Customer Reviews

Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Movie Collection - Set 4

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Even though well into his 60's, David Suchet continues to prove that he IS Hercule Poirot. Yes, the eyes look a little tired & the belly a little full, but even the great Hercule Poirot must age.

These 90 minute movies deserve multiple viewings as the mysteries are intricate and you could miss a clue if you turn your head. The stories, based on the full length novels MRS MCGINTY'S DEAD and CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS, are more flushed out than the older 60 minute episodes. One felt like clues were left out of those shorter episodes that prevented the viewer from solving the murder with Poirot. But here, all of the clues are there for you the viewer to pick up on, but are they what they seem?

I do miss the regular cast of characters in the old 60 minute series, Inspector Japp, Captain hastings & Miss Lemon are sadly missing from the 90 minute "Movie" versions of Poirot. However, they are present in the third disc which includes interviews with the actors who brought those characters to life. And you get to see David Suchet without his Poirot mustache.

While the production values are excellent, the wonderful 'Art Deco' style of the earlier shows is missing. I do wish they had kept that style going. 'Art Deco' buildings & objects do appear in these movies, but the style is gone from the production.

The bottom line is that I do like the more flushed out stories, but I miss some of the elements from the earlier productions. Still they are a 'MUST-BUY".

While I wish PBS would air all 4 new Poirot Movies this year (I don't know if it is due to budget cuts or not), it is nice to get to see at least two of the new productions and look forward to two more later on. PBS is a co-producer of the series & they decide what Acorn Media can release in the U.S..

I have an early review copy & can say that the anamorphic 16:9 widescreen picture has some grain to it (it looked the same on the PBS-Hi Defenition broadcast). The sub-titles can help with unfamiliar British words. Bonus material is mostly limited to the 47 minute "Super Sleuths" special on disc #3. Discs 1 & 2 have very basic still frame biographies & filmographies. Quite honestly, the "Super Sleuths" special could have easily fit on a second layer of either disc 1 or 2, but it looks better to make it a 3-disc set. At least they are 'slim cases' and do not take up too much space for the extra disc.

I have loved Suchet's Poirot and that wonderful characterization is still to be found in these stories.
I also loved the art direction and cinematic style of the earlier stories in which Suchet appeared and that is not so evident in these films.

First the art direction. As others have noted, the "deco" feeling has been almost entirely lost, but I also find that the sense that the events being seen are taking place in a particular place at a particular time has also gone missing. The Poirot's I most love and repeatedly watch are the ones that are clearly taking place in England roughly "between the wars". I have noticed the decline in the sense of place and time in some of the films released shortly before these, but it is virtually absent in these two. I believe this is mostly a matter of changed art direction and set decoration.

As to cinematic style. This appears to be a matter of both editing and directoral choice. I find the editing abrupt and constantly jarring. In this way these two films are very similar to the Miss Marple films starring Geraldine McEwan, which I have never been able to sit through. It is not that find fault with Ms. McEwan's Miss Marple. She is fine. But the editing is too abrupt, to quick, too modern for the period in which the stories are set.

And then there is direction. These two films are so "artificial". Poirot is definitely an eccentric, almost fanciful, character, but Suchet has consistently managed to make Poirot seem "real". In these two films the director has made choices that conflict with that hard won sense of reality. In "Mrs. McGinty" it seems that they stuck a diffusion filter on the lens and never took it off. As a result, even the scenes in which evidence is being gathered or Poirot's "little grey cells" are working with greatest clarity, have this dreamy, other-worldly quality. I do, however, wonder, given that we are all a bit vain... Mr. Suchet is now one of the producers did his perfectly understandable desire to mask the effects of age have something to do with all this diffusion?

In addition, in many scenes there is also atmospheric diffusion (aka fog). You can even see it in one of the stills on Amazon's Set 4 page (unless they've changed the still since I wrote this), which shows fog inside a room. I realize this technique is often used to show distance outdoors or to provide a sense of early morning or late afternoon brightness indoors, but here it is overdone and in combination with the lens diffusion the vagueness of the images is quite intrusive and at odds with the clear thinking that is integral to a mystery. Only at the end, during the dénouement scene does the diffusion filter finally come off and then, you have been looking at diffusion so long that, its sudden disappearance is also jarring.

