Welcome to Murder on the Orient Express

I know it's been a while since I last posted a blog post. There's been some tragedy in my life and it's been taking me a while to work through and get into a place where I can regularly write again. However, this weekend, I was finally able to do something "normal" - go to a local play. 

My community center occasionally hosts a theater group. This time they were putting on an adaptation of Agatha Christie's famous story Murder on the Orient Express. I am very familiar with this story. I've seen the original 1974 somewhere in the hundreds of times. I read the book in college (for fun). I've seen the David Suchet adaptation. I've been listening to a podcast called "All About Agatha Christi" that goes through all of her novels and short stories. I've even watched that vanity project Kenneth Branagh calls an adaptation. 

I know the ending of the mystery, but that's okay. Because its how we get to that ending and how it's handled is what is most interesting. 

The play was fine, certainly entertaining, but mostly just fine. I liked some of the changes made. They expanded the role and personality of at least two characters - though a bit at the expense of other characters. Additionally, they removed about 5 characters from the original story. Though it is understandable that changes must be made during an adaptation, this choice was a bit unfortunates. The number 12 is incredibly symbolic in this story and some of that gravitas is lost by the exclusion of those characters. 

All of the adaptations have some character shuffling and plots dropped. I find that the 1974 movie is the closest to the book, while the Branagh version takes the most liberties. I find that the Suchet version has some confusing flaws, but overall an entertaining watch. Though there are other TV adaptations, these three are the ones I am most familiar with. 

- - -Warning Spoilers Ahead- - -

It is in the Suchet version that we first start to see shifts in characters. The Countess is made to be a bit more delicate than in both the book and the 1974 version, while the Princess is shown to be more of the mastermind than the two characters who really planned the murder. Additionally, one of the characters is missing, with the doctor now having a connection to the murder. Originally, the doctor was just a random person in another part of the train. 

The characters in the Branagh version have been placed in a tumbler, shaken around, and dropped into the story. Some of the changes are interesting (like combining the doctor and the colonel into one person and making him a Black man - this added a whole new element to his romance with Miss. Debeham). Others seems to exaggerate already made changes from the Suchet version (the Countess appears to have manic depression and may have a drug habit). One character was actually from an entirely different Poirot story and removes some of the original book character's racism. 

The real character change in the 2017 version was to Poirot himself. I'm sorry, but Poirot is not an action star (despite what the out of nowhere novel The Big Four might try to have you believe). Poirot is a thinker, not someone who chases other people on a precariously located bridge.

The play toned down some of Poirot's funnier quirks and took away some of his gravitas. However, I loved the changes and combinations made to the characters who were included. The Princess is a much bigger presence with a louder personality. In this version, it makes sense that she's a friend and confidant to an actress. Mrs. Hubbard gets to show up her show tune side (she's supposed to be a dramatic actress, but a comedic musical theater performer works well with her character). Some of the characters who were written out do get mentioned, so there is acknowledgement that they

My favorite change, in the play adaptation, was to the Countess. Her husband isn't included in the play, so she's already traveling on her own. She's introduced as eye candy, but the audience is quickly put in their place when she slaps the future murder victim after he acts like a total creep to her. She then becomes the doctor character as she volunteered to become a nurse during the first World War (the story takes place in the 1930s). She's awesome in the play...a bit to the determent of other characters like McQueen and the Colonel. 

The play was a lot funnier than any of the movies or even the book. In the 1974 movie, Poirot has some funny moments that are fairly dry. The Suchet adaptation includes the series running joke that Poirot will only eat his boiled eggs if they are exactly the same size. The number of funny moments in the Branagh version, I think are mostly unintentional (good lord who approved that mustache?). I liked the humor that was added to the play. There was some physical comedy between two characters trying to hide their romance, Mrs. Hubbard performed some fun showtunes, and the Princess had some of the best comebacks.

However, the real star of every adaptation must be the Orient Express herself. In the 1974 version, you know the train is a main character, shepherding her passengers through the snowy terrain. The Suchet version doesn't feature her engine as front and center, but the cinematics beautifully show off her interiors and lets her presence be known to all who are trapped onboard while murder investigation takes place. I'll also concede that the Branagh version got this right, too. The play does a decent job of including and acknowledging the Orient Express. Though we only see one part of one car, you can't help but feel the claustrophobia as characters dodge each other while running around or how tiny the compartments are when you have a bunch of people crammed together looking over a dead body.

No adaptation of The Murder on the Orient Express can be complete without the Orient Express and each version shows her beauty in some capacity. My favorite will always be the 1974 version with how the music is perfectly timed to crescendo as the engine's front light illuminates as she begins to pull out of the station

Unfortunately, the play's ending just didn't have the same dramatic feel or impact as any of the other adaptations (yes even the melodrama of the Branagh one). I mentioned earlier that the play lacked the inclusion of the symbolic 12. The murder victim is stabbed 12 times in the book. There are 12 people with direct connections to a pervious murder case (technically 13, but one person doesn't stab the body in the book or movies). There are 12 threatening notes to the murder victim before he is killed. When the Colonel goes on his rant about justice he mentions that 12 jury members deciding the fate of a plaintiff is a solid system. There are 12 occupied compartments in the first class train car. Poirot continues to come back to the number 12 because he's noticing it everywhere. 

The number 8 doesn't have the same symbolism, nor is it repeated as often. It is 12 people needed for a jury to convict a criminal, not 8. And it's 12 people who commit the crime in a symbolic act of justice after the justice system failed them.

Poirot was also not as forceful as other adaptations in the play (not that the actor didn't play him well, I'm fairly certain it was the material). Poirot is a man who takes pride in the justice system. He was a policeman in Brussels prior to fleeing to the United Kingdom during World War 1 and becoming a private detective. In nearly all versions, Poirot is torn as to whether or not he should tell the police what really happened while they were trapped on a train in a snow bank. The Suchet and Branagh versions have Poirot angrily verbalizing this indecision, but eventually allowing the murderer(s) to go free. The play has Poirot more sad than angry. 

I like the 1974 version best, where Poirot leaves the choice up to his friend (who is not involved with the murder). They go with the simple solution, not only because it would the easiest, but because it's what all the characters deserve.

The Murder on the Orient Express has long been one of my favorite mysteries. The 1974 version will also likely always be my favorite adaptation. My recent personal tragedy has nothing to do with the book or play except that it was a story that the person I lost also loved. We frequently watched the 1974 movie and had fun picking apart the Branagh version. I had wanted to take them to see the play, but we never had a chance to talk about it. 

And that's okay.

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