Death on the Nile

Trailer from the70s

Simon MacCorkindale in this movie was one of my early gay crushes.

[quote] I think it one of Agatha Christie’s most powerful ones

Powerful in the sense of making money, perhaps. Otherwise Dame Agatha's œuvre was basic pulp fiction in terms of quality.

fuck

ygritte's a cokehead

Any of you ever read a Christie novel? It is nothing but misdirection the whole time with the standard 'explanation' at the end by Poirot or whoever trying to bind the addled mess together before The End. Vastly overrated. Good for her, she and her publishers made a mint out of the gullible public. I imagine it would have been adequate entertainment on a long train journey.

R6 = Graham Greene

Well, aren't we high and mighty. I am sure r6 is also only listening classical music and only watches PBS if he watches TV at all. But not Masterpiece Theater because that's really just trash imitating art.

"Do you have any expectations? "

Very low, after seeing the mess he made of "MotOE". I mean, it wasn't completely 100% terrible, but it was at least 50% terrible, and that includes the denoument. He just had to make it into a triumph for Poirot, not the Avenging Angel characters, and that pissed me off!

I'm sure the BBC version with Suchet will be infinitely better.

WTF

I am kinda done watching the same stories in new shapes and colors all the time. At this point I'd actually prefer to see Miss Marple or Poirot in new stories even if they are not written by Agatha Christie. I mean, how often can you watch the same whodunit and still be excited about it?

I'm going in with low expectations, especially after his version of Murder on the Orient Express. But I will still be interested to see how it pans out. I'm looking forward to seeing French and Saunders, and Sophie Okonedo is a wonderful character actress who I've enjoyed in everything I've seen her in, so that will be fun.

I'm tipping that they will end up flattening Linnet's character into much more of the "rich, man-stealing bitch" cliché, which to be fair, was done in the 70's movie too. But it would be interesting to see them not go down that route.

I'm going to guess there will be more action scenes too, like there was in Murder on the Orient Express. Which I don't feel is necessary, personally. A BookTuber I follow discusses this in part of her review of the movie, and how forcing action scenes into these movies underestimates the audience, which I agree with. Don't make these movies try and look like everything else, give them their own flavour.

(I know there are many Christie fans on here, and I will point out she has done reviews of each novel and most of the short story collections in the Poirot and Marple series and they're really well done and fun, if you're interested.)

BOOOOORRRRRIIIINGGG.

I am R6, a man of the people who does not like being taken advantage of by Dames and their publishers. Any post by Green would definitely have mentioned one his own novels like Stamboul Train.

Too long R12

Shes def on cocaine look at her eyes

I completely disagree, r6, (but i am the op), i actually think Agatha Christie is underrated. Death on the Nile is not her perfect book (she has 3 or 4), but is very powerful and, strangely, sexy. It is one of her books where her sympathies lie on the murderer, so there is why castings is important, being complex. There has been no adaptation where you actually get the chemistry between the murderers that justifies the whole thing.

Am I the only one who liked Branagh's "Murder on the Orient Express?"

I can watch that movie over, and over.

Poor OP R17. Did you pay money to read this trash? (I hope you got it from the lieberrie,)

Not sure what you're trying to accomplish in this thread, r19. You already know you are not convincing anybody in this thread. So... Just trolling, right? Meh.

I ass-ume that R20 is OP disappointed that his dumbass thread has failed.

I am not (the great), r20. If you don’t like the subject why come here to trash it. Go read your Camus in the dark and think of china

Either way, doing this movie is most likely a winner financially. Not surprising the Christie heirs agreed to let Branagh do the movies. How many is he allowed to do?

I'll watch any they adapt even though I'm not crazy about Branagh's adaptations, but I kinda hope if they keep going after this one they do one that hasn't been filmed as many times/is not as well known. Peril at End House or Lord Edgware Dies perhaps?