The other problem I have is with the secondary characters. They so often irritable, loud, and ill-mannered (same as in the McEwan Marples). I first noticed this change in a few of the younger characters in "The Hollow", but in these stories it is as if everyone has completely forgotten their Edwardian and Georgian upbringing. Their nurses and nanny's would be most displeased.

I really do miss Miss Lemon, Chief Inspector Japp, and, especially, Hastings. I cannot recall if any of them appear in these particular novels, so this observation may be off point, but in general the presence of these three characters tended to humanize Poirot. In their presence he stopped being merely a great detective. He was less eccentric and more human because they were his friend and he theirs. The absence of that mutual affection and the occasional friendly jibe that affection engendered cuts Poirot off from the rest of human-kind and thus from us.

I confess that much of my criticism results from a comparison of the previous Poirots with the present crop. If the early ones had not been so excellent and so satisfying, these would be quite good enough and well above the standard set by U.S. television productions.

This set contains two episodes, Mrs. McGinty's Dead and Cat Among the Pigeons. These are the two episodes airing on PBS's Mystery! this summer. No one can sell a DVD set BEFORE the episodes air on television...you don't see ABC selling DVDs of the current season of "LOST" do you? The UK has already aired all 4 episodes so the UK has released all 4 episodes on DVD. The US broadcasters (PBS) have their own broadcast schedule and therefore the DVD Sets must follow suit. The other 2 episodes (Third Girl & Appointment with Death) will be out on DVD AFTER they air, which is TBD. No one is trying to rob us fans; let's just be patient.

I was just browsing on Amazon and ran across this set, and I am truly offended by how Acorn is treating the Poirot fans in the U.S. For the record, the two movies included in this set were released on Region 2 DVD last year, along with the other two movies from season 11 - "Third Girl" and "Appointment with Death." And when I bought that set last year, it still cost me less than what Acorn is charging for this half-set.

As for the movies, "Mrs. Ginty's Dead" is classic Poirot. It's very faithful to the novel, and by far my favorite episode of season 11. I didn't care for Zoë Wanamaker as Ariadne Oliver in "Cards on the Table," but she really grew on me in this episode. The scene where she's collaborating with Robin on her play is hilarious. "Cat Among the Pigeons" takes a few more liberties with the story, probably because Poirot didn't even appear in the novel until the end. It's still pretty well done, even though the focus definitely shifts from the schoolgirls in the novel to the teachers in the movie. I do wish they had come up with a better excuse to get Poirot involved in the action, though, because the reasons (both the real reason and his cover story) are frankly kind of dumb. But that's a minor quibble.

I can't judge the bonus DVD, of course, but even if it's wonderful, it still wouldn't justify the price for this set. If you like Poirot and British TV in general, I would strongly advise that you check out region-free DVD players. They're surprisingly cheap nowadays. You can buy the complete season 11 on Amazon UK, probably for less than what you'd pay for this set. (Fair warning, though: "Appointment with Death" is really, really terrible. "Third Girl" is pretty decent.)

DVD producers are just as susceptible to greed as any politician or CEO. Here is a prime example. Owing to Acorn's unwholesome greed, Amazon has to charge $45 (FORTY-FIVE DOLLARS)for a 2-disc set. That is outrageous. My advice: don't buy this. Wait for the inevitable 4-disc set that will come out once the other 2 films have been shown in the U.S. Or, conversely, wait until the price drops on this one owing to lack of interest at that ridiculous price ... the resellers will certainly be offering much more reasonable prices. I like Suchet's Poirot as well as anyone, but I'm willing to wait.

David Suchet reprises his role of Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot in Series 9 of "Poirot", which dramatizes two of Agatha Christie's later novels. "Mrs. McGinty's Dead", published in 1952, and "Cat Among the Pigeons", published 1959, have been moved to the interwar years, as is customary in this series. It's called Season 11 in Britain and comprises four films there. PBS is only showing the first two films in the US this year, so this DVD set contains two films and a bonus disc with a 47-minute documentary. These are David Suchet's 58th and 59th personifications of Hercule Poirot since he stepped into the role in 1989. Suchet is visibly older now, having moved closer to the correct age for the ageless Poirot over the past 20 years.

