 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Haven't seem the film and really don't have any interest in it. The Suchet version is excellent. Zoe Wanamaker's Aridane Oliver is a delight (as usual). I don't remember the score from that one, but I suspect it was also much better than what we've heard described.
How does a story built around a quintessentially British children's Halloween game (Snapdragon) and bobbing for apples, which also features no hint of the supernatural, become A HAUNTING IN VENICE? If you want to make a new Poirot out of whole cloth, don't claim to be using an actual Christie as the source. (In fairness, since I haven't seen the film, I can't be certain that it doesn't correspond in some way to the novel, but I don't see Mrs. Oliver sick in bed in Venice. And where in Venice would you put a fantastic garden?)
I'm afraid Branagh burned too many bridges with the first two outings as Poirot for our family.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Haven't seem the film and really don't have any interest in it. The Suchet version is excellent. Zoe Wanamaker's Aridane Oliver is a delight (as usual). I don't remember the score from that one, but I suspect it was also much better than what we've heard described.
How does a story built around a quintessentially British children's Halloween game (Snapdragon) and bobbing for apples, which also features no hint of the supernatural, become A HAUNTING IN VENICE? If you want to make a new Poirot out of whole cloth, don't claim to be using an actual Christie as the source. (In fairness, since I haven't seen the film, I can't be certain that it doesn't correspond in some way to the novel, but I don't see Mrs. Oliver sick in bed in Venice. And where in Venice would you put a fantastic garden?)
I'm afraid Branagh burned too many bridges with the first two outings as Poirot for our family.
Not having seen the film but still criticizing its choices - you‘re not doing yourselves any favours with that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
How does a story built around a quintessentially British children's Halloween game (Snapdragon) and bobbing for apples, which also features no hint of the supernatural, become A HAUNTING IN VENICE? If you want to make a new Poirot out of whole cloth, don't claim to be using an actual Christie as the source. (In fairness, since I haven't seen the film, I can't be certain that it doesn't correspond in some way to the novel, but I don't see Mrs. Oliver sick in bed in Venice.
I saw the film, but haven't read the book. That said, I read the Wikipedia summary of the book. The two are VERY different. At most, I'd say the film is very loosely inspired by the book. The actual plot and the individual scenes/incidents seem almost entirely different, based on the summary of the book.
And where in Venice would you put a fantastic garden?
On the roof. It's in the film. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Sep 12, 2023 - 10:14 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
ShadowStar
(Member)
|
Haven't seem the film and really don't have any interest in it. The Suchet version is excellent. Zoe Wanamaker's Aridane Oliver is a delight (as usual). I don't remember the score from that one, but I suspect it was also much better than what we've heard described.
How does a story built around a quintessentially British children's Halloween game (Snapdragon) and bobbing for apples, which also features no hint of the supernatural, become A HAUNTING IN VENICE? If you want to make a new Poirot out of whole cloth, don't claim to be using an actual Christie as the source. (In fairness, since I haven't seen the film, I can't be certain that it doesn't correspond in some way to the novel, but I don't see Mrs. Oliver sick in bed in Venice. And where in Venice would you put a fantastic garden?)
I'm afraid Branagh burned too many bridges with the first two outings as Poirot for our family.
I love the David Suchet Poirot series and Halloween Party is my favourite episode. It’s perfect. Thank you for bringing it up. I agree with your concerns, as the trailers for A Haunting in Venice suggest that extreme liberties have been taken with this new adaptation. That said, I’m seeing it on Friday and I’m excited! I’m sure it will be fun!
For anyone who has not seen the brilliant ITV adaptation of Halloween Party (starring the incomparable David Suchet), and for anyone who lives in Southern California, PBS SoCal is showing the episode this Saturday (16th September). Perfect timing if you want to have a “double feature” with A Haunting in Venice! Happy early Halloween, everyone!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Just wondering: why does an adaptation always have to be a faithful depiction of a book, especially if there are other faithful adaptations already?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
That’s what I was thinking too. My wife and I really enjoyed his Orient Express (I’ve seen and loved the original film; she hasn’t), but gave up on Nile halfway through (it felt so fake, screaming “pandemic movie”) and watched the 70s version instead which we really enjoyed.
This very much looks like a step in the right direction (apart from dumping Patrick Doyle who I’m sure could have knocked the score out of the park).
Thank goodness Spielberg didn’t worry too much about making Jaws a faithful adaptation. 
Yavar
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
gave up on Nile halfway through (it felt so fake, screaming “pandemic movie”)
The funny thing is, Death on the Nile actually completed filming in December 2019, before the pandemic, and sat on the shelf the whole time.
The video-gamey CGI aesthetic, with the production never leaving the studio in the UK, was not a result of COVID restrictions, it was an artistic (or possibly budgetary) choice, for some strange reason.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Just wondering: why does an adaptation always have to be a faithful depiction of a book, especially if there are other faithful adaptations already?
Some of my favorite films are wildly unfaithful adaptations that just used the books as springboards.
Anthony Minghella's 1999 film of The Talented Mr. Ripley is only very loosely based on the book. It invents whole characters and whole narrative lines. I think it's a towering masterpiece and I also think it's better than the book.
On the other hand, some great films are scrupulously faithful to the source novels, like Rosemary's Baby.
I don't think fidelity to a book is really positive or negative on its own, it's just something interesting to observe. What matters to me is whether the film itself works.
I thought this film was pretty good.
However, I did find it interesting, when I read the Wikipedia summary of the book, that the film seems incredibly different from the book, where the first two Branagh films were mostly faithful to the books.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
They don't have to be. The book is a guide. If you, as a director, want to take the story somewhere else, that's fine, just as long as it makes sense and makes your movie better.