R24, I doubt they will do those ones, Branagh is going for showier (easier) movies with bigger casts and exotic locations , where he can promote himself over more talented people than himself? Evil under the Sun, maybe?

I hated that in the MOTOE he had a grreat cast, but it criminally underused in favour of Poirot showing off.

Agatha Christie wrote, what--100 books? And they can only remake the same half-dozen endlessly?

MOTOE did surprisingly well: $350m box on $50m budget. No wonder KB is doing another one.

I reckon you're right R25. Or Appointment with Death maybe?

Yeah, r28, that is also possible. At least he won’t be spoiling anything, the existing adaptations are terrible.

[quote] The cast of the 70s movie is impossible to beat with Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury (looking 80 in her 50s), Mia Farrow, David Niven and Maggie Smith and Jane Birkin in minor roles.

[italic]Fuck you,[/italic] OP. Fuck you right in THE ASS!

I am CRYING. Just CRYING. DOTN is my Favourite guilty pleasure of all time. Everything about it is perfect, even Mia's camp acting and mutton wig. Davis is Iconic. The score is unforgettable. To think that Branagh is going to shit all over this masterpiece with his tacky direction, horrible Poirot (mr. Porridge indeed), lame ass ' woke ' cast, is killing the very quick of my soul. There are no words. I know I deserve a Mary !, but don't you have a go to movie, that you know is not like, your rotten tomates 100% score, but is like comfort food to your mind ? He shouldn 't have touched DOTN. No he shouldn' t have

R31, don’t watch the new version.

R32 I won't watch it for dear life. But the thought of it is killing me. It's like knowing a thug is gonna murder your grandmother with a baseball bat dipped in dog diarrhea.

Pelican Brief?

More like Turkey Too Long!

The original had STARS whereas this one will have mediocre talent coming from superhero movie fame, washed up nobodies, and Annette Bening (she is good- American Beauty, anyone?). The characters names are not matching up and definitely not as many suspects. It will not be like the source material.

I enjoy Branagh and I enjoy Christie. It could have been a great film series, besides mimicking Ustinov after Evil Under the Sun.

But, I also think Albert Finney is a better Poirot than David Suchet....

All the old biddies who drag their husbands to see this in December or whenever are going to die of Coronavirus right there in the cinema.

This is perfect Netflix viewing.

Did she (r12) just refer to Col Arbuthnot as Abernathy?

Cool cast picture of the 70s version here, although Mia and Angela look rather bored of it all.

In the original "Death on the Nile", Lois Chiles has the most marvelous wardrobe! Look at this aquamarine number.

Would a woman wear that dress in that time?

"Agatha Christie wrote, what--100 books? And they can only remake the same half-dozen endlessly?"

Agreed

Film is a visual medium. The Nile and The Orient Express are exotic. St. Mary Mead is boring.

I see that Agatha Christie’s books are being trashed as cheap pulp fiction by several posters above. As a lover of her period murder mysteries, can you recommend some specific books with similar motifs by other/better authors that I might enjoy?

r42, she has other books set in exotic locations

Are they any good?

Armie Hammer may be box office poison, but he's still an upgrade over Simon MacCorkindale

Talking about Armie, if he is so desperate to take up this boring film, can you imagine the trash he is offered and he has to turn down? Poor thing.

[quote]Talking about Armie, if he is so desperate to take up this boring film, can you imagine the trash he is offered and he has to turn down? Poor thing.

It's a major studio film, that's all he cares about. He hasn't done a major studio film since WB's THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

Wonder Woman can't sing or act.

Does she need to R49? I thought superheros just had to sit about looking good in their leotards.

(R50) Very true, no talent required.

