Spooky goings on in a mansion in Venice bring famed detective Hercule Poirot out of a self imposed exile from criminal investigations. Is spiritualism real or a con? Has there been a murder or simply a tragedy? Is this a cozy mystery or an alcohol fueled trip into darkness? By the time we are done with this week’s show, you should have the answers to those questions.
Sitting around our séance table this week are last minute volunteers James Wilson, Rachel Wagner and Sean Homrig. They join Howard Casner, who somehow managed not to be murdered before the show, in discussing the third Agatha Christie adaptation from director and star Kenneth Branagh. We do have a discussion of whether this is a true adaption or an original story masquerading as a story from a Christie novel.
Director Branagh is accused of and/or complimented on his “Wellsian” approach to this film, which everyone seems to agree is a departure from the directorial style of his previous outings with Detective Poirot. The film is also part horror as well as being a traditional murder mystery. We hold off on spoilers for a while but early on more murder occurs and the secrets begin to tumble. Pay attention to the directions if you want to avoid knowing too much before you see the film.
Admiration for Tina Fey as a character in the film is tempered by some opinions that she is too modern in her persona, but also that her character is a complete betrayal of the character from the Christie Canon. We have a few well read Agatha Christie fans on the show to offer distinct points of view on that topic. The guests invite some comparison with the “Knives Out” franchise and some rankings of all the cinematic releases of Poirot based films.
Introductions
Mostly Spoiler Free Discussion 3:25
Plot Talk 20:30 [Mild Spoiler at 27:30]
Casting and Performances 36:30
Spoiler Wall comes Tumbling Down 43:00
Poirot and Faith 54:00
Ranking Poirot Films 1:08:30
Exit Question 1:13:15
Outtakes 1:40:29
Rachel Rachel’s Reviews
Sean Cabot Cove Confab
Howard Pop Art
James Blogging by Cinema Light
Richard KAMAD
The show can be found, of course, via iTunes – just do a search for “LAMBcast.” Also, I always post a link to the show on the LAMBcast’s Facebook page, and there’s a player there if you’d like to listen online. Find the show here:
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/lambcast/episodes/2023-09-18T10_55_50-07_00
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