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CONTAINS SPOILERS! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE EPISODE!
So, after 25 years of playing 'The greatest detective that ever lived', David Suchet dons the moustache for the last time in Curtain. This final film was adapted by Kevin Elyot and directed by Hettie Macdonald.
Story
Captain Hastings travels back to Styles Court, the scene of his first crime with Hercule Poirot because his oldest friend fears another murder will be committed, but doesn't know who'll die. However, since they last met, Poirot has succumbed to arthritis forcing him to use a wheelchair and has a life threatening heart condition. Hastings is also in pain, his wife Bella has recently died and he is constantly having arguments with his only daughter Judith. Poirot recruits Hastings to be his eyes and his ears and help him prevent a deadly murder, but will he be too late?
Kevin Elyot's script remains faithful to the original text, now fans across the world are relieved. Only a few minor changes are made. These include only mentioning the Litchfield, Sharples and Etherington murders, but Margaret Litchfield is hanged during the title sequence. In the novel, she died in an asylum. Also, Poirot does not call the murderer "X", although this is alluded to. For one of the first times ever, no characters are added or removed!
Elyot manages to write a moving end to the Poirot series. Bravo - he must have had a lot of pressure on his shoulders.
Direction, locations, and soundtrack
Hettie Macdonald, who previously directed Marple: Murder is Easy, has made another masterpiece. The film is very dark in tone, which reflects Poirot's illustrious career but also his impending demise. The scene where Elizabeth Cole (Helen Baxendale) plays the piano when Hastings rushes up to Poirot's room to find him dead, is very moving. Macdonald aims to tug on the viewer's heartstrings, and does so successfully, creating a touching end to the series. The scene when Poirot spins around in his wheelchair to see Hastings again after years, is magnificent. Locations - well... the location used for Styles Court is Shirburn Castle, which isn't the same place they used before as this was unavailable. Now, I wouldn't mind so much if the two places looked even remotely similar, but they don't, so it just doesn't work. Christian Henson's soundtrack is perfect here,, but sadly won't be released in the new album.
Cast and characters
As with last weeks The Labours of Hercules, Curtain is very much about character development as it is about the murder. Obviously, David Suchet is the star of the show. Poirot has undergone a huge development since last we saw him, which incidentally is some 15 years or so. He's got a fatal heart condition, he's wheelchair bound but his mind is as sharp as ever. He has also got a new valet, Curtis. George is apparently looking after his sick father. However, all of this isn't as it seems, as he can walk and the only reason he got rid of poor George is that he wouldn't be able to deceive him.
However, the greatest change to Poirot's character is his sense of justice. Poirot knows that he has to stop Norton before he incites anymore killing, but the law can't touch him, so he takes the law into his own hands, a trait he despises. He shoot Norton in the centre of his temple, in a very dark scene. Then, he goes to bed, making sure his amyl nithrate far away from his bedside, and letting himself die, so god can judge him. He dies. This has to be the most touching scene in TV history, let alone the series.
Captain Hastings also undergoes some major twists and turns. We learn that since the Big Four, he is a widower, and has a grown up daughter Judith. Poor Hastings has a bad time of it all: he is constantly shouted at by Poirot for his stupidity and by Judith, who resents her fathers tight grasp on her life. Like many others, Hastings is egged on by Norton to kill Major Allerton, who he believes to be leading on his daughter. The scene where Hastings poisons Allerton's drugs is very dark as well. The relationship with Hastings and Elizabeth Cole is for the most part dispensed with, at least Poirot doesn't want them to marry in the adaption, but they remain close and a bond is hinted at.
It's great to see George, but he only appears for all of 30 seconds, I would have liked to see Japp, Miss Lemon, Ariadne Oliver and others back, but I suppose this was only a dream and was never really possible.
Of the guest cast, they all give their A-game, but Helen Baxendale stands out as Elizabeth Cole and Anne Reid is great as the powerful Mrs Luttrell.
Kevin Elyot's script remains faithful to the original text, now fans across the world are relieved. Only a few minor changes are made. These include only mentioning the Litchfield, Sharples and Etherington murders, but Margaret Litchfield is hanged during the title sequence. In the novel, she died in an asylum. Also, Poirot does not call the murderer "X", although this is alluded to. For one of the first times ever, no characters are added or removed!
