Mystery in Venice: What is the difference between Agatha Christie’s novel and Kenneth Branagh’s film?

What is it about? Venice, All Saints Night, a few years after the end of World War II. This is where the famous detective Hercule Poirot lives, now retired. After devoting his life to solving crimes and witnessing the worst in people, he gave up his career as an investigator. And if he does his best to avoid running into criminal cases, they are often the ones who find him…

Poirot receives at his home an old friend, Ariadne Oliver, the world’s greatest writer of detective novels, who assures him that the reason for his visit has nothing to do with crime: he wanted her to accompany him to a screening. Spiritualism and allows him to prove that it is nonsense. Intrigued, Poirot reluctantly agrees to attend and finds himself in a dilapidated and supposedly haunted mansion owned by famous singer Rowena Drake. When one of the participants is brutally murdered, everyone present becomes a potential suspect. A Belgian detective once again finds himself immersed in the evil world of shadows and secrets…

Halloween Crime

First published in 1969, Halloween Crime Agatha Christie belongs to the series of works headed by Hercule Poirot. This novel was originally called Pumpkin Festival. During its re-release in 1999, the name was changed.

If the mystery in Venice is adapted Halloween CrimeScreenwriter Michael Green has also been noted for some Agatha Christie stories that turn to the supernatural: “He published a collection of short stories under the title last session And the person who gave the work its name is truly terrifying. therefore Secret in Venice Of course transposition Halloween CrimeBut the film is also deeply imbued with the novelist’s preoccupation with the supernatural.

Differences from the original novel

Agatha Christie’s novel takes place in an English palace. Michael Green decided to move the story to Venice. “It became a more intimate story, with fewer suspects. Michael even agreed to introduce some subplots.”Kenneth Branagh elaborates. “He set most of the action in a Venetian palace, where he locked up the suspects at the beginning of the plot during a terrible storm.”

The screenwriter develops: “We told ourselves we had the legitimacy to make a few changes, just to tell a slightly different story from the book. Agatha Christie’s story draws some lines, and that’s what sets up the film. But we also wanted to reinterpret the story to make it a little more depressing.”. Thus, while a short story takes place over several days (almost a week), a feature film takes place over one night.

James Pritchard, the film’s executive producer and grandson of Agatha Christie, confirmed the changes, which he said kept the tone and spirit of the book.

and 3!

After Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile, Kenneth Branagh once again adapts Agatha Christie for film, working both behind and in front of the camera as detective Hercule Poirot. The British director and actor joins screenwriter Michael Green for the occasion.

It was on the set of Death on the Nile that the two men discussed a third project together. “During the lighting test, as I was leaning against the railing at Carnac, I asked myself what we could do for our third film. And for some reason I can’t explain, I was thinking about a ghost story… and I remembered that Agatha Christie had written a story called The Halloween Murder.Green recalls.

Belfast

Kenneth Branagh is reuniting with Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill, who he co-starred with in his film Belfast. As in the latter, two actors play a father and his son. “It was really great to see them again. It’s no surprise that James had quite a fatherly relationship with Jude. They get on well, understand each other, but their relationship wasn’t the same. They got the atmosphere of the film and both kept strong English accents.”The director recalls.