The full cast seems to have been released, according to IMDB (perhaps this happened awhile ago, but I only just noticed it). We have:

Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot; Gal Gadot as Linnet Ridgeway-Doyle; Letitia Wright as Rosalie Otterbourne; Armie Hammer as Simon Doyle; Annette Bening as Euphemia; Ali Fazal as Andrew Katchadouriaan; Sophie Okonedo as Salome Otterbourne; Tom Bateman as Bouc; Emma Mackey as Jacqueline de Bellefort; Dawn French as Mrs. Bowers; Rose Leslie as Louise; Jennifer Saunders as Marie Van Schuyler; and Russell Brand as Dr. Bessner.

I'm really not expecting much from this movie at all, but of course I shall see it. Most interested to see Sophie Okonedo play Salome Otterbourne. Big fan of French and Saunders too, but I really hope they don't keep those characters as Americans, because of the need for them to do accents. Russell Brand as Dr Bessner - I'm expecting a bad accent there, unfortunately. Then again, WIllem Dafoe had a bad German accent in Murder on the Orient Express, so it would be in keeping.

Any actors listed above interest or worry any of you guys?

R52 I already have second-hand embarrassment in anticipation of armie hammer doing an English accent : /

I thought I heard that originally Jodie Comer was going to play Jacqueline. At the time I heard this I didn't know who she was, but I've just watched season one of Killing Eve and my god she's amazing and I would've loved to have seen her in this role. The new girl might be wonderful too, but it is a shame Jodie didn't stay on board.

If they ever do Evil Under the Sun I vote for Nick Jonas as Patrick Redfern. Only his ass could fill Nicholas Clay's speedo

R54 Jodie probably bailed when wooden Hammer was cast. She wasn’t having it. This needs to go str8 to VOD. Who would take the risk to see this?

Will Lansbury, Farrow, Smith and/or Chiles et al show up in cameos ... as crocodiles, or anything?

If I may say, Olivia Hussey really needs the work.

Surely she can pass for an Egyptian of some type?

Branagh worries me, of course, r52, as does Gal Gadot. Emma may be an interesting choice and they may end up having good chemistry together . Hammer as Doyle also sounds ok, it is a curiously bland role, considering. I fear for action scenes and Poirot taking precedence over plot and characters.

That said Benning elevates almost everything she does amd am very curious by her choice to be in this. Will she be Mrs Allerton?

The original Death on the Nile is pretty shaky in my opinion. Despite the great cast, the film only really comes together in one sequence - the murder attempt at the hall of Karnak, where the amazing architecture does most of the heavy lifting. Unlike Murder on the Orient Express, which begins brilliantly and then keeps an thin but crucial current of real evil bubbling under the glamour, Death on the Nile is too content to simply coast on star power. Mia Farrow is memorable, but brutally misdirected, Lois Chiles looks lovely but never is convincing as Mia's friend or rival and the continual replaying of the supposed killing, with every cast member getting a turn, gets real old real fast.

That said, I can't imagine Branaugh's version will offer much by way of improvement save for the lack of George Kennedy, one of the most annoying one-note "character" actors ever.

That's what I wonder too R59 - who is Euphemia meant to be? Is she Mrs Allerton? To me, Mrs Allerton doesn't make any sense being in this without Tim, but who knows? Or is she a new character completely. Given the way these productions go she could end up being Signor Richetti, only as an American woman rather than an Italian man.

Interesting that, provided that is the full cast, they've chosen to drop the Ferguson character entirely.

Well, R57, perhaps Lansbury could make a cameo as Sebek, the god of the ancient city of Crocodile-Piss.

Great post, r60,i agree that the original version is flawed and miscast and you point out one reason I never figured, how the friendship between Jacqueline and Linnet is not believable. This is , i think, more due to Mia’s feverish acting than Lois wooden acting (which is more in character).

The filming of the several possible murders is a pain and kills the momentum of the movie.

That said, Ithink there are several good scenes, mostly the ensemble pieces up to the murder.

Yes, r60, i am intrigued by this, it may also be a new character altogether, a composite of the missing ones. Why they do this is a mistery, it rarely goes well. Even in the original version the absence of the Allertons is missed, though not crucially.

