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Murder is Easy, again?

151 replies

Janinejones · 17/12/2023 11:19

This new one is being plugged hard. Do we really want them to make another 1950s version? It was written before WW2 but I have not seen one set then.
We have 3 recent ones set in the 50s already I think.

OP posts:
Kaftanesque · 28/12/2023 11:20

DH and I watched the film Evil under the Sun yesterday afternoon with the sublime Diana Rigg and Peter Ustinov as Poirot and thoroughly enjoyed it.I was quite bored with last night's adaptation.Will watch tonight to see it concludes any better.DH knows the story well and in the original it was a retired police officer from Hong Kong who gets involved and tbh I can't see why they needed to change that.

backtowinter · 28/12/2023 11:55

Its not a story I'm familiar with so i was excited to watch this

What crap. It was like an episode of father brown but not as good

I won't bother with the rest of it

Twonewcats · 28/12/2023 12:17

EmpressaurusOfCats · 27/12/2023 19:06

Bumping this which explains why the main character is black in this version.

Edited
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I can;t open this link - it just takes me to their home page :/

SutWytTi · 28/12/2023 15:14

TheOccupier · 28/12/2023 10:49

Woke, politically correct (as we used to say before "woke" became a thing), call it what you like. It's the decision to use something that should be entertaining and for which there's a clear creative brief (the original novel) to "educate" viewers about the various iniquities of the British Empire, posh/rich white people, misogynistic men, the police etc etc. It's boring and clunky and just not enjoyable to watch - the BBC's Christmas Agatha Christie drama should be entertaining nostalgia, not this didactic sludge. I don't need or expect to get my education from murder mysteries - of course I'm already fully aware of all the issues the writer was so determined to shoehorn in! Hugh Laurie didn't feel the need to do any of this tedious "updating" with his recent adaptation of Why Didn't They Ask Evans and it's a much better watch as a result.

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Using the term 'woke' or twenty years ago using 'politically correct' makes me Hmm - puts me in mind of people who miss the good old days when it was acceptable to be offensive.

The sort of people who are sad the BBC no longer has Jim Davidson on.

dayswithaY · 28/12/2023 15:26

It was boring, slow paced and the acting was embarrassingly bad. I don’t care if there was a message behind it or not, there must be better scripts out there than this.

Either make a cracking Christie style murder mystery with all the bells and whistles, bodies in libraries, Vicars and high tea or make a stunning drama about a young Nigerian man arriving in the UK to work for the police.

This was neither.

Twonewcats · 28/12/2023 15:27

SutWytTi · 28/12/2023 15:14

Using the term 'woke' or twenty years ago using 'politically correct' makes me Hmm - puts me in mind of people who miss the good old days when it was acceptable to be offensive.

The sort of people who are sad the BBC no longer has Jim Davidson on.

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Yep, it's only ever used as a negative term. Cringey

SpaghettiSauceOnTheCarpet · 28/12/2023 15:30

It was dreadful.

Wbeezer · 28/12/2023 16:55

I'm watching it now the acting styles are not matching, some actors are overacting ( but their dialogue is at least clear) some underacting ( and lines a bit muffled), the lead actor is not very convincing at all I'm afraid. The pacing is slow and the sound design is distracting. I'm only watching it to play spot the locations, filmed in Scotland!

greengreengrass25 · 28/12/2023 16:59

TheOccupier · 27/12/2023 23:12

I prefer adaptations to be true to the original. Agatha Christie's stories are snapshots of particular places and times and that is a large part of their appeal: I don't see the need to try and change them to align with today's values. Won't spoil it but the wokeness ramps up in part two...

Edited

So do I

Unicornsunited123 · 28/12/2023 17:24

Casting directors don't select black actors to 'educate' the audience! They are just cast and I think it's a positive thing. Just because times have moved on and how racism is viewed now is seen as more unacceptable than it was in past, in which is should be. Doesn't mean shows are now becoming 'woke' (god I hate that word! ) regardless if it's a historical adaptation. Its the directors choice . I think people are just secretly upset that society is trying to change from where it has been. And they would prefer the past.

TheOccupier · 28/12/2023 17:24

SutWytTi · 28/12/2023 15:14

Using the term 'woke' or twenty years ago using 'politically correct' makes me Hmm - puts me in mind of people who miss the good old days when it was acceptable to be offensive.

The sort of people who are sad the BBC no longer has Jim Davidson on.

