■Basic information
Director: Sandra Goldbacher
Starring: Bill Ney, Anna Chassler,
Morvin Christie, Krista Clark, Christian Cook
Genre: Drama, Crime, Suspense
Region: United Kingdom
Release Date:2018-04-01 (UK)
If any writer's novel is suitable for film and television drama, Agatha Christie must be among them. It is precisely because her works have been put on the stage of film and television too many times, and the most important ending of suspense novels has already been completely spoiled when reading novels, Agatha's novels are the most difficult to make, until they meet the BBC.
After No One Survives and Witness to the Prosecution, the BBC's Agatha series is the third, which is also Agatha's own favorite work——— "Innocence". The film was put on the screen in 1985, but there was basically no spark, and in 2017, it was adapted as a small unit in the TV movie "Miss Marple Detective Series", so although Agatha's work was about to be filmed, this "Innocence" was still a virgin land that had not been reclaimed.
"Innocence" is about Mrs. Rachel Argyle, who has five adopted children, who is accidentally murdered at her home, and her eldest son Jack is identified as the murderer and dies shortly after being imprisoned. Two years later, when Argyle marries his new wife and his four adopted children and lives together again, a driver shows up at the mansion to confirm that Jack is not the murderer, everyone in the mansion begins to be suspected, and the intricate relationship between them is revealed one by one...
The series is fascinating at the beginning, accompanied by the screams of Mrs. Rachel Argyle, and a drop of blood in the camera, a Hitchcock-like suspense color is immediately created. The entire series of "Innocence" is immersed in this sense of suspense with a strong Hitchcock style, although the rhythm is very bright, but there is often a subtle stagnation when reversed, this textbook-like editing method makes the editor of the film almost become a god-like existence. The length of "Innocence" is only three episodes predetermined, so the pace is very bright, almost all the dialogue and pictures are not wasted, buried behind the foreshadowing. At present, the show only broadcasts the first episode, and the ending of the first episode basically allows the film to intervene in the top ten of the year.
As I said before, Agatha's suspense mystery novels are widely known, so there is no way to shoot her work like other works, with all the suspense to build an unexpected ending, for the work that has already been "spoiled" the ending, Agatha's film and television works want to look good, the key is the narrative. "Innocent Disaster" adopts a God-style narrative, that is, there is no first perspective, but uses the God perspective to advance the plot, the disadvantage of this is that the narrative basically abandons the reasoning, and can only use superb lenses to create a suspenseful and thrilling effect, but the advantage is that this narrative makes the whole film present a drama atmosphere, which is basically unseen in Agatha's work. So "The Scourge of Innocence" seems to be two kinds of dramas, you can see it as a suspenseful reasoning drama, or you can think of it as a family ethics film with a thriller.
The actors of "The Disaster of Innocence" are also relatively successful, because the previous male protagonist was involved in a sexual assault scandal, in fact, the film removed the actors, which is equivalent to shooting twice. From the current point of view, the choice of actors is still very in place, whether it is Mary Durrant's cunning of face to face and set behind one set, or the ambiguous atmosphere between Mickey Argyle and Tina Argyle, Lindström's high profile and quiet voice, which are all unique to British dramas. The point is that like all fine British dramas, the BBC's "Innocent Disaster" is so elegant that it is heartbreaking, every frame presents an irresistible British beauty, and the tones, costumes and even the expressions of the characters speaking are full of retro colors. Visually, it's already a lot of enjoyment.
However, it is not without shortcomings, as just said, the film adopts a god narrative method, focusing on the dark tide between the families, which makes the film basically follow the style of a family drama film, which will make many viewers who rush to watch "Murder on the Orient Express" that makes people rack their brains and reason, will be slightly disappointed. However, isn't seeing an Agatha like this also a special experience?
Finally, I would like to say that Agatha for the British, should be no less than the "Journey to the West" to the Chinese of the big IP, and the BBC this time booked seven Agatha adaptation rights, "Innocence" is only the third part, each of which presents a very high-quality picture. After watching people's way of changing IP, and then thinking about the annual "Journey to the West" movie, I can only sigh deeply from the bottom of my heart...
■ Synopsis
Two years ago, Jack, the hitchhiker, fell into an address book in the car of the paleontologist Dr. Arthur, and when Arthur went to return it to Jack, he accidentally heard that Jack had been hanged for murdering his wealthy mother. Arthur was taken aback because Jack was in his car at the time of the crime. Arthur had been out there for two years, and now that he had just returned, he couldn't prove Jack innocent. Arthur feels guilty, but the discovery that Jack's family is not interested in Jack's unjust death attracts his attention. Arthur investigates every member of the family and finally learns the truth.
■ Netizen comments
Li Xu: Concise, suspenseful, fast-paced, the best TV series of the season. Even the editing is interesting, the character's past, the setting of the identity, through dialogue and flashback. Although it is a bit old-fashioned, this old-fashioned method is amazing when used well.
Sweety_ a little field: really can't resist this British beauty, every frame is too beautiful, the plot is very compact, there are a lot of foreshadowing, British retro + suspense, overflowing with words of like.
Leowoo watched: Shou watched the first episode premiere in front of the TV, although it is not known how the ending of the next two episodes will be changed, but as far as the current director's editing and narrative techniques are concerned, the charm of the original book's original reasoning has disappeared.
_M ●: The BBC's Apo (Agatha) suspense drama, each one is very exquisite, "No One Survives", "Prosecution Witness", after this one is said to have several more to be broadcast. It is always a confined space, everyone hates the dead, everyone is suspicious, but the ending is often unexpected, envious of those who have not read Grandma's novels, like us who have seen readers who know the murderer when watching the play, we hope that the screenwriter can change the ending and create an unexpected suspense.
September: I was wrong, I should have waited until everything was out to see. Silently waiting for the update, the first episode hin is wonderful, and there are many familiar faces.
Adibudas: The plot is not procrastinating, quite stable, every second is drawing the focus, similar to other suspense dramas, everyone is suspicious before the truth surfaces, a series of protagonists' chaotic memories of killing, so that the play itself has become more flavorful, plus the original aura of Agatha itself, very good-looking!
New Culture Reporter Yin Wei