I don't have high hopes for this, as Brannaugh is a hack director, and in "MotOE" he showed that he didn't understand anything about Christie. I'll probably stream it for free at some point.

As for Gadot, I can't really see it. Of course she'll look stunning in the period costumes they'll give her, but she does have a significant accent and that's going to be an issue. For one thing, it makes the idea of a close friendship between Linnet and the sad-sack Jackie that much less probable if they're obviously of different nationalities, and for another, having this awful woman played by a Jew plays into all sorts of negative stereotypes. And if they bring in a dialogue coach and try to have Gadot use a Brit or American accent... well, her acting is weak enough without having to try hard with every line!

The original movie is one I love very much, but having read some of your comments here, I realised that I often rewatch it up to the part where Jane Birkin runs screaming out of the cabin and then go and do other things. So there is merit, I think, to the argument that the detective part of the movie can be a bit torturous to get through on repeat viewings. I mean, I LOVED that as a kid when I first saw it, but on repeated viewings it does go on a bit. Luckily it takes a full half of the movie before we get there and there is a lot to enjoy in that first half, no matter how many times you watch it. I know people criticise Lois Chiles, but I loved her in this bit:

"She's following us about! Deliberately!"

"Is that true? Well, it's intolerable!"

"And common. Very, very common."

"And effective. Very, very effective."

It's not really reflective of the book character so much, as there Linnet feels put out by Jackie, but is obviously, under the surface, carrying the guilt around with her of what she's done. But Lois plays bitchy quite well, I feel.

Could only manage 10 minutes of Artemis Fowl last night. (it's already online) Branagh really is a terrible director.

Wonder Woman can't act.

The 1978 version is coming soon to blu ray from the venerable Kino Lorber. I know nothing about the movie, but I thought its fans might be interested.

[quote]R56 Jodie probably bailed when wooden Hammer was cast. She wasn’t having it.

She was having NONE of it!

Russell Brand as Dr Bessner? Insanity!

French and Saunders as Maggie Smith and Bette Davis fills me with absolute dread. As does Russell Brand.

The rest of the cast is quite impressive.

And Branagh's films are never perfect, but they always look stunning on the big screen.

R71 Artemis Fowl looked beautiful but somehow looked extremely cheap. He lacks vision and talent as a director. Jodie Comer would have elevated this but with Armie Hammer, Gal Gadot and whoever is playing Mia’s character you’ll have at least 2 of the 3 main leads who are devoid of acting ability.

Nothing can save this eventual train wreck. It will be vulgar and boring like MOTOE.

They all killed him, right?

Her, r73, in this case they all killed Her.

She deserved it

Christie is for fraus, grandmas and eldergheys.

One of the small disappointments for me in the 1978 classic was that Simon McCorkindale didn't do much for me. Compared to the dreamy Nick Clay he just can't compete in the hottie stakes.

The Suchet version also had a tasty JJ Feild as Simon and maybe because I've seen his gorgeous cock, I liked him!

And Emily Blunt as Linnet.

Emily was very good but as R65 points out about the 1978 characterisation, she never really showed much of the internal guilt that the character in the book experiences, making her more of an icy bitch like Lois Chiles' performance before.

R77, i think Jj was hot but Simon Mc was hotter. Clay and his ass is another business, but I think the role requires some blandness (and weakness) that he does not have.

Linnet is a bit of a cypher even in the book, so I don’t begrudge Lois or Emily. Gal Gadot though...

Age is another intriguing thing, Emma is so much younger than Gal or Arnie, which does not make sense.

I think Linnet in the book was not yet 21

"... but I think the role requires some blandness (and weakness) that he does not have. "

And that's why I'm okay with the casting of Hammer. Simon is this handsome cipher, a toy for women to play with and fight over, with nothing much under his good looks. Hammer can do that... in fact, I don't think he can do much else.