Show quote history

I don't think I've said anything offensive and I don't think there's anything offensive about earlier Christie adaptations such as the Ustinov and Suchet Poirots or the various Marples (Joan Hickson being my favourite). Nor is there anything for a normal person to take offence at in the books themselves. They are of their time. They wouldn't be written as they are today and indeed there is a clear evolution in AC's writing from the earliest books (1920s) to her final works in the 1970s. It's a bit of a reach to assume that not wanting to see a 1930s Christie mystery butchered and twisted into something much less entertaining to fulfil the modern social justice agenda makes me some sort of gammony Jim Davidson fan. Far from it, I can assure you.

SutWytTi · 28/12/2023 17:32

TheOccupier · 28/12/2023 17:24

I don't think I've said anything offensive and I don't think there's anything offensive about earlier Christie adaptations such as the Ustinov and Suchet Poirots or the various Marples (Joan Hickson being my favourite). Nor is there anything for a normal person to take offence at in the books themselves. They are of their time. They wouldn't be written as they are today and indeed there is a clear evolution in AC's writing from the earliest books (1920s) to her final works in the 1970s. It's a bit of a reach to assume that not wanting to see a 1930s Christie mystery butchered and twisted into something much less entertaining to fulfil the modern social justice agenda makes me some sort of gammony Jim Davidson fan. Far from it, I can assure you.

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Christie herself felt her pieces should be adapted.

Many creatives want creative adaptations of their work.

It gets boring just having to watch the same thing over and over - and of course those who dislike change can watch their preferred version repeatedly.

I agree you haven't said anything offensive on this thread, that's not what I said.

But you also haven't explained what is wrong with the adaptation other than it includes facts about empire and racism etc. What is the problem with discussing racism etc?

TheOccupier · 28/12/2023 17:47

I have explained what is wrong with the adaptation but again: the changes feel awkward, diminish the story and distract from the core plot, the script is poor, the whole thing isn't cohesive, and the garish colours are hard on the eye. It's lazy to use a well-known writer like Agatha Christie and then butcher her work to the point where it is barely recognisable; the stories that the new version is trying could be much better covered by producing something new and fresh. What's the point of calling it Agatha Christie's Murder is Easy while completely changing the main character, some minor characters, and the time period (the book was set in the 1930s and the adaptation is set in 1954). With all the money the BBC spent on this mediocre production couldn't they have made a really great new murder mystery with a Nigerian immigrant lead character? Do they think nobody would watch that? If the BBC want to do Agatha Christie, they should do so in a way that is faithful and respectful to the original novel - which is being terribly misrepresented by this adaptation's writer both in the TV production and in her comments in the Times article.

Unicornsunited123 · 28/12/2023 17:49

TheOccupier · 28/12/2023 17:47

I have explained what is wrong with the adaptation but again: the changes feel awkward, diminish the story and distract from the core plot, the script is poor, the whole thing isn't cohesive, and the garish colours are hard on the eye. It's lazy to use a well-known writer like Agatha Christie and then butcher her work to the point where it is barely recognisable; the stories that the new version is trying could be much better covered by producing something new and fresh. What's the point of calling it Agatha Christie's Murder is Easy while completely changing the main character, some minor characters, and the time period (the book was set in the 1930s and the adaptation is set in 1954). With all the money the BBC spent on this mediocre production couldn't they have made a really great new murder mystery with a Nigerian immigrant lead character? Do they think nobody would watch that? If the BBC want to do Agatha Christie, they should do so in a way that is faithful and respectful to the original novel - which is being terribly misrepresented by this adaptation's writer both in the TV production and in her comments in the Times article.

In your opinion....

1975wasthebest · 28/12/2023 18:01

Also, who the fuck watched an Agatha Christie adaptation to be educated? I’m not interested, in this context, to hear clunky dialogue about colonialism and duty and obligation.

The screenwriters nods to racism are plain stupid - there would be way more overt racism towards Luke in real life in that world at the time. Yes I know it’s fictitious, but if you’re going to depict racism, at least do it properly.

TheOccupier · 28/12/2023 18:08

Incidentally @SutWytTi , you haven't explained why an adaptation of a 1930s Agatha Christie mystery set in a village in rural England needs to include "discussion" of racism, colonialism, patriarchy, Western appropriation of cultural artefacts, wartime profiteering and how this affected the poor, the oppression of women, etc etc etc. Can't we just be entertained for a couple of hours at Christmas? How joyless.

