He first appeared as a crime solver 103 years ago and has since starred in countless films and TV series, while she died in 1976 and has sold a whopping two billion books.
But it seems that neither Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective with the incredible little gray cells, nor his creator, Queen of Crime Agatha Christie, will ever go out of fashion.
So it’s no surprise that actor and director Sir Kenneth Branagh has once again returned to the complicated, vain and brilliant sleuth for his third Christie adaptation, this time a chiller called A Haunting In Venice that’s stylish and genuinely terrifying.
The film shows Poirot, played by Kenneth, as we have never seen him before – scared, because he is confronted with something he cannot explain: the ghosts of murdered children in a creepy mansion!
Kenneth’s previous Christie films were adaptations of two of her best-known books, Murder On The Orient Express and Death On The Nile. A Haunting In Venice is very different.
Kenneth Branagh as Poirot with the rest of the cast of the film, which is based on two works by Agatha Christie
She merges her 1969 novel Hallowe’en Party with her 1926 short story The Last Séance and gives us a new story – meaning even the most die-hard Christie fans will have a whodunnit to sort out.
“When Ken and the writer Michael Green first mentioned this idea to me, I struggled to understand it at first, and then I thought it was genius,” says Christie’s great-grandson James Prichard, the keeper of the writing flame and producer. on the movie.
It will surprise people because it is a horror movie, a murder mystery and a suspense thriller
‘After turning two very traditional major titles into films, they wanted to do something different, not only in terms of tone, but also in the way they handled the story. Hallowe’en Party has been moved from an English village to Venice and is the launch pad for something completely different.
“I think it will surprise people because although it is a murder mystery, it is also a horror film and a suspense thriller, and there will be moments that will make you jump out of your seat. It feels like Christie, but there’s something else going on too.
“Changing her stories is not something we do lightly. It’s a big step, but worth it every now and then, and I think this was one of those occasions.”
The action takes place in 1947, ten years after Death On The Nile, and we meet a very different Poirot. As we saw in the previous film, the detective was traumatized by the events of World War I – now a second, even more devastating global conflict has taken place.
Haunted by the idea of death and how it seems to follow him, Poirot has decided to give up detective work altogether and has retreated to Venice, where he meticulously tends his garden, eats pastries and tries to avoid the Venetians who are desperately searching are for his help.
A portrait of the famous and prolific mystery writer Dame Agatha Christie, hailed as the Queen of Crime
“I like that there is progression in Poirot’s character in these films,” says James. ‘You don’t see that in my great-grandmother’s books, in which he moves through the twentieth century without ever changing.
“They gave him this backstory and tried to understand him psychologically. He is retired and technically not taking on new work, but this case comes at him from left field and really tests him.”
Kenneth explains how he sees the character. ‘He really tried to retire as a detective. He’s seen too much crime; he saw two world wars; he has seen man’s cruelty to man and he has had enough – or so he says.
“And yet, as we’ve seen in other films, he has a poetic, romantic side to his tough detective character. Part of him wants to believe. Despite himself, he remains utterly fascinated by the human condition.’
Poirot’s peace is disturbed by the arrival of an old acquaintance, the American crime writer Ariadne Oliver, played by Tina Fey. The character appeared in several of Christie’s books and is believed to be a caricature of the author herself.
Poirot has really tried not to be a detective anymore, he’s had enough of crime – or so he says
“There may be elements in Ariadne that my great-grandmother wished she could be,” James says.
‘There are similarities: they are both crime writers and they both like to eat apples. But while Ariadne is outgoing and outgoing, Agatha was very private and very quiet and reserved in public.”
The events of the film take place during just one stormy night, Hallowe’en itself, when Ariadne invites Poirot to a séance conducted by a medium named Joyce Reynolds (this year’s Oscar winner, Michelle Yeoh).
Reynolds attempts to contact the deceased daughter of grieving opera singer Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly) in a “haunted” Venetian palazzo. Events spiral out of control and a scream and murder ensue.
All this causes even Poirot to become confused: he can sense the presence of the ghosts of murdered children who are said to haunt the palazzo.
“The story of the film is about what he thinks he believes in, what he next sees that confuses that belief, and then whether what he has seen is real,” Kenneth says. “It’s going to be exciting because it means he and we are terrified.”
The cast also includes Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill as father and son, the same relationship their characters had in the hit film Belfast, which was also directed by Kenneth.
Jamie is Rowena’s troubled GP Leslie Ferrier, who is haunted in his own way – by what he saw in the war – while Jude plays his son Leopold.
“Although Jamie and Jude play father and son, they couldn’t be more different from the roles they played in Belfast,” says Kenneth. ‘It was wonderful to reunite them again. They get along well and tease each other.’
Whether they survive the film is another matter, as the body count slowly rises and it seems no one is safe – not even Poirot himself.
“The unexpected is always in the air,” says Kenneth about this mystery full of surprises.
- A Haunting In Venice is in cinemas from Friday.