Continuing my journey through the works of Nicolas Winding Refn, this unlikely entry in the director’s canon was a made-for-TV movie following Agatha Christie’s beloved amateur sleuth. Geraldine McEwan stars as Miss Marple, who embarks on a coach tour around historic middle England, accompanied by her nephew (Richard E. Grant) and an assortment of supposed strangers. As their adventure unfolds, however, it appears that all the other members of their party do in fact have tenuous connections to each other that all lead back to an unsolved murder that took place during WWII. While Refn was really a gun for hire here and there is little of his signature style to be seen (it was in fact all about to change), Refn did meet his long-term collaborator, editor Matthew Newman, on the production, while Amanda Burton’s nun provokes a quote from Miss Marple at the film’s close, that would eventually morph into the title of Refn’s 2013 film, Only God Forgives.
Miss Marple: Nemesis
One response to “Miss Marple: Nemesis”
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This version of Agatha Christie’s nemesis is a travesty and should not be allowed to bear the title. The high Gothic elements of murderous nuns and wounded soldiers interred alive in crypts , most certainly don’t appear in the original story, and add only confusion and absurdity. Pivotal characters are removed and added, and fundamental plot elements of method and motive are changed. I am very sick of pompous burbling of film industry hacks who say things like ” You must understand that film is a different medium and changes are necessary for dramatic tension” It sparks the question when does a story cease to be the story it pretends to be and do we have a right to protest? Once upon a time foodstuffs were adulterated and public protest forced legislation to protect consumers. The name Agatha Christie seems to be exploited here to just sell an inferior product. It is ironic because none of the changes actually improve the story: there must have been extraordinary arrogance on the part of all concerned with the development of screenplay to have said well despite Ms Christie being the best selling novelist of the 20th century, we think we should jettison almost almost all of the plot but keep token elements in as selling points.
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