My thoughts on Kenneth Branagh's 2022 adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Death on the Nile"

Poor Kenneth Branagh.

When I started the 2022 version of Death on the Nile, I was so hopeful for a good adaptation.

I mean, I know not everybody enjoyed his version of Murder on the Orient Express, but I really did. I felt like what was changed wasn't anything major, and it really felt like it was just telling the story without any sort of emotional additions that can happen.

I was thinking about it after I'd finished the 2022 Death on the Nile tonight, and I realized that the strangest thing happened.

While being a huge fan of David Suchet's performance as Hercule Poirot, I do not like the emotionalism and the moral conflict that he goes through in his version of Murder on the Orient Express. It is my least favorite version because it adds drama where it's not needed and where it was not in the original story by having Poirot be so conflicted about convicting murderers.

And that's probably why I loved Kenneth Branagh's version, because it pretty much is just, "here's the story, do with it what you will."

The reverse happened with Death on the Nile.

I absolutely love not only Agatha Christie's original novel, but also David Suchet's  movie of Death on the Nile. I think it is brilliantly filmed on location, in Egypt, with actual monuments and landmarks.

The casting was brilliant. You really can't beat Frances de la Tour, and I love that she played a major part in that story.

Then you have the 2022 Death on the Nile, and I actually forced myself to watch the entire thing start to finish.

I genuinely hated it.

And I hated it from the very beginning because I do not for one second believe that Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot has a mustache because he has a scar from World War I.

That theory is absurd and does not accurately represent Hercule Poirot, who is simply a fastidious and vain little peacock of a man. He has a mustache because it is important to his vanity. He has it because he loves it. He doesn't have it simply because he's hiding a scar.

So unfortunately the movie started off on the wrong foot for me.

And then of course you run into the issue of filming a movie called Death on the Nile, and you are not doing it on location, but almost entirely on a soundstage somewhere and using CGI to create the exotic location. That is almost a crime against Agatha Christie.

I mean, I have seen multiple versions at this point of Death on the Nile. Peter Ustinov's is also quite excellent, I would say. My favorite is the one with David Suchet. But what do those two films both have in common? It is that they were filmed on location in Egypt, on an actual boat on the Nile River.

Another issue are the 2019/2020 special effects that are, unfortunately, aging very badly. They make the film feel shiny and fake, where that would not be a problem if it had simply, say it with me, been filmed on location!

I understand that they were going for opulence and grandiose scope. I tend to be of the mindset that opulence begins with authenticity. And so filming on location would have done much more for the story than a soundstage could ever do.

 And speaking of the soundstage and the set, it's quite ghastly.

It's garish and modern in a way that is kind of jarring.

I don't believe for one second that they're on a riverboat cruise in the 1930s.

The riverboat just feels like it's too much, if that makes sense. It was overdone.

So, so far we have two things. One, the history of Poirot's mustache that is not accurate to Agatha Christie. And two, the lack of filming in Egypt and the fake pomposity of the set.

Another issue that I unfortunately have is the absurdity that everyone is on this river cruise to celebrate the newlyweds. I realize that it feels strange to have coincidences in terms of however many degrees of separation are between the main characters and the secondary characters. So it feels strange if people are accidentally on the same cruise and have connections.

But that is how Agatha Christie wrote her books.

Sometimes, like on Murder on the Orient Express, yes, everybody is actually in cahoots. Sometimes they are not.

And so the idea that this is one gigantic wedding party gone awry is just a very peculiar approach.

This is going to sound very prudish of me, but there was no need at all for the hypersexualization of the romance, the love triangle as it were.

We didn't need that. The audience did not need that.

We did not need to see **** dancing in what is supposedly supposed to be a 1930s kind of nightclub. I mean, if it's a low dive, maybe.

But if that is the case, then may I also ask why someone of Linnet's reputation and standing would be there in the first place?

I mean, I'm sure that she lives life the way she wants to, but the audience did not need to see it.

It made the story feel extremely cheap.

I won't go into the casting choices for the 2022 Death on the Nile because I think it's overall unnecessary.

We already know the scandal surrounding Armie Hammer and Russell Brand. We don't need to hash it out again.

It's just extremely unfortunate that the film was impacted so negatively because I know it was.

My dislike honestly had zero to do with either of those men or any of the other cast members and everything to do with the fact that it is a rubbish adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel.

I respect Kenneth Branagh as a director. I have seen films that he has done which are excellent.

As I said, I like his Murder on the Orient Express. I like it the best of any adaptations that I've seen, and that's saying something.

I really wish that I had loved his Death on the Nile.

I wish that it had been different.

I wish that the screenwriter had approached it differently.

I wish that Kenneth Branagh had approached it differently.

But that isn't where we ended up.

So I'm glad I watched it, because at least now I can say with certainty that it is a rubbish adaptation of a brilliant Agatha Christie novel.

I don't care how pretty it is or how many beautiful people it has starring in it.

A rubbish adaptation is a rubbish adaptation.

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The Agatha Christie Project Update

I know, I know, it's been forever since I've added anything to The Agatha Christie Project page!

The truth is that I just haven't been very motivated to put my bookish thoughts online for quite a few years now. But I am going to try and get the ball rolling on this project again, this time, without an end date. I hate deadlines in all aspects of my life, so we'll just not have one for this project and I'll get books reviewed as I get around to them.

