A Haunting In Venice Proves That Even The “World’s Greatest Detective” Can Get “Rusty”
Whether you read Agatha Christie as a teenager, or revisited her work as an adult, her stories have always been able to engage us with there dialogue and memorable plot twists. A Haunting In Venice is very loosely based on Christie’s story the Halllowe’en Party, thus serving as a Coles Notes version of her collective writings rather than a true reflection of her genius.
In A Haunting In Venice, Kenneth Branagh returns for his 3rd run as Hercule Poirot. The movie begins with Poirot having regrown his “immense” moustache and now retired in Venice. Poirot’s seclusion is cut short by a new mystery to solve. Kenneth Branagh is no stranger to portraying literary characters, from Henry the V to most spectacularly Hamlet in 1996. His mastery of Shakespearean dialogue and his ability to make it easy to comprehend is his true gift. In stark contrast, Branagh’s portrayal of Poirot comes off as exaggerated and silly, leading me to question why Branagh has become so invested in continuing the franchise. Although both Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile were of quality, there was nothing groundbreaking about these films.
A Haunting In Venice uses a famous cast of players and beautiful sets. While the story is formulaic, nothing is given away and you will be left wondering “whodunit” until the very end. The variety of actors from Tina Fey to Camille Cottin to Jamie Dornan to Ricardo Scamarcio is welcome. Witnessing actors of different styles and capabilities engaging each other on film harks back to the Studio System, and I must say I really loved it. Most notably Kyle Allen stood out as one to watch in the future, while Jude Hill (Belfast) gave another strong performance. As Branagh does double duty as both actor and director, we observe postcard-like views of Venice that are very pretty. I was disappointed however with the duplicated shots of the rainstorm which was both boring and empty filler. In comparison to other thriller aficionados such as Alfred Hitchcock and M. Night Shyamalan, Branagh’s technique is less stylized and does not move forward the genre.
One of my favourite shows of all time was Columbo, a modernized version of Christie’s Poirot. Comparable to the recent Poirot incarnations, each Columbo episode was filled with high profile stars and an intriguing dissection of a murder. The big difference was that Colombo was on TV and a Haunting In Venice is a big budget film. I expect more when I sit in the cinema and that doubles if the story is based on a famous authors work. Although A Haunting In Venice is good it does not break the mold. Perhaps I expect too much. Nevertheless, Agatha Christie was the “Queen of Crime,” and if your going to pay homage to her work you need a well structured script and a trailblazer mentality.