Elyot manages to write a moving end to the Poirot series. Bravo - he must have had a lot of pressure on his shoulders.
Direction, locations, and soundtrack
Hettie Macdonald, who previously directed Marple: Murder is Easy, has made another masterpiece. The film is very dark in tone, which reflects Poirot's illustrious career but also his impending demise. The scene where Elizabeth Cole (Helen Baxendale) plays the piano when Hastings rushes up to Poirot's room to find him dead, is very moving. Macdonald aims to tug on the viewer's heartstrings, and does so successfully, creating a touching end to the series. The scene when Poirot spins around in his wheelchair to see Hastings again after years, is magnificent. Locations - well... the location used for Styles Court is Shirburn Castle, which isn't the same place they used before as this was unavailable. Now, I wouldn't mind so much if the two places looked even remotely similar, but they don't, so it just doesn't work. Christian Henson's soundtrack is perfect here,, but sadly won't be released in the new album.
Cast and characters
As with last weeks The Labours of Hercules, Curtain is very much about character development as it is about the murder. Obviously, David Suchet is the star of the show. Poirot has undergone a huge development since last we saw him, which incidentally is some 15 years or so. He's got a fatal heart condition, he's wheelchair bound but his mind is as sharp as ever. He has also got a new valet, Curtis. George is apparently looking after his sick father. However, all of this isn't as it seems, as he can walk and the only reason he got rid of poor George is that he wouldn't be able to deceive him.
However, the greatest change to Poirot's character is his sense of justice. Poirot knows that he has to stop Norton before he incites anymore killing, but the law can't touch him, so he takes the law into his own hands, a trait he despises. He shoot Norton in the centre of his temple, in a very dark scene. Then, he goes to bed, making sure his amyl nithrate far away from his bedside, and letting himself die, so god can judge him. He dies. This has to be the most touching scene in TV history, let alone the series.
Captain Hastings also undergoes some major twists and turns. We learn that since the Big Four, he is a widower, and has a grown up daughter Judith. Poor Hastings has a bad time of it all: he is constantly shouted at by Poirot for his stupidity and by Judith, who resents her fathers tight grasp on her life. Like many others, Hastings is egged on by Norton to kill Major Allerton, who he believes to be leading on his daughter. The scene where Hastings poisons Allerton's drugs is very dark as well. The relationship with Hastings and Elizabeth Cole is for the most part dispensed with, at least Poirot doesn't want them to marry in the adaption, but they remain close and a bond is hinted at.
It's great to see George, but he only appears for all of 30 seconds, I would have liked to see Japp, Miss Lemon, Ariadne Oliver and others back, but I suppose this was only a dream and was never really possible.
Of the guest cast, they all give their A-game, but Helen Baxendale stands out as Elizabeth Cole and Anne Reid is great as the powerful Mrs Luttrell.
Well mes amis, it's all over now. But it went out with a bang - in a memorable and moving episode.
My review Adieu Poirot will be up soon, and focuses on the series as a whole, from 1989-2013.
My review Adieu Poirot will be up soon, and focuses on the series as a whole, from 1989-2013.
Great article!!! Truth to tell, I don't have the courage to watch the movie, though I likely will in the near future. I'm waiting the arrival of the Audiobook performed by Hugh Fraser. That will be the closest I get for a bit.
ReplyDeleteAs for seeing Inspector Japp and Miss Lemon.... how do you feel about fan fiction? Write them into the story or angle you might have wanted to see. Even if Poirot still dies, it would be nice to see them all. Maybe at a Will reading?
Actually, The funeral would come first, and then the will reading, Neither Japp or Miss Lemon would be so tacky as to attend a will reading unless they attended the service. And they would be requested to attend the will reading. And, Of course, P.I. Japp would fondly recall the time of The Big Four when Poirot let everyone think he had been killed in an explosion rigged by a crazy guy; who went to .....diabolical depths to impress an aspiring actress who had no use for him.
Delete"I remember that, " Miss Lemon managed a quick smile over her coffee, at the memorial reception. "but not fondly. And when I saw him again after everything...part of me wanted to wring his neck!" The three friends shared a brief chuckle. Poirot could do that to people... make them love him and at the same time tempt those same people to want to throttle his ultra fussy neck. What was it with some people.
Japp glanced at Hastings . "Any chance he's ...?" But before James Japp could finish his question, Arthur Hastings shook his head. "No."