SutWytTi · 28/12/2023 18:09

If the BBC want to do Agatha Christie, they should do so in a way that is faithful and respectful to the original novel Christie herself apparently felt early adaptations were not radical enough. One of the things I hold to is that the first few adaptations of her plays were done by other people, and she didn’t like them because she didn’t think they were radical enough for the change in medium.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/11/is-easy-could-be-the-radical-enough-adaptation-agatha-christie-wanted

I still don't understand why mention of empire or racism is so upsetting. IMO there's nothing wrong with talking about racism or empire, they happened.

Why is a conservative opinion of 'respectful' more valuable than a radical opinion, including from Christie's own family? Why must everything be the same forever?

1975wasthebest · 28/12/2023 18:11

@SutWytTi I mentioned this morning that AC died this morning in 1976, so she never saw most of the adaptations of her work.

SutWytTi · 28/12/2023 18:14

TheOccupier · 28/12/2023 18:08

Incidentally @SutWytTi , you haven't explained why an adaptation of a 1930s Agatha Christie mystery set in a village in rural England needs to include "discussion" of racism, colonialism, patriarchy, Western appropriation of cultural artefacts, wartime profiteering and how this affected the poor, the oppression of women, etc etc etc. Can't we just be entertained for a couple of hours at Christmas? How joyless.

I'm not joyless, I can enjoy a wide range of adaptations.

I'm comfortable with new and old.

The director has explained their creative vision.

greengreengrass25 · 28/12/2023 18:14

1975wasthebest · 28/12/2023 18:01

Also, who the fuck watched an Agatha Christie adaptation to be educated? I’m not interested, in this context, to hear clunky dialogue about colonialism and duty and obligation.

The screenwriters nods to racism are plain stupid - there would be way more overt racism towards Luke in real life in that world at the time. Yes I know it’s fictitious, but if you’re going to depict racism, at least do it properly.

Yes it's not realistic at all

SutWytTi · 28/12/2023 18:15

1975wasthebest · 28/12/2023 18:11

@SutWytTi I mentioned this morning that AC died this morning in 1976, so she never saw most of the adaptations of her work.

She saw the early ones, and apparently felt they were not radical enough.

TheOccupier · 28/12/2023 18:19

Yeah, the Guardian would take that line but I don't think Christie's great grandson who has "distant memories" of her before she died when he was 6 is much of an authority! He's just chasing the money, as are the rest of those who control her estate and literary legacy - the number and poor quality of Christie adaptations over the past few years makes that pretty clear. Agatha Christie was writing well into the 1970s and published a book a year up to 1973; if she wanted to set one of her mysteries in the 1950s with a west African detective main character (and an Indian woman married to a Scottish vicar as a minor character!), I guess she would have done so.

As for the rest of your post: see my last. We can recognise the damage done by the British Empire etc without having to shoehorn these themes into absolutely everything.

PomsRun · 28/12/2023 18:23

I enjoyed it. It was a bit clunky but easy watching which I quite like. I thought the lead character was very likeable.

I did think the colonialism points were a bit overdone and could have been better made. For example when the lead backed away from the police - that was much more emotive and illustrative of casual racism.

SutWytTi · 28/12/2023 18:24

TheOccupier · 28/12/2023 18:19

Yeah, the Guardian would take that line but I don't think Christie's great grandson who has "distant memories" of her before she died when he was 6 is much of an authority! He's just chasing the money, as are the rest of those who control her estate and literary legacy - the number and poor quality of Christie adaptations over the past few years makes that pretty clear. Agatha Christie was writing well into the 1970s and published a book a year up to 1973; if she wanted to set one of her mysteries in the 1950s with a west African detective main character (and an Indian woman married to a Scottish vicar as a minor character!), I guess she would have done so.

As for the rest of your post: see my last. We can recognise the damage done by the British Empire etc without having to shoehorn these themes into absolutely everything.

No doubt more of an authority than you.

If the empire is a topic that triggers you, just watch an old version.

1975wasthebest · 28/12/2023 18:47

Unicornsunited123 · 28/12/2023 17:24

Casting directors don't select black actors to 'educate' the audience! They are just cast and I think it's a positive thing. Just because times have moved on and how racism is viewed now is seen as more unacceptable than it was in past, in which is should be. Doesn't mean shows are now becoming 'woke' (god I hate that word! ) regardless if it's a historical adaptation. Its the directors choice . I think people are just secretly upset that society is trying to change from where it has been. And they would prefer the past.

Actors are cast in stuff for one or for multiple reasons. Because they’re talented, because they look the part, because their father is a famous director, because they’re shagging the producer, and so on. A black actor - and a weak one, as with this - just doesn’t work here.