Tea pot
Agatha christie
What is the greatness of a writer? Her books have become worldwide bestsellers after the Bible and Shakespeare; pioneered certain genres of this genre; with countless tributes to posterity, pioneering ruse is constantly being re-enacted... Moreover, her novels are constantly being adapted and adapted to the screen, the screen, and the stage. Nowadays, almost every year, we can see a new film or TV series adapted from Agatha Christie's work. In 2020 alone, from the British drama "The Grey Horse Hotel" at the beginning of the year to the upcoming movie "Massacre on the Nile", it has attracted enough attention.
Stills from "The Grey Horse Hotel"
For grandma fans around the world, 2020 is undoubtedly a year worth reveling in: 100 years ago, her debut book "The Strange Case of Styles Manor" was published; September 15, the 130th anniversary of her birth. Before the release of the new version of "Massacre on the Nile", let's first briefly review the film and television adaptation of Agatha Christie's work.
The Strange Case of Stiles Manor is Agatha Christie's debut novel and the first appearance of detective Poirot. The novel was serialized in The Weekly Times in England from February to June 1920 and published in the United States in October
In fact, the adaptation of Agatha Christie's work began 92 years ago. In 1928, when Grandma was 38 years old, her work "The Mysterious Mr. Quinn" was first adapted to the big screen, and she also served as a screenwriter herself.
Poster for the movie The Mysterious Mr. Quinn (1928).
However, among all the films under the "Agatha" column of the Douban movie, the one that appears at the beginning in order of evaluation is the 1957 version of "Prosecution Witness". Although the original novel is not very well-known compared to Agatha Christie's other works, this black-and-white film has received more than 300,000 ratings on Douban, and its high score of 9.6 has made it occupy a stunning high position in the Douban movie list.
Prosecution Witness (1957) poster
"Please don't reveal the ending of this movie to anyone!" This sentence appears at the end of the 1957 edition of "Prosecution Witness". Because the plot reversal is too shocking, director Billy Wilder, who created the classic picture of Marilyn Monroe's white dress being blown up in "The Seven Year Itch", added a "no spoiler" prompt for the suspense film for the first time at the end of the movie, and deliberately reminded the audience not to reveal the ending to friends who had not seen the movie. In just two hours, a well-planned competition and a novel experience must have made people at that time realize how much psychological pleasure can be brought by suspense films.
A friendly reminder at the end of Witness for the Prosecution (1957).
How to adapt a suspense work into a successful film work has always been a concern for film and television workers, and the 1957 version of "Prosecution Witness" is recognized as surpassing the original work. The plot arrangement of one link and one link makes the film tightly paced, and the actor's three-point acting skills add to the film, and when there are still five minutes before the finale, the biggest reversal finally arrives, so all the previous conclusions are completely overturned... The film doesn't focus on the classic question of "who is the murderer", and the lawyer — Sir Wilfred, who has just been discharged from the hospital — appears on the scene and receives a murder complaint, and the rich wife falls in love with the poor boy Leonard Wall, but she is hit in the head and dies on the night the poor boy visits. In her will, she left the poor boy an inheritance of eighty thousand pounds! Leonard Wall did not have an alibi, and his motives seemed clear, but he insisted that he had been wronged! The whole unsolved case is thus displayed in front of the audience' eyes, and now the focus is on the trial drama and psychological drama. As the lawyers' investigation deepened, key evidence that the poor boy's wife, Kristin, framed her husband surfaced. The twists and turns of the story seem to have a perfect ending of good and good repaying evil and evil, but is this really the case?
In 2016, the British BBC remade "Prosecution Witness" into a TV series. Although there are classic versions in the past, compared to the compact arrangement and humorous treatment of the 1957 film version, the BBC tv series has a long enough discussion of the darkness of human nature, which is also worth watching.
Poster for the TV series Witness for the Prosecution (2016).
As a British writer, the adaptation of Agatha Christie's works naturally began in Britain. For a long time, the British remade Agatha's works have shined in the international film world and the drama world.
The British drama "Poirot the Great Detective" series, from the premiere in 1989 to the end of 2013, a total of 13 seasons, David Suchet played Poirot (center) became a classic, he is also the most ever played Poirot actor
After entering the 21st century, Japan, which also studied reasoning, began to localize Agatha's works. In 2015, Fuji Tv's first Agatha adaptation came out, and this time, "Murder on the Orient Express" became "Toyo Express Murder", and as soon as the name changed, the feeling of Japanese reasoning came up.
