the Belgian detective character Hercule Poirot have been adapted by ITV into a fantastic TV series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_Christie's_Poirot I find it fascinating that they did this series over a span of over 24 years, with the same lead actor (David Suchet, CBE) as Hercule Poirot throughout! There is a behind the scenes intervie…

I remember being into watching these when they came out first. And then wondering in later years how they were still current while Suchet wasn't aging.

Re: Agatha Christie’s life rivaled the mysteries she created

#24

Post by diiaann »

lisper wrote: post #4

The essential Agatha (IMHO): The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Murder on the Orient Express Curtain Can't tell you why without spoiling it though. You have to read them.

I think I've read every single Poirot, my favorites are:

Murder on the Orient Express

Death on the Nile

Appointment with Death

Cat Among Pigeons

Re: Agatha Christie’s life rivaled the mysteries she created

#25

Post by mathattack »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #22
lobster_johnson wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the Poirot series is superb, but some of them suffer from stretching the runtime -- the best ones are about 51 minutes long, whereas the longer ones (which includes all of the last few seasons) click in at 1 hour and 29 minutes, some of which are based on short stories , not novels. As delightful as Poirot and his mysteries are, these are also admittedly somewhat shallow, implausible puzzles that rely on acti…

> the longer ones (which includes all of the last few seasons) click in at 1 hour and 29 minutes, some of which are based on short stories , not novels. What matters is how much content there is in the episode. People have gotten the idea from Peter Jackson's awful, awful Hobbit movies that pages of source material are a restriction on how much movie you can make. But the problem there was that the movies were terrib…

After rereading the Hobbit, I wanted someone to arrest Peter Jackson for vandalism. It was such an awesome reread!

Re: Agatha Christie’s life rivaled the mysteries she created

#26

Post by ubernostrum »

taeric wrote: post #7
lisper wrote: post #4

The essential Agatha (IMHO): The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Murder on the Orient Express Curtain Can't tell you why without spoiling it though. You have to read them.

I'll have to see curtain to my list, then. I'll second the first two. Very fun novels. Haven't seen the new movie. Guessing it is ok, but different. At best.

I watched the Branagh film on a recent flight.

It's... OK, I guess. I'd recommend anyone who wants to see it read the book first. The twist is preserved, but in the film doesn't work quite as well.

The basic problem (for those who are curious) is that the book takes you there through a couple iterations of Poirot interviewing the passengers, and showing exactly how he teases out each little piece of information that finally causes the truth to pop out at the end. The film, constrained by running-time concerns, can't do that, so several things that are separate and gradual revelations in the book are part of one big reveal.

A lot of the fun of the book (for me, at least) is the series of small shocks as he goes through the initial set of interviews and comes away with nothing, then figures out the pieces of the puzzle, confronts other people with them in later interviews, and explains how he worked them out from previous clues. That gives the eventual solution of the murder an entirely different feel.

There's also the usual amount of gratuitous deviation from the source in adding a bit of action and fiddling with characters, which also detracts a bit. The worst of it is that the moment when Poirot's solution is finally confirmed -- which is done in the book with a wonderful single sentence uttered by one passenger -- was changed entirely and became much more cruel than the book, in a way that deviates from how Christie usually presents Poirot's character.

Re: Agatha Christie’s life rivaled the mysteries she created

#28

Post by KC8ZKF »

lisper wrote: post #4

The essential Agatha (IMHO): The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Murder on the Orient Express Curtain Can't tell you why without spoiling it though. You have to read them.

After you read "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", I recommend "Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?" by Pierre Bayard. (spoiler alert: Please don't Google this book until you have read the Christie.)

Bayard writes "revisionist readings" of popular mysteries, in which he exonerates the killers. He mixes in a fair amount of literary criticism. I have a hard time deciding how serious he is.

Re: Agatha Christie’s life rivaled the mysteries she created

#29

Post by ghaff »

ubernostrum wrote: post #26
taeric wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll have to see curtain to my list, then. I'll second the first two. Very fun novels. Haven't seen the new movie. Guessing it is ok, but different. At best.

I watched the Branagh film on a recent flight. It's... OK, I guess. I'd recommend anyone who wants to see it read the book first . The twist is preserved, but in the film doesn't work quite as well. The basic problem (for those who are curious) is that the book takes you there through a couple iterations of Poirot interviewing the passengers, and showing exactly how he teases out each little piece of information that…

The whole way that Poirot/Branagh acted around the reveal and afterwards differed quite a bit from the 70s film as well. It's the main thing that knocks this version down at least a notch for me.

Re: Agatha Christie’s life rivaled the mysteries she created

#30

Post by emodendroket »

jjess wrote: post #16
jacobkg wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would add "And Then There Were None" Haven't actually read Curtain, I will now immediately go buy it!

Actually, original title by Agatha Christie was "Ten Little Niggers" [1]. I didn't read the book, but I really liked the movie [2] (there is eng subs). People in reviews say it's closest and probably best adaptation. IMO, it's excellent. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Then_There_Were_None [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoTDsuSgPBw

While that is true I can't see why it's relevant. You're not going to find it under that title except maybe at an antique book seller.
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