Kenneth
Branagh remains one of my favourite directors despite the fact he
hasn’t made a good film in a long time. Not only do I appreciate his
visual approach, making films which are beautiful things to watch, where
his characters inhabit the spaces in fully realized ways, but I also
love his operatic style of story telling where the rich emotions of his
subjects are reflected in the scope of the film. He has been a fairly
active director for hire recently doing bad Marvel movies, silly
adaptations of Disney animated films, and even an anemic Jack Ryan
film.. Finally, finally he has returned to what he does best, big
beautiful literary adaptions. He has reminded me why I have enjoyed his
work so much in the past.
As
gorgeous, stylized, and richly drawn as much of his best work, Murder
on the Orient Express has classic written all over it. Cozy in its
winter wonderland setting, while unsettling in the chilly demeanor of
its characters, Murder made be smile all throughout by being cinematic
magic in the style of the silver screen classics. An all star cast, a
loving attention to details, and a kinetic energy to the story makes
Murder so much fun.
I
always feels a “remake” needs a reason to happen. Especially when an
earlier version of the film is very well done. Branagh finds his
“reason” in a post-colonial reading of Christie’s novel. His reimagining
is modern in how it reflects 21st century values over 20th century
ones. For example he starts with a subtle critique of colonialism. The
famous hero, played deliciously by Branagh himself, more on that later,
solves a crime based on religious factions in Jerusalem, by exploding
western imperialist exploitation of those factions. This is a signal that
this isn’t your mother’s Christie. the film then speaks directly to issue
of racism, sexism, abuse. Due to the nature of this mystery, and who we
sympathize with in Christie's tale, there is a real opportunity to let this play out and I
felt Branagh’s choices here were refreshing and fitting.
And
there is Branagh’s embodiment of Christie’s fan favourite hero. He digs
into this character as boldly as his beloved Henry V and Hamlet, even
his much maligned Victor Frankenstein. He understands murder mysteries
are fantasies, cathartic puzzles to provide an intellectual process of
addressing fears (as opposed to horror’s more visceral way of doing
that). But it needs to be entertaining, like Downey Jr’s fun take on
Sherlock Holmes, Branagh’s Poirot is larger than life and a joy to
watch. In the last moments of the film there is a hint we could see him
return in another film and I was all onboard for that.
This
is also Michelle Pfeiffer’s second commanding return to screens of the
year (after her great work in mother!) and she is marvelous. Even with
Depp thankfully killed off early, the rest of the cast still has to
share a limited amount of screen time but Pfeiffer is a revelation.
The
combo of aping the ear of the silver screen along with imbibing the
film with post-colonial critique made for someone like me, a thinking
audience which a love for both nostalgia and meaning in my light
entertainment, gush with the kind of cinema-fanboy love I remember
having for many of his earlier works. He has taken this on like a fun mind boggler, which ends up being sentimental and moving. Lush and downright fun from start to finish, it's a perfect light bigscreen adventure.
Welcome back Mr. Branagh. Now go
make Death on the Nile.
Murder on the Orient Express
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judy Dench, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Daisy Ridley, Leslie Odom Jr., Tom Bateman
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Writer: Michael Green
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