Director: Kenneth Branagh
Actors: Kenneth Branagh, Tina Fey, Michelle Yeoh, Kelly Reilly
Genre: Drama / Mystery
Rating: M
‘A Haunting in Venice’ is the third (and maybe
final?) film in the Agatha Christie series directed by Kenneth Branagh, and starring
him as genius detective Hercule Poirot, after ‘Murder on the Orient Express’
and ‘Death on the Nile’. This time, 1947 Venice is the setting, with the
Italian canals and rooftops adding to the overall vibe. Poirot is coxed out of
retirement by Ariadne (Fey) to come to a Halloween party and séance to disprove
a medium, Reynolds (Yeoh).
Obviously, someone is murdered and Poirot is back
on the case. The plot is thickened, as Rowena (Reilly)’s daughter mysteriously died
in the past year, and we’re not sure how it’s connected. There’s a fine-line
tread between ghosts/spirits here and Poirot’s scepticism/logic. All is eventually
revealed. Once the murder occurs, there are 10 suspects left in the palazzo –
including a Doctor (Dornan), bodyguard (Portfoglio), ex-boyfriend Maxim (Allen)
and housekeeper (Cottin) – and Poirot goes about collecting their stories and
alibis.
This film is shorter than previous two films, but does seem a bit
scattershot for the first 30min, with lots of odd cuts and camera angles,
mostly trying to put us of the scent of what’s actually happening. But I did
feel that Poirot felt a little tired and lacked some verve. Might just be that
Branagh is now in his 60s! Since it’s set in the early hours of Halloween in an
old building in the 40s, there’s a lot of darkness/candle-lighting, so it’s
sometimes hard to see what’s going on. The culprit is a bit of a surprise, and
the reasoning just makes sense.
Overall: Still a good mystery, but not my favourite of the 3
Gav's Rating: 3 stars
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