NZ Herald Head of Entertainment Joanna Hunkin speaks to Kenneth Branagh about elaborate moustaches, French accents and 'Murder on the Orient Express'. Additional footage provided by Wove Studio / 20th Century Fox.
"There is nothing like a tangle of strangers, pressed together, with nothing more in common than the need to get to get to their destination."
Truer words were ne'er spoken.
Agatha Christie's 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express has been hailed as one of the Queen of Crime's bestworks, with its ingenious plot twists and characterisation.
Featuring her beloved Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, it has been adapted for television and film multiple times, most recently in 2010. Then, David Suchet starred as the little man with the large, elegant moustaches.
For this blockbuster overhaul, the film is directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh, who appears in the film as Poirot — alongside an all-star cast including Dame Judi Dench, Sir Derek Jacobi, Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Daisy Ridley, Willem Dafoe, Olivia Colman, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr. and Lucy Boynton.
As an incredible fan of Mrs Christie, I was concerned as to how I would react. The big budget of $55,000,000 concerned me — would Branagh make Poirot too much of an action man? His lithe figure was alarming enough. However, he didn't overdo it. There was a good marriage of all that makes Monsieur Poirot so special.
Filmed in 70mm, it was a spectacle to behold. The attention to detail was profoundly mesmerising. Some overhead shots might have been slightly shorter, but everyone will have their own interpretation of the variety of shots.
The score could have been more epic, akin to the adaptions of past directors in the 1970s (Lumet, Guillermin), however the acting was second to none. It felt incredible to have a traditional procedural mystery on the big screen after so long.
