And Then There Were None

For a series based on famous literature work, there is a persistent effort on BBC to create proper feel for characters and isolated vista from the novel pages. The series looks strikingly posh, beautifully made with crisp cinematography while the actors play as palpable deceptive characters. This is back to the core of mystery thriller inspired by work of masterful writer and it's certainly deliciously inviting.

One might have read or seen this trademark Agatha Christie's flair before, several dubious personalities come together in an alarmingly desolated albeit gorgeous location where surreal legend might just appear out of thin air. Each of them is as shady as the cloud of arrows from Thermopylae and when body count starts to rise, dark secrets begin to emerge.

Visual presentation is handled with care. Every shot is designed to create a mystifying environment, sufficiently detached from reality. It's eerily fascinating how they can produce this single mansion on a tiny island, nearly like something out of a dream, yet might just believable enough. There's good care on the interior shots, as it presents the claustrophobic house in light enough angle so it would still hide the clandestine nature and the audience can better familiarize the setting as integral part of story.

Script shows a meticulous flamboyant approach for the interactions. All of the personalities gathered are completely suspicious and the series showcases these deep rooted deceptions in small bursts. Banters happen in beautiful words, yet they are meant to cut deep, or just plain cursing when the timely moments arrive. This set-up it immaculate done, one can appreciated the small details meant to draw or mislead the attention.

This is the quintessential classic mystery thriller from one of the best writers who have graced the genre, it will be a delightful treat for the fans as well as intriguing watch for everyone in general.

I almost decided not to watch this cause of the few negative reviews that I read (my own mistake for focusing more on the negative reviews rather than positive ones which are the majority here). I'm glad I decided to give it a shot because I watched all three episodes in one sitting.

I have to admit that I never read the book nor have I saw the original movie from the 1945 so I can't compare to the source material. With that out of the way, I love love loved what I saw here. The only negative I can say is the split near the end where I went "Oh of course they decided to split now", but other than that, everything was just as it should be in my opinion.

The actors did a great job, the cast was amazing. The camera work is fantastic. Many shots are literally wallpaper worthy. So yeah, don't sleep on this like I did. I only discovered this mini series by accident which is a shame. None of my friends knew about this either.

I'm a big fan of Agatha Christie, and I would say this adaptation did not disappoint me at all. The cast are strong, the plots are entwined yet intriguing, and the settings are on point! The only thing I could possibly argue about are those solider figurines. They are quite postmodern and different from what I expected haha! Anyway, I highly recommend this miniseries to everyone! If you're not sure whether or not to give it a try, I'll say it only takes 3 hrs to go through all the episodes. Why not give it a shot?

This is certainly the best 'film of the book' there has ever been - so far. The title sequence alone deserves an Oscar, with those beautiful jade figurines disintegrating and morphing into a model of the island where it all happens.

The house, the cast, the pathetically fallacious cloud formations, sunsets and dramatic weather, the costumes, hair and makeup taking each character from groomed control to dishevelled à la Marat/Sade - everything contributes to this brilliant psychological drama of Agatha Christie at her finest.

The only thing missing was Agatha Christie's brilliance.

There is a lack of understanding in this film of the original plot, which is not only fatal to the interpretation but is actually quite horrible. It is, in the final analysis, typical BBC. Every time the BBC dramatises a classic (Austen, Dickens, Conan Doyle...) it should have, just under the title, the words 'Loosely based on an idea by' - as a kind of caveat.

Agatha Christie's book (originally titled, in the UK, as 'Ten Little Niggers', in accordance with the terminology of the time - this was after all 1939...) has a completeness and subtlety of plot which the BBC can for some reason never achieve. Every tiny detail, as in a fine tapestry, fits in with and contributes to the whole. Everything is in its place - and the reader overlooks it at their peril.

So why did the BBC (in the persons of the screenwriter, director, et al.) omit things like the red oilskin curtain, the hiding of the grey skein of wool (inexpertly wound into an unusable ball by Miranda Richardson), the pooling and securing of possible murder implements, the bee, the seaweed, and so on? Why were the original murders made physical to an obviously culpable extent when the whole point of the plot is that they were not so, because they were too 'hands off'?

It is, after all, in this last respect why every reader kicks themself as they turn the last page of Agatha Christie's most perfect work - because she provided not only all the clues but actually also the only possible solution, elegantly displayed along the way, for the Hastings-blind reader who missed it all.

And then there's the larding of the BBC's currently in-favour - but inappropriate to the time and to Agatha Christie's oeuvre and taste - swear words. Plus the physical manifestation of the particularly favoured word between Vera Claythorne and Philip Lombard. What the fuck is all that about?. (See - doesn't add anything, does it ?) Have the BBC never heard of dramatic tension (oh, wait...)? If they'd kept faithful to the original in every respect, they wouldn't have needed to add anything as silly as a one-night stand and a few tacky close-ups of thighs, stocking tops, torsos, and cleavage.

Good, verging on excellent - but in the event not good enough. Worth a watch, but not a buy.

We'll just have to wait another twenty-nine or forty-one years for the next one to come along...

The one likely upside of amnesia is that you can read all of Agatha Christie's novels again wondering "whodunit". Alas, today's viewers will already know the rough story line - but this mini-series (which equals a long movie) manages to keep you interested.

Fortunately, the BBC has gone to lengths to match ITV's recently concluded "Poirot" with David Suchet. The cast is sheer class without a hint of overacting, and the setting delivers just the right inescapable atmosphere. My only criticism would be the the infamous 'organge and teal' blockbuster color grading, in this case with slight 'vintage' flavor. A good show can contain more realistic colors and still shine!

Put it on your "must watch" list and dial the rating to 11.