One thing is for sure, though, I am saving up to add to my Christie collection of hardbacks. I've realized that I only want to collect books that I love so the bookcases need to be weeded. But for those beloved authors, I will go out of my way to buy special copies of their books. With designs that I love and that I feel add to the mystique and adventure promised within the pages. Christie is one of those authors, and I am enjoying the experience of adding pretty editions to my sadly lacking bookshelf bearing her name.

When do you read Agatha Christie? Do you have a season when you want to just reach for her books, or is it an all-year-round thing?

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The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie (1936)

It's hard to believe that The A.B.C. Murders is #13 in Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot series, yet there it is. It is the story of a serial killer running rampant through England killing people in the chronology of the alphabet. So Mrs. Ascher is murdered in Andover and Betty Barnard is murdered in Bexhill, and so on and so forth. Clearly a madman is behind the murders, and like most serial killers, this individual must write a letter to someone, either to give them a sporting chance at stopping them or to gloat over their genius. The recipient of said letters is, naturally Hercule Poirot, and so he partners with the police on this manhunt.

The A.B.C. Murders is undoubtedly intriguing, but it would have been more so if it hadn't been for Captain Hastings as the storyteller. I've only really read one or two other Poirot novels, so I found Hastings to be quite the irritant. This is a shame, because I love Hastings in the series with David Suchet, but found him irksome in this novel.

Poirot was his usual genius self, as expected, and I enjoy that he has a twinkle in his eye and good humor about many things as the story progresses. I heard Suchet's voice in my head and enjoyed envisioning an episode of the series that I know remarkably well.

Agatha Christie is quite the master craftsman. The plot is excellent from start to finish and based on my understanding, she developed the ending first and them worked backwards, which makes a lot of sense and is probably the best way to write a solid mystery. If you're not familiar with this story then you may have some surprises in store.

The copy of The A.B.C. Murders in the photo is one that I newly acquired. It is a HarperCollins edition and was available for purchase from England through Waterstones. I love the art deco cover style and am pleased with the quality.

I am very slowly reading Agatha Christie novels as part of my personal Agatha Christie Project. Emphasis on the slowly. And clearly I am not reading them in any particular order.

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Book Review: Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie (1969, Hercule Poirot)

Read for my own Agatha Christie Project that is a bit of a slow starter, but I'm determined to focus on more in 2022, Hallowe'en Party is considered to be book #40 in the Hercule Poirot series by Agatha Christie.

While I've not read very many of Ms. Christie's books starring the famous Belgian detective, Hallowe'en Party is one of my favorites of the miniseries' adaptations. It's chilling and brilliant and perfectly spooky for the Halloween season, so long as you don't mind the idea of murdered children.

Considering that it is written and set in 1969, there is definitely a different vibe in Hallowe'en Party than her earlier work. All of a sudden there's the question of whether crimes are sex crimes, and young people look slightly wild with younger men wearing long hair, possibly even sandals, and brighter colored clothing. The hippie era struck a blow and not even Poirot was safe from it. Not that I really mind, it's just rather funny considering most of Ms. Christie's books that I've read were primarily written and set in the 1920s or 1930s and that is a MUCH different culture than what one finds in 1969.

All that being said, I loved this novel. I resented having to put it down after breaks or lunch and return to my appointed duties. I stole moments in between conversations with family in order to read just a few more paragraphs, because you see, I was desperate to learn if it ends the same way as it does in the miniseries, and actually, the book and the miniseries episode are remarkably similar. In all of the best ways, even down to my favorite character of Ariadne Oliver, crime fiction authoress and overall crazy lady.

There's an enchantment in Hallowe'en Party that really took some effort to achieve. Michael Garfield, Judith Butler, and her daughter Miranda are all elfin creatures in their own right, somehow otherworldly, and so it's thrilling for there to be a sunken garden in an old rock quarry that has been transformed into a place of beauty and old-world magic. I've visited Butchart Gardens in Canada, also designed out of an old rock quarry, and it is a sight to behold. The murder almost takes a backseat to that garden, but then, we are talking about a 13-year-old child murdered at a Hallowe'en party in 1969, a dreadful affair, and something no one should really like to think about. Even if the child was a braggart and a liar, she certainly did not deserve to die.

A few changes were made in the miniseries' episode that I think were unnecessary, like the "witch" being an uninvited outsider to the party whereas, in the novel, she was a planned part of the festivities and told fortunes to the children. The murdered child, also, did not have to be so overdone towards an embittered fat child in the episode whereas, in the novel, her weight is never mentioned. The children are never mentioned to wear costumes in the novel but are definitely in full modern Hallowe'en costuming frivolity in the episode. There's also the peculiar addition in the episode of adult children to one of the leading characters, a completely unnecessary addition, in my mind.

But if those are the only changes of any note that I can remember, then I must say that overall it's a job well done. The episode adaptation was brilliant (and that's saying a lot considering I'm not overly partial to Mark Gatiss), and the novel itself is an absolute must-read. I may end up re-reading it every year just as I rewatch the episode every year as soon as those pumpkins start appearing on front stoops and the breeze turns crisp. I love fall.

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