gridoon2018
This Russian adaptation of one of Agatha Christie's most famous stories is highly acclaimed, especially by Christie purists, mainly for sticking to her original book ending, which is more grim, and more logical, than the "revised" one which Christie herself wrote for the stage version, and which all other film adaptations so far have used. It also deserves praise for its great location, and for the depth (and ambivalence) given to Vera's character. But the film is also plodding, talky, and overlong; it's more labor than fun to watch. Of course I don't expect this story to be a barrel of laughs, but a little more life and humor might have helped. And what might have helped even more are decent English subtitles - this being a hard-to-find movie, I had to settle for what I could get, which was nearly incomprehensible subtitling by someone for whom English was probably the fourth language. **1/2 out of 4.
drystyx
That's the director of this film.Those of us who read the novel before we saw the film will be pleasantly surprised by this film.We know that there have been many Hollywood versions of the Agatha Christie murder mystery. Each worse the one before. The worst was easily the one with 1960s morality and preaching.AN THEN THERE WERE NONE, which had numerous subtitles deemed derogatory today, but looked upon with tea party innocent acceptance then, is easily Christie's masterpiece. It is the story which is retold in almost every TV action series in one form or another, in which an isolated group of people, in this case ten, are killed off one by one, realizing that their murderer is one of them. It is the basis for NINE DEAD, SAW, most horror films, and most reality shows.Christie's words flowed in this book as she never had them flow before or after. It was her magical work. One could wonder if this was the same author of the other Christie books. This was easy reading. You could pore through every word, and remember every word.Christie was so gifted, and her obvious jealousy of the stunning brunettes holds her back, but that is all that holds her back. This novel was a masterpiece.Now, for the remarkable news. GOVONUKHIN is the director of this masterpiece. He carefully kept nearly every word intact. It flows and looks perfectly period piece British. There are times that his directing will astound students of the art.The ten people are portrayed with magnificence. The setting, the atmosphere, everything, is as close to the book as one can do in a reasonable time frame.In case you haven't heard, the ten characters are all accused by their unknown host of murders for which they were not penalized for. The book makes it clear, as does the film, that these aren't what are viewed as murders, but a subtle sort of murder. The main character, Vera Claythorn, for example, was watching over a young boy, and relented one day in letting him swim to far out in the ocean, and failed to save him. Philip Lombard, the one described as wolf like in the book, abandoned twenty Africans in a safari (I believe in the book it was 21, and actually Lombard was one of about three who abandoned them) in a situation in which they would all starve, but there were provisions for a few.In British tradition, Lombard's view that Africans didn't mind dying is met with weak resistance by some of the others, though not totally accepted by the group as a whole. Christie is insightful enough to point out that it is indeed the religious fanatic, Emily Brent, who is the one that is most troubled by Lombard's easily dismissal of humans who are different.The third central character, Blore, is bearlike in the book, yet much like Lombard in character. Here, he and Lombard are much blonder, and even more alike, but it really enriches the theme of the British social order, and works exceptionally well. In all of literature, there are probably not two characters more definitive of "frenemies" than these two, and perhaps they are the two original "frenemies".I could elaborate on the ten characters, but it is better to let the viewer do that. It isn't a spoiler to say that the principal three are fascinating. Their British superiority glows in a realism that will amaze you. The killer is even more spine tingling in his realism than the caricatures of modern horror.This is an awesome film. And kudos to a director, but also to the entire troupe of actors, stunt men, down to the cue card holders, because this team was a winning team. This is so much like the book, that I can't say to read the book first, but either way, you'll enjoy it, I'm sure.I don't know what more I can say. It's hard to describe how great this piece is, and I am afraid of the usual letdown if I laud it too much, for you'll expect too much. Simply expect a well told story, and take the ride.
writers_reign
This version of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Non-PCs is head ans shoulders above the previous versions notwithstanding that one was the work of Rene Clair. It's a testament to the quality of this version that I watched an unsubtitled version containing to the best of my knowledge none of the four Russian words I know - please, thank you, yes, no - yet had no problem in following the story. Director Stanislav Govorukhin has opted for atmosphere/acting about 60-40 and it pays off. He lets us know from the first just how isolated the 8 guests and 2 servants will be on not so much an island as a large rock, a huge block of granite rising almost sheerly out of the sea. The camera pans around the rock as the passengers disembark and when the boat turns back there is not even a glimpse of mainland. There's a nice touch on the soundtrack with versions of both My Baby Just Cares For Me and Stardust, including the verse. All of the actors were completely unknown to me and I was sufficiently impressed with the judge and Vera to ascertain their names, Vladimir Zeldin and Tatyana Drubich respectively.
Matthew Chapman
Amazing! AllI can say is amazing! The best movie adaptation yet! I liked the realistic reactions rather than the wise cracks from older versions. Vera was played to perfection right down to the hanging and the Judge, all I can say is brilliant. I'm glad they played out the ending there versions were afraid to do, and the setting is just perfect to the way Christie described it! I'm also happy on the way they did the death scenes in that manor. Aside from liking Vera's breakdown, I was equally amazed by Miss Brents break down to her smashing her bible through the window! The score was just plain creepy! My only grip is the horrible subtitles, that look like they were written by some 4-year old! Plus they were completely off. Like the guy would speak and seconds later, the words would prompt on. Next time I'm watching it subtitle less, after all, it was so close to the book I felt like I didn't even need the subtitles! Overall I give it 9 out of 10 N i g g e rs!