-Erik-
Exactly. A great example is the underappreciated film of Cloud Atlas. The novelist loved the film and commented on how he felt that certain choices, especially intercutting all the storylines, really improved on his book. He became friends with the Wachowskis after they filmed his novel and he wrote with them on multiple projects afterward.
The same thing happened with Anthony Minghella on The English Patient. His film is not very faithful to the specific incidents in Michael Ondaatje's novel, but it is absolutely faithful to the emotional core of the book. Ondaatje LOVED all the changes and actually toured in support of the movie, which is super rare. There was even a book published of his conversations with the film's editor, Walter Murch, because they became friends.
|
|
|
|
|
|
gave up on Nile halfway through (it felt so fake, screaming “pandemic movie”)
The funny thing is, Death on the Nile actually completed filming in December 2019, before the pandemic, and sat on the shelf the whole time.
The video-gamey CGI aesthetic, with the production never leaving the studio in the UK, was not a result of COVID restrictions, it was an artistic (or possibly budgetary) choice, for some strange reason.
Budget. But the theatricality works in its favour, IMO.
|
|
|
|
|
|
gave up on Nile halfway through (it felt so fake, screaming “pandemic movie”)
The funny thing is, Death on the Nile actually completed filming in December 2019, before the pandemic, and sat on the shelf the whole time.
The video-gamey CGI aesthetic, with the production never leaving the studio in the UK, was not a result of COVID restrictions, it was an artistic (or possibly budgetary) choice, for some strange reason.
Budget. But the theatricality works in its favour, IMO.
Hmm, we'll have to agree to disagree on that one... It doesn't look theatrical to me, it doesn't have that Moulin Rouge vibe where the effects are intentionally naive and stylized. The effects look like they're intended to appear realistic, which makes them all the more jarring because they aren't, at least to me.
I really liked the look of this new film, because most of the Venice material was clearly shot on location, and the stage work is moodily lit, so it doesn't look like sets.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 13, 2023 - 3:39 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
isitatomic?
(Member)
|
gave up on Nile halfway through (it felt so fake, screaming “pandemic movie”)
The funny thing is, Death on the Nile actually completed filming in December 2019, before the pandemic, and sat on the shelf the whole time.
The video-gamey CGI aesthetic, with the production never leaving the studio in the UK, was not a result of COVID restrictions, it was an artistic (or possibly budgetary) choice, for some strange reason.
It actually kind of was.
They lost a couple of months of post due to the effects houses' rough transition from in-person office work to at-home work.
Also, Disney (like so many in the early days) was so convinced the pandemic would be over by the end of summer that they rushed the movie's post to hit the planned September release.
|
|
|
|
|
|
gave up on Nile halfway through (it felt so fake, screaming “pandemic movie”)
The funny thing is, Death on the Nile actually completed filming in December 2019, before the pandemic, and sat on the shelf the whole time.
The video-gamey CGI aesthetic, with the production never leaving the studio in the UK, was not a result of COVID restrictions, it was an artistic (or possibly budgetary) choice, for some strange reason.
It actually kind of was.
They lost a couple of months of post due to the effects houses' rough transition from in-person office work to at-home work.
Also, Disney (like so many in the early days) was so convinced the pandemic would be over by the end of summer that they rushed the movie's post to hit the planned September release.
Ah, fair point, the inferior quality of the CGI shots themselves might have been due to COVID, I just meant that the actual decision not to film anything on location (except for a couple of second unit insert shots) had nothing to do with COVID.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 13, 2023 - 10:51 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
isitatomic?
(Member)
|
gave up on Nile halfway through (it felt so fake, screaming “pandemic movie”)
The funny thing is, Death on the Nile actually completed filming in December 2019, before the pandemic, and sat on the shelf the whole time.
The video-gamey CGI aesthetic, with the production never leaving the studio in the UK, was not a result of COVID restrictions, it was an artistic (or possibly budgetary) choice, for some strange reason.
It actually kind of was.
They lost a couple of months of post due to the effects houses' rough transition from in-person office work to at-home work.
Also, Disney (like so many in the early days) was so convinced the pandemic would be over by the end of summer that they rushed the movie's post to hit the planned September release.
Ah, fair point, the inferior quality of the CGI shots themselves might have been due to COVID, I just meant that the actual decision not to film anything on location (except for a couple of second unit insert shots) had nothing to do with COVID.
Oh, yeah. You're absolutely right.
IIRC, the original plan was to shoot it on location in Morrocco (Egypt being a no-go since the last DotN movie actively damaged some of the heritage sites it filmed at).
But when Disney forced Branagh to do extensive last-minute reshoots on Artemis Fowl, filming had to be pushed back, and they lost the locations.
That's why it costs like $30 million more than Orient despite having fewer big-name actors, they lost most of their original casting and location choices and had to pay extra for last-minute replacement actors and sets.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oh, yeah. You're absolutely right.
IIRC, the original plan was to shoot it on location in Morrocco (Egypt being a no-go since the last DotN movie actively damaged some of the heritage sites it filmed at).
But when Disney forced Branagh to do extensive last-minute reshoots on Artemis Fowl, filming had to be pushed back, and they lost the locations.
That's why it costs like $30 million more than Orient despite having fewer big-name actors, they lost most of their original casting and location choices and had to pay extra for last-minute replacement actors and sets.
Ah, yes, I remember reading some mentions of potential filming in Morocco originally when it was announced.
Do you know any of the actors they lost? Or are you not in a position to talk about that publicly?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
