In this blog we are going to tell you about Murder on the Orient Express, so read this blog carefully to get the complete information.
Murder on the Orient Express is about a lavish train ride that unfolds into a stylish and suspenseful mystery. It tells us about the thirteen stranded strangers and one man’s race to solve the puzzle before the murderer strikes again. Closed-location murder mysteries have been a staple of the genre: a country house, a boat, a locked room and in the case of Murder on the Orient Express, a luxurious steam train provides a perfect backdrop to death and mystery.
Branagh takes on the role of the fastidious and vaguely annoying Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, sporting a set of mustaches that are quite ridiculous. As the film goes on, you will become more accustomed to them in the same way as you learn to ignore that spot on your face after a few days. Poirot was first encountered at breakfast where he was measuring the height of his boiled eggs before embarking on a journey to Istanbul.
Interesting facts
After wrapping up the case, he is supposed to be on holiday for a restful experience of luxurious dining in a peaceful exotic location. When he was called to consult on a murder in London, he boards the famed Orient Express in Istanbul bound for Paris. The plot twist of the movie will leave a smile on your face as both the interior and exterior sets are sumptuous in their design and aesthetic. The camera sweeps in on the train as it rumbles through a CGI landscape of the Polar Express. The art deco luxury of wooden paneling, angular lights, and uniformed staff provides a lavish background to the murder and the anxiety of the passengers. Stuffed in the filled-to-capacity first-class carriage, he meets a host of interesting individuals:-
- There is the young and attractive Miss Mary Mary Debenham and the handsome Dr Arbuthnot who share a mutual attraction.
- Pilar Estravados spends her time lecturing about sin and vice.
- Gerhard Hardman expounds on his countryman’s superiority.
- Beniamino Marquez boasts about his wealth.
- Princess Dragomiroff and her servant Hildegarde Schmidt keep each other’s strange company.
- Caroline Hubbard holds nothing back when describing her wealth/numerous former husbands.
- Count Rudolph Andrenyi, the dancer and his wife Elena.
- Edward Ratchett, his manservant Masterman and his accountant MacQueen. They were the most curious trio.
When the train runs into an avalanche and the engine derails, that morning it was discovered that Ratchett was murdered, twelve times with a varying degree of severity and without any pattern. With suspects, few clues and no motive behind the murder, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh), quite possibly the greatest detective in all the world must intercede to solve the case because no one else can do this. Poirot has to employ the little grey cells to uncover the killer, which leaves him with a difficult moral dilemma. Branagh and his team have certainly done a brilliant job in capturing a bygone era of romanticised travel and dining cars, especially in the terms of sets and costume design. No one can deny that the film is largely faithful and the plot twist will leave the uninitiated with a smile on their face.
Ratings:- ⅗
The cast of characters could not be more typical: an array of middle-class and upper-class characters ranging from maids to rich businessmen who all have some secrets to hide. Branagh puts in a performance as the Belgian detective and certainly makes his character more agile. Despite such an impressive cast, the character development of the movie is a little disappointing that often falls back on cliche. One could argue that this is because of too many characters for just a 2-hour movie. But there are scenes before the murder when little flashes of real depth occur between the characters, particularly that of Johny Depp. There were several sequences in the movie that were histrionic for their good but the talent of the cast carried the plot along in an engaging fashion for the large part.
Audience’s Reviews
As a movie, Murder on the Orient Express is, unfortunately, lacking whatsoever, but it does an impressive job of recreating an old-time scale and grandeur to the production. Branagh can’t quite overcome his tendencies to put himself front and centre of the action virtually at all times and to fulfil that need, Branagh’s Poirot isn’t content to keep the action on the titular train. The film cuts away to needless grand CGI-enhanced establishing shots that usually feature Brangah walking around the train, on the top of the train, etc. when the story calls for the dutiful course of the investigation and the gathering of facts to build suspense and story momentum. It’s almost like Branagh didn’t have enough faith in the source material to hold the audience’s attention. It simply loses the necessary build of suspense and danger by establishing that the killer could be anywhere else but in that first-class cabin.
The most out of the place and perhaps the most egotistical element is the inclusion of a lost love interest for Poirot that gives Branagh several opportunities to stop the action dead and chew the scenery to the photographs, these moments rob the rest of the ensemble cast of their moments to shine. Except for Johnny Deep, Josh Gad, Judi Dench, and Michelle Pfeiffer, the rest of the cast was largely wasted. His penchant for not injecting himself into a conversation makes Poirot a great character to read and watch. What he does is, sits back, observe and listen to the people around them, systematically cataloging their movements and conversations whether he suspects them of something or not.
Wrapping up
Overall, Murder on the Orient Express is a fine film but if you are new to the character Poirot and don’t know the big twists of the plot then you will be rightly entertained by this movie. If you want to witness studied craftsmen build suspense through character development and tight locations then I would suggest you find the time to check out the original Sidney Lumet Murder on the Orient Express.
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Conclusion
We Hope this blog is sufficient enough to provide the information about Murder on the Orient Express. Thanks for reading this blog.
