Evil Under the Sun
Director: Guy Hamilton
Year: 1982
Rating: 5.5
Finished up the book the other day and as I enjoy
doing, I then watched the film. Always curious to see how a scriptwriter
takes the work of the best-selling author (Agatha Christie) of all time and
changes it about to make it more cinematic, more precise, simpler for the
back-seaters and often much worse (though only slightly in this case). I
also like to see who they get for the characters. This has a fine cast -
all older actors who had had better days as these ensemble films tend to
get - but still big names.
Peter Ustinov plays Hercule Poirot for the second time after Death on the
Nile (he was to play him four more times as well as fitting Charlie Chan
in there) - and assisting him are Diana Rigg, James Mason, Maggie Smith,
Jane Birkin, Roddy McDowall and Sylvia Miles. Fifteen years previously that
would have been a wow cast. Everyone gives it their thespian best - Rigg
as the imperious former actress, McDowall as the clearly gay gossip writer,
Sylvia Miles channeling Joan Rivers, Mason always the proper British gentleman,
Smith the garrulous hotel owner and so on. Of course one of them becomes
the victim and another is a killer. Poirot just happens to be there as he
always is around a murder - as he says at the end - it was a brilliant plan,
the only thing you didn't count on was me.
Probably 75% of the time while reading the Christie books I can figure out
who the killer is and how - not this time - I was clueless - everyone has
a perfect alibi - and the film keeps it that way. Most of the changes from
book to film I could understand - taking it off of a dreary English island
and placing it on a gorgeous Mediterranean island, cutting out a few characters
(but also possible suspects), removing the police who felt pointless in the
book since you know it is going to be Poirot who solves it - but the scriptwriter
messes up with the actual crime and makes it a very lucky plan while in the
book it is meticulous and perfectly timed.
It is directed by Guy Hamilton of Bond fame (the best one of all, Goldfinger,
and three others) as well as the brilliant Funeral in Berlin - so this must
have been rather a breeze for him. The last fifteen minutes when Poirot gathers
everyone together and does his big reveal is done very well.
