Having read the book when I was thirteen,and having seen three of the four English language versions ("And then there were none" (1945)"ten little Indians" (1965) and (1974)),I thought that the adaptations were more and more mediocre .No longer.The Russian version is THE version I have been waiting for since I read the novel ,the one a Christie fan must not miss.The version I saw had no subtitles,but as an user has already pointed out,provided you know the story,you will not have problems for,to quote another user ,the screenplay is as "faithful as a dog" The cast ,although completely unknown outside Russia ,is close to perfect except perhaps for Miss Brent :the actress is quite good,but she is obviously too young for the part of a sixty-something spinster.All the others are how we would imagine them when we would read Christie's pages under the blankets ,or,when,when the lights were out,we would shiver in the dark night thinking of someone moving mysteriously on N......island.They are not ,except for Vera (probably because behind her angel's face her soul is black),good-looking,nice ,ludicrous.They are sinister-looking persons ,particularly Lombard who looks at his teeth (his wolf 's teeth) in the mirror .
The movie contains scenes that will leave you on the edge of your seat:particularly the scene of the VOICE:even Orson Welles,who provided it in the 1974 version,could eat his heart out:the camera takes a high angle shot of the table and the "guests " when Mister Owen's voice ,threatening as never ,begins to accuse them .Oh This voice!If it does not make your flesh creep,nothing will!
The N....Island is also faithful to Mrs Christie's depiction,tiny ,which makes the final scenes ,particularly this one (botched in the other versions ,including the Clair one) when Vera and Lombard,having discovered Armstrong's body ,stand by the sea ,with an obsessive soundtrack which only consists of the sound of the waves.
My favorite scene is not included in the novel:Lombard's nightmare;he dreams he is lost in the jungle ;suddenly he finds a helping hand:it's the hand of a black man.
Many flashbacks depict Vera's past: with her pupil Cyril Hamilton by the sea where the tragedy occurred ,Vera and her love Hugo ,the only one who thought she was a criminal.The last flashbacks are in color ,probably because those memories come back to haunt the girl with such a strength that she confuses present and past (that's exactly what she does in the novel ,which explains her final suicide);A short flashback shows Beatrice Taylor ,Miss Brent's pregnant maid ,rising from the river where she got drowned and desperately knocking on her window pane.
Some may find the movie slow-moving and overlong (about 130 min ) but its attention to detail (Vera discovering the nursery rhyme,the clock ,Rodgers counting the little N.....,Miss Brent reading her bible ,or Lombard's revolver (actually a Beretta),and at last the judge in full regalia with red robe and wig) is fascinating.
After the mountains,the Iranian desert and the jungle ,the director brings it all back home .Remakes are no longer a curse.
The other versions were based on the play,and what worked on stage didn't on the screen.
The movie contains scenes that will leave you on the edge of your seat:particularly the scene of the VOICE:even Orson Welles,who provided it in the 1974 version,could eat his heart out:the camera takes a high angle shot of the table and the "guests " when Mister Owen's voice ,threatening as never ,begins to accuse them .Oh This voice!If it does not make your flesh creep,nothing will!
The N....Island is also faithful to Mrs Christie's depiction,tiny ,which makes the final scenes ,particularly this one (botched in the other versions ,including the Clair one) when Vera and Lombard,having discovered Armstrong's body ,stand by the sea ,with an obsessive soundtrack which only consists of the sound of the waves.
My favorite scene is not included in the novel:Lombard's nightmare;he dreams he is lost in the jungle ;suddenly he finds a helping hand:it's the hand of a black man.
Many flashbacks depict Vera's past: with her pupil Cyril Hamilton by the sea where the tragedy occurred ,Vera and her love Hugo ,the only one who thought she was a criminal.The last flashbacks are in color ,probably because those memories come back to haunt the girl with such a strength that she confuses present and past (that's exactly what she does in the novel ,which explains her final suicide);A short flashback shows Beatrice Taylor ,Miss Brent's pregnant maid ,rising from the river where she got drowned and desperately knocking on her window pane.
Some may find the movie slow-moving and overlong (about 130 min ) but its attention to detail (Vera discovering the nursery rhyme,the clock ,Rodgers counting the little N.....,Miss Brent reading her bible ,or Lombard's revolver (actually a Beretta),and at last the judge in full regalia with red robe and wig) is fascinating.
After the mountains,the Iranian desert and the jungle ,the director brings it all back home .Remakes are no longer a curse.
The other versions were based on the play,and what worked on stage didn't on the screen.