Japanese remake of "Toyo Express Murder Incident"
The two-episode SP moved the big stage for homicides from the Orient Express to the Toyo Express in the early showa years. In Japanese reasoning works, there are not a few homicides on trains, and the transportation "timetable trick" is pioneered by the Japanese, how to make Agatha's classic work not only retain the essence of the original work, but also adapt to the Japanese audience soil, is a major focus of the adaptation. Of the two episodes, the first is an adaptation of the original and narrated in a decent manner, while the second is written by screenwriter Yuki Mitani, providing another route for review from the perspective of a prisoner.
Stills from "Toyo Express Murder Incident"
In 2017, Japan's TV Asahi remade another of Grandma's classic works, "No One Survives". In 2018, Agatha Christie's 2-Night Straight Special was also broadcast on television. In "Witnessing Murder", the Japanese invited Tenkai Yuki to play the famous female detective in Grandma's pen - Miss Jane Marple, which is indeed a somewhat shocking breakthrough, after all, the "Easy Chair Detective" Miss Marple in our minds should be the kind grandmother in the British BBC drama "Miss Marple Detective", but in the Japanese version, the Queen of Tianhai incarnated as a heroic policewoman, and also pursued the duty of "Easy Chair Detective".
Japanese drama "No One Survives"
"Murder Witness" starring Yuki Tenkai
Miss Marple in the British drama "Miss Marple Detective"
Although people have mixed reviews of Agatha's work adapted from Japan, it is indeed interesting to see how the people of the island country understand and remake Agatha.
The Japanese drama "The Mystery of Kuroito" adapted from "Roger's Doubt" (2018)
In the 1970s, the Western world ushered in the second round of Agatha's adaptation frenzy, and it was during this period that the classic version of "Massacre on the Nile" was born. This work became the first foreign suspense and mystery film introduced to China after the reform and opening up, and the Shanghai Film Translation Studio translated the film in 1978. The film's lead actors are all strong actors, at least five Of them are Oscar winners, and the Translation Factory has also sent a large number of excellent voice actors. After the release of "Massacre on the Nile" in 1979, it quickly set off discussions in China, ranking among the top ten classic translation producers of Shanghai Translation Factory, and also became a childhood memory for many people.
Stills from Massacre on the Nile (1978).
When it comes to The Massacre on the Nile, we can explore it in many ways, because for us, this film does have considerable significance. In an era when it was just beginning to open, the film contributed greatly to introducing curious Chinese to Agatha Christie, a delicate and brilliant writer. It was also in early 1979 that the film was in full swing that the inaugural issue of The Forest magazine began to translate the original novel of "Massacre on the Nile" in its entirety. The introduction of this novel brought "Yilin" a sales volume of up to 400,000 at one time, and also laid the initial foundation for "Yilin" to become a reading material for literary and artistic young people in the 1980s and 1990s. At the same time, it also breaks down the prejudices of many people in the translation industry against foreign popular literature.
The Massacre on the Nile
So, what is this epoch-making Agatha classic in China? "Massacre on the Nile" is based on the entanglement of love, ethics and money, and the rich lady Lynette crosses the knife to marry Simon, the fiancé of her good friend Jacqueline. During their honeymoon, the couple was often harassed by Jacqueline, and while the cruise was sailing on the beautiful Nile, Lynette was shot dead at night, and Jacqueline, who was most motivated by the crime, had an absolute alibi. Subsequently, Lynette's maid was also killed in the room, and she was killed after discovering the murderer with the intention of extortion. Mrs. Otterburn, who claimed to have discovered the murderer, was also shot when she was about to say who the killer's name was! Who is the murderer? What is the motivation? The great detective Poirot stripped away the cocoon and found that this was another tragedy of human nature...
In the new version of "Massacre on the Nile", director Kenneth Branagh will be put on the battlefield to play the role of the detective Poirot in his heart. The film is scheduled for October 23, and the first Chinese character trailer was released on August 19
Editor-in-Charge: Gu Ming
Proofreader: Ding Xiao