It could be conceded that Poirot is an irritating little man. He is in the novels. And the detective's solutions seem conjured out of thin air. But he's fantastic to watch. This long-running Poirot series never fails to be visually captivating. Credit is due the actors, costumers, production designers, and cinematographers that make Poirot and his world look so fascinating. Of course, the 1930s are exotic-looking now, and, just as I loved the modernist designs of the series' early episodes, I found these new episodes have their own striking style. The focus is a little soft -perhaps to combat the effects of HD. Interiors tend to be quite dark, and the camera work out-of-doors is sometimes surprising. Both films have the same distinct visual style, but I'm not sure who is owed the credit, as they have different directors. They do have the same camera operator, Paul Donachie.

Screenwriter Mark Gates increases Poirot's presence in his adaptation of "Cat Among the Pigeons". Poirot visits the prestigious Meadowbanks School for girls where his friend Miss Bulstrode (Harriet Walter) is headmistress. After his ceremonial duties are done, Miss Bulstrode asks Poirot to help her choose a successor, as she is planning retirement. But the school's sadistic games mistress Miss Springer (Elizabeth Berrington) is murdered, and there is no shortage of people with motive. Or perhaps it has something to do with their celebrity student, Princess Shaista (Amara Karan), whose homeland has just suffered a coup d'êtat. This film's atmosphere and the detestable Miss Springer make it a big improvement over the book.

Agatha Christie vented a little frustration at decades of writing the Poirot character in "Mrs. McGinty's Dead". Ariadne Oliver (Zoe Wanamaker) is a mystery novelist frustrated with one of her popular characters as she tries to write a play. Poirot has been asked by Superintendent Spence (Richard Hope) to re-investigate a murder. A young man, James Bentley (Joe Absolom), is sentenced to hang for murder of an elderly charwoman with whom he lodged. Spence is unsure of his guilt. So Poirot is off to Broadhinny to find someone with a motive. He finds a lack of transport, his friend the novelist, as well as a cast of eccentric, agitated suspects. Zoe Wanamaker is a real scene-stealer as the outspoken Ariadne and reason enough to see the film.

The DVDs (Acorn 2009 3-disc set): The two 90-minute films have their own discs. The third disc contains a "Super Sleuths" documentary (47 min) about the series, from its debut in 1989 to its final episode, which has not yet been seen. David Suchet, Philip Jackson (who played Chief Inspector Japp), Hugh Fraser (who played Captain Hastings), Pauline Moran (who played Miss Lemon), producer (1989-2001) Brian Eastman, writers Anthony Horowitz and Clive Exton, and others talk about the character Poirot, Agatha Christie's creation of her most popular detective, how Poirot developed in the books and TV series, and how the series has evolved. Worth watching if you're a fan of the series. Subtitles available in English SDH.

"Agatha Christie:Poirot, Set 4", a British mystery television series made by ITV Global Entertainment, has aired on ITV1 in the United Kingdom since 1989, and on A & E and PBS in the United States. Set 4 comes to us as a three-DVD set, timed to coincide with its late June 2009 TV debut on the Masterpiece Mystery! Show, Public Broadcasting System stations: Poirot is PBS's Mystery!'s most watched detective series. These are newly-made feature-length adaptations of Christie's ever-popular stories, starring the remarkable David Suchet, Poirot for a generation of TV viewers. They run approximately 186 minutes, plus, we get, on a third DVD, a 47-minute bonus program, "Super Sleuths," that explores the wide appeal of Christie's internationally famous Belgian detective, he of the curled mustache and active little gray cells, Hercule Poirot. This DVD gives us interviews with stars Suchet, Philip Jackson (Chief Inspector Japp), Hugh Fraser ( Captain Hastings), and Pauline Moran (Miss Lemon); as well as longtime producer Brian Eastman, director Ed Bennett, and notable writer Anthony Horowitz (Foyle's War: Series 1-5 - From Dunkirk to VE-Day). Other special features include subtitles. (Thank you Acorn Media, though I actually found that I could follow the shows quite well without them, as characters clearly speak Standard English.)

