I felt so frustrated after watching this episode, especially given all the great reviews it's got here. I almost felt cheated.
No doubt this episode contains some fine acting and sets, but there are so many things wrong with it! The creators have tried to stay true to the story but the way certain scenes have been portrayed, even someone of the meanest intelligence who has not read a Poirot before would be able to figure out who the real murderer is. The connection between the murderer and the victim is repeated in a forced-casual way at least thrice and any viewer would immediately know this point is significant.
My other gripe is that the victim, who is so beautifully and sympathetically portrayed by Christie is turned into a hard, scheming woman here, although they don't openly say it. Mary Gerrard in the book is a guileless beauty, caught between classes, confused about her standing in life, and innocent and naive to a fault. She's also essentially honorable. In the movie, she is none of these. I feel angry that the creators felt the need to make Mary an unlikable character in order to drum up sympathy for Elinor. Completely unnecessary, as Elinor is an elegant, tragic heroine in her own right.
My third gripe is how Poirot has been turned into a gloomy psychic/fortune teller of sorts. Just by reading an anonymous note, he keeps repeating that doom and gloom await but that he is too helpless to do anything. There isn't much detection he does either, simply pulling a rabbit out of the hat at the end (a fault the movie shares with the book, to be honest).
This is a Christie that had some excellent characters and setting but a loose plot, especially the array of suspects (almost none) and clues (again, almost none). The movie doesn't do anything to tighten things up but makes things even more obvious to the viewer.
I am disappointed enough to cry.
No doubt this episode contains some fine acting and sets, but there are so many things wrong with it! The creators have tried to stay true to the story but the way certain scenes have been portrayed, even someone of the meanest intelligence who has not read a Poirot before would be able to figure out who the real murderer is. The connection between the murderer and the victim is repeated in a forced-casual way at least thrice and any viewer would immediately know this point is significant.
My other gripe is that the victim, who is so beautifully and sympathetically portrayed by Christie is turned into a hard, scheming woman here, although they don't openly say it. Mary Gerrard in the book is a guileless beauty, caught between classes, confused about her standing in life, and innocent and naive to a fault. She's also essentially honorable. In the movie, she is none of these. I feel angry that the creators felt the need to make Mary an unlikable character in order to drum up sympathy for Elinor. Completely unnecessary, as Elinor is an elegant, tragic heroine in her own right.
My third gripe is how Poirot has been turned into a gloomy psychic/fortune teller of sorts. Just by reading an anonymous note, he keeps repeating that doom and gloom await but that he is too helpless to do anything. There isn't much detection he does either, simply pulling a rabbit out of the hat at the end (a fault the movie shares with the book, to be honest).
This is a Christie that had some excellent characters and setting but a loose plot, especially the array of suspects (almost none) and clues (again, almost none). The movie doesn't do anything to tighten things up but makes things even more obvious to the viewer.
I am disappointed enough to cry.