Meurtre au soleil

This is a first rate film.

Rarely are so many top actors seen together in one production.

What the director did was to take an Agatha Christy murder mystery and sparkle it with humour and dry wit. Maggie Smith is absolutely priceless and her bitching with Diana Rigg is reminiscent of Wilde`s importance of being Earnest. Each of the actors look as though they had a terrific time throughout the production as they camp up the roles but still manage to keep the serious side of the plot going.

A must see.

I have watched another two notoriously famous works of Agatha Christie, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974) and DEATH ON THE NILE (1978), despite of three in a row, I could still enjoy this one to a great extent.

The distinction of a star-studded cast and an isolated milieu is too overt to be surprising, luckily enough the island itself compensates a mind-distracting delightfulness. Also it has been the third time around, so as that I am lucidly familiar with its plot design-pattern, the obvious target is farcically recognizable and the murderer is not so perplexing to guess, in addition that all the cartoonish characters attenuate the tone of the headlining murder, which I will recommend to those who usually are shunned by the murder/crime genre.

Speaking of its cast, I adore Maggie Smth, I am thoroughly enjoy her a touch over-the-top performance here, also Jane Birkin is magnificently multi-faceted (I couldn't recall her roll in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS though). Diana Rigg and Sylvia Miles are perfectly for their roles as bitchy, bitter, vanity bourgeois women. By comparison the equivalent supporting male cast is being eclipsed wholesale, of which even a renowned James Mason cannot avoid.

Peter Ustinov's Pourot is cannily uncompromising with a sharp wit under the contrast of his chubby appearance (although my favorite is Albert Finney in MOTOE). I'm curious now Sherlock Holmes franchise has been resuscitated into somewhat bromance-cum-action flick, maybe it's the right time for Monseiur Pourot to reestablish his name as a genuine detective mind versus a lumbering body, let wisdom rules again!

Definitely one of the more enjoyable adaptations of Agatha Christie novels due to brilliant dialog exchanges between members of an all-star cast--as well as the inclusion of a number of attractive Cole Porter tunes amid spectacular scenic backgrounds. If you enjoyed Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot in 'Death on the Nile' you'll find him twice as amusing in this one. But the film really belongs to Diana Rigg and Maggie Smith who have a fine time with the witty, brittle lines. James Mason and Roddy McDowall are also impressive, as are a number of other players who form the usual vast number of suspects. A clever, if contrived, plot that strains credibility--depending so much on coincidences--but as usual, Christie is clever enough to cover any weaknesses with other distractions. Enjoyable for any mystery fan. The photography of the seaside spa is a feast for the eyes.

Peter Ustinov recreates the role of Poirot, following the wonderful Death On The Nile. This is not the story as Agatha Christie wrote it, but here we have a rare example of the movie being better than the book. In fact it would be more accurate to say that here we have a murder mystery based on an idea by Miss Christie. We are presented with is a cast of characters, a murder victim, and just about everyone has a motive. Poirot of course, deduces who did it. The sun in question, under which this evil takes place, shines down on a privately owned island in the Mediterranean, giving us a warm and exotic location.

There isn't one bad performance among the cast, several of whom have appeared before in at least one other Poirot story. Maggie Smith and Jane Birkin in Evil Under The Sun; Dennis Quilley and Colin Blakely in Murder On The Orient Express. Diana Rigg and Maggie Smith almost steal the show as two women who smile sweetly at each other as they spit venom! But every bit as good are Blakely, Quilley, Mason, McDowall and the rest. And while all this is going on, the soundtrack is solid gold Cole Porter, which has been orchestrated perfectly to fit the story.

This movie is pure fun. Make yourself comfortable, suspend disbelief and allow yourself to be transported to another era and location for a couple of hours of enjoyment.

The best still remains "Death On The Nile". I feel that the "first act" of "Evil Under The Sun" is ever-so-slightly too long. And the very final moments of the film, after the revelation of the killer(s) and AFTER the classic "Jane Birkin walking down the staircase" scene, could have been better executed. Other than that, this is a highly enjoyable film that can be watched multiple times. The first time, you'll like it more for the cleverly conceived mystery, which I would actually classify as one of Agatha Christie's best; it seems almost unsolvable, yet it's so simple when it's all explained. In the following viewings, you'll appreciate more the magnificent locations (I'm still planning to visit "Daphne's place" someday - I'd love to see how and if it has changed over the years), the quotable dialogue, the delightful performances from the entire cast (starting of course with Sir Peter Ustinov, so funny when he's reveling in his own brilliance), the grandiose score. The generally excellent David Suchet "Poirot" series also adapted this story, in 2002, but that version can't hold a candle to this one in my opinion. (***)