These entertaining shows bear the trademarks of British TV: accuracy as to pre-World War II detail, lavish productions, grand estates, lovely scenery. The guest stars are plentiful: Zoe Wanamaker (My Family - Season 1); Paul Rhys (Vincent & Theo); Amanda Root (Persuasion); Sian Phillips (I, Claudius), Emma Amos ( The Last Detective: Complete Collection), Harriet Walter (Atonement ), Natasha Little (Vanity Fair ), Claire Skinner (Bridget Jones's Diary), Susan Wooldridge (The Jewel in the Crown ), Anton Lesser (Miss Potter); and Katie Leung (the Harry Potter movies). The scripts are witty, complex, and sharply-focused. As always, wrongdoers tend to underestimate the deductive powers of Christie's vain little detective, to their detriment. The episodes are:
Mrs. McGinty's Dead. Old friend/mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver (Wanamaker) helps Poirot try to save a young man from hanging for a murder that he might not have done. Christie has fun satirizing herself with the character.
Cat Among the Pigeons. Murder comes to the fashionable and prestigious private girls' school, the Meadowbank, where staff is busy trying to treat young Princess Shaista of Ramat, a political refugee dogged by her country's revolutionaries, like everyone else.

Anyone can see that there, are, controversially, but two stories here. The releasing company may have had its reasons; among other things, only these two episodes have so far been shown here. It may be that it's just not done to release these things on DVD before their debuts; it might not be allowed contractually, for all I know. Whereas this set was released a week after the debuts. And, the two episodes that are here are just excellent. So get over it, make up your mind, and get on with it, as you choose to do.

These movies are OK...because we really loved the original series, but they are not quite up to par with the original series or movies. We thought the plots were very intricate and a little hard to follow, and simply required too much "work" to watch. But as true fans, we wouldn't have missed them.

The extra feature interviews with the cast of the original series was very interesting.

First, I wanted to say that the episodes are great. Any fan of the series will enjoy them immensely. My only criticism is the same one I have for all the recent vintage "Poirots" -- I miss Hastings, Miss Lemon, and Inspector Japp. The onscreen interplay between these characters and Suchet was always superb, often providing comic relief, and made it a much more balanced mystery and enjoyable viewing experience.

That said, if one doesn't want to wait for these, I would suggest buying the UK versions on Amazon.co.uk. There almost always easily a third cheaper -- even accounting for the increased shipping cost. The only thing you have to do is buy a "Region Free" DVD player. If you look on e*ay, you can find brand new ones from reputable sellers for around $100. BTW, I don't sell them, so I'm not doing this for any self interest. If you watch much British TV, it will pay for itself pretty quickly. For example, I watch MI-5 -- Spooks in the UK. I bought the 6th season 7 months before it was for sale in the US for less than half of what the US version now sells for. When first released in the US, they wanted $70 for it. I paid less than $40 for the UK version, delivered. I've already watched the first two seasons of the "Life On Mars" sequel, "Ashes to Ashes" and am awaiting the release of the third and final season. The second season of "Life On Mars" won't even be released in the U.S. until November. Who knows when the sequel will be released. I saw season two of "Inspector Lewis" over two years ago and season 3 last year. They won't be released in the US until the fall. Needless to say, if you like British drama, this opens "a whole new world" to you of shows that never saw US release.

There's a chance you can even configure your current DVD player as region free if it plays both PAL (European standard) and NTSC (US Standard) DVDs. In the past, most DVD players were made for the worldwide market, so it was cheaper for manufacturers to make a single model that was able to convert both formats. Now the DVD player markets are so large that's not necessarily cost effective. But there are still some out there. Do an internet search on "DVD Hacks" and you will find out if your model will do it. Bose 321 systems play both PAL and NTSC systems. Pressing a sequence of 5 buttons on the remote makes that system region free. Most others that are capable of being set up region free are about that easy to convert. Some require a firmware update. That's not hard to do, but I personally would just get one that I can reconfigure with my remote. That's what most of the retailers of region free DVD players do. So you are paying something of a premium for them to spend less than 5 minutes pushing a few buttons on the remote. As I said, I did buy one region free but when I got my 321 system, I figured for the volume Bose sells, it wouldn't be cost effective to make a PAL version and an NTSC version, and I was right. But as I said, there are PLENTY of cheaper alternatives out there.

The cheapest way to do it is to search and find models that are being sold as region free, check and see if others have successfully done it, and then buy the DVD player from the cheapest source you can find. As I said, if you buy it region free, you will pay more for that, but then you are absolutely certain of what you are getting.

Anyway, just some food for thought.

As predicted by many last summer, PBS is airing 3 of the new Poirot episodes this spring and those will then be released on 8/31 as "Agatha Christie's Poirot: Movie Collection, Set 6." And more great news this year - the classic "Murder on the Orient Express" is part of the line-up!