Unapologetic Reviews

After reading Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie, I watched two television adaptations of the novel. The first was the BBC Miss Marple adaptation starring Joan Hickson, originally broadcast in two parts in January 1987. The second was the 2006 adaptation from ITV’s Agatha Christie’s Marple , starring Geraldine McEwan. I enjoyed both of them, but they take almost completely opposite approaches to adapting the book. And from this point onwards, there are going to be spoilers for the book and both adaptations. The 1987 BBC version is by far the more faithful of the two. There are changes, but most of them are relatively minor and feel like the sort of changes you expect when adapting a novel for television. For example, Gwenda and Giles are already together when they are looking for their house, whereas in the novel Gwenda arrives in England ahead of Giles and finds the house by herself. The adaptation also condenses the gradual process through which Gwenda realizes that she somehow...

This is a comparison of Agatha Christie’s Endless Night , the 1972 film adaptation, and the Agatha Christie’s Marple adaptation. And obviously, this is going to contain major spoilers for all three versions , because there is really no way to compare these adaptations properly without talking about what Michael actually does and how each version handles the ending. Interestingly, I think the best adaptation is the Marple version, even though it is by far the least faithful to the book. The 1972 film follows Christie’s story much more closely, but unfortunately it also manages to be almost as slow and boring as some of the weaker parts of the novel. Christie herself apparently did not like the film, and having watched it, I can see why. The 1972 adaptation keeps the basic structure of Endless Night largely intact. Michael is still the young man drifting through life who meets the wealthy Ellie, marries her, and builds his dream house on Gipsy’s Acre. The house is still supposed to be st...

SPOILERS FOR BOTH THE BOOK AND THE MOVIE! I loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, so after finishing the book I immediately watched the 2018 film adaptation. I was particularly curious about how they were going to adapt an epistolary novel because such a large part of the first half consists entirely of Juliet exchanging letters with people she has never met. The film's solution is understandable. It gets Juliet to Guernsey much faster. Unfortunately, that one decision changes almost everything about the emotional structure of the story. The film is not a bad movie. On its own, it is a beautifully made historical romantic drama with a lovely cast, and there are elements I enjoyed. As an adaptation, though, I think it loses a lot of what made the novel special because it shifts the focus away from the occupation, the Literary Society and Juliet's gradual discovery of a family. Instead, it builds the story much more strong...

I watched the adaptation of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd , based on the novel by Agatha Christie, shortly after finishing the book. One thing became clear very quickly: this adaptation is far more dramatic than the source material. The novel is almost a cosy mystery. Despite the murder, much of the story revolves around village life, conversations, and the relationship between Poirot and Dr Sheppard. The adaptation shifts the focus firmly onto Poirot, which is actually something many Poirot adaptations do. Interestingly, a surprising number of the original novels are not really about Poirot at all. He often enters the story as an outsider and solves the mystery, while the narrative follows other characters. In the novel, Dr Sheppard narrates the story. Through his eyes, we meet Poirot, who is supposedly retired and spending his time growing vegetable marrows. One of my favourite moments in the book is when Dr Sheppard initially assumes that Poirot is a hairdresser because of his immacul...

I watched The Labours of Hercules , season 13, episode 4 of Agatha Christie’s Poirot , after reading the original short story collection, and I think its placement in the series is one of its strongest choices. In the original book, Poirot is thinking about retirement. Before he leaves detective work behind, he decides to take on twelve final cases, each one loosely connected to one of the Labours of Hercules. Of course, the book was published in 1947, so Poirot does not actually retire, but the idea of him preparing for the end of his career is built into the premise. That makes this episode’s position in the television series feel very deliberate. It is the penultimate episode, coming just before Curtain, and that gives the adaptation a sense of finality that honours the original concept beautifully. The original book is a collection of twelve short stories. Each “labour” is its own case, and many of them are built around deception. People pretend to be what they are not. Identities ...

After reading A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie, I wanted to see how the story translates to screen, particularly because this feels like a book that should benefit from its setting. I watched two adaptations: the 1983 American TV film and the 2013 ITV version from the Agatha Christie's Marple series. They approach the same material in very different ways. The 1983 adaptation is the more straightforward of the two. It updates the setting from the 