One tragic incident starts a domino effect where many lives can be made or wrecked. I never fumble about my wording when I'm writing about a film but this one is an exception - I have no idea how to start but starting nonetheless. Murder mysteries have always intrigued me which is why there's no question about how I have come across Murder on the Orient Express (1974). Though I have watched the remake before the older one, I prefer the latter more.
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
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Selecting a film to watch is very random for me. I never usually see the cast list or director or the plot before doing it. I randomly pick titles and genres and if I hear the imaginary click, I start with that - the same happened here. I saw that it was a murder mystery and the title was quite catchy. But never in a million years, I thought that the whole experience would leave me so befuddled. On top of that, the film has quite a few number of my favorite actors such as Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, Anthony Perkins, and some others.
Each of the characters is played beautifully whether it be a Colonel who's trying to hide an affair or a certain socialite who, rather than staying out of the mess, gets too tangled in the investigation. The murder, the plotting, the misdirection, and ultimately the reveal, all of it was beautifully laid out step by step. Imagine, one murder and 12 suspects but on the surface, none of them seemed to have any motive to do the crime.
Let's not forget the detective, the star of the story. The Belgian sleuth is said to be one of the best fictional detectives. Did I forget to mention the creator of the said character is Agatha Christie? I suppose you already knew and those of you who haven't watched the film or read the book, would figure it out eventually. You know I never disclose this stuff, it takes away the fun.
It is a murder mystery and the premise of the plot is so heartbreaking. I watch mystery films for the thrill of the chase, the misdirection, and of course the mystery itself. But as I said earlier, the premise is so saddening - so much so that the murder itself felt like "justice is served." In the very beginning, I said a tragic incident can trigger a domino effect and here the death of a little girl triggered many unfortunate outcomes. Some deaths and some innocent lives were never the same again. It almost reminded me of how WWI started - although this film didn't have the same devastating effect, the lives of quite a few were wrecked and that is truly devastating. I was glad the film ended on a more positive note - some may disagree with it. Even though I compared (only a little bit) the film with WWI but right now I'm thinking it's more about "how to get away with murder" (not the series). But you wouldn't know any of this until you watch it. If you do intend to watch this film, be sure that it will make you sad about 70% of the time - all in all, it is a great film.
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