Honestly, in the book, I find the characterisation of Linnet to be really rather interesting and deeper than on first thinking. It could have gone into cliché (woman who is basically a rich bitch), but Christie shows something else in her. She literally can't understand why she shouldn't have things the way she wants them. She's incredibly bright when it comes to finance and business, and so naïve in other ways. She's disturbed when Poirot doesn't immediately do what she asks, just by her turning her charm on him. And then there's the fact she is constantly convincing herself she is doing the right thing, when underneath, as Poirot indeed points out at one time, she is feeling guilt. She's summed up best in that scene early in the book when she's discussing what she's going to do with her new mansion with Joanna Southwood. She's basically having the slums nearby removed. Now, a flat character would just say: "I want those slums removed NOW!" and to hell with everyone else. Linnet tells Joanna she's having the people there moved into newly built houses with all the mod-cons and she is paying for them herself. The place is in such a state and so uncomfortable for many of them that she wants to give them new houses and a better life. But she just can't understand that to some of the people living there, these are their homes that they were born in and want to stay in until they die. She just doesn't get it. And as the conversation goes on, there is a chance remark that the slums are in fact overlooked by Linnet's swimming pool. So in reality, she's doing an act that is selfish at heart, and wanting to get her own way, but she's dressing it up as altruism, and she can almost make herself believe it.

On her honeymoon she is visibly strained. She can try and convince herself the whole time that she did nothing wrong. Simon fell out of love with Jackie and in love with her, but she knows at the same time that she had a hand in betraying her best friend. Poirot points out to her that she could've easily stopped it, but she didn't want to. There's a lot of cognitive dissonance in her. I think she's much more interesting than a character like that ordinarily would be. Similar to Arlena Stuart in Evil Under the Sun. And we see in the movie adaptations how people flatten these types of characters to make them simply bitchy and entitled.

Well said, R83.

Suchet's version of "Death on the Nile" has a conversation when Linnet "doesn't understand", why Poirot will not help her just as you mention. And Poirot points out what role Linnet played in the situation. You can see that Linnet does at some level understand that.

It's a much richer depiction of the character than the movie's rich, bitch.

Just found out this will be released here on 8 October. While I know I'm most likely not going to enjoy it that much, I'm still looking forward to seeing it.

The trailer's out. Thoughts, anyone? It doesn't fill me with much confidence, I have to say.

My eyes glazed over R86. Couldn’t make it past the first 10 minutes in Throw Poirot From the Train. This will likely be Sir Kenny’s Darth Poirot On the Nile. “This case changed the shape of my soul.” Yuck, patooey!

Jennifer Saunders and Gal Gadot were on Graham Norton this weekend promoting different things.

Death On The Nile not mentioned - it's been pushed back to September next year.

I love Kenneth Branagh, I think he is a great actor and director. Branagh has one big problem: in order to make money, you have to cater to the fast-food commercial audiences. They do not care about book to movie accuracy; they wan sex and murder and "good popular actors."

To hell with Derek Jacobi, bring me Armie Hammer!

In the past, Branagh has made some of the most accurate of film adaptations- Henry V, Frankenstein, Hamlet, HP & the Chamber of Secrets, and My Week with Marilyn. Some were not good (Frankenstein), some were too long (Hamlet), and others were going to be successful no matter what (HP). However, as people got stupider, he gave in to the fast-food movies. He wanted to be "more diverse" and have more "inclusion."

Murder on the Orient Express had an excellent cast- Pfieffer, Depp, Jacobi, Cruz, Odom, Dench, Dafoe, and Colman. The movie was dumbed down. The talent was almost wasted.

Death on the Nile boasts a lesser cast- Bening, Gadot, Hammer, Brand, Okenado, and Saunders are okay talent. Branagh and Bening are the best talent in the production.

I'm sure it will not be great, but I am sure it will make money. Just like the Marvel movies.

If it’s anything like his remake of MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, I will expect to be underwhelmed. While pretty to look at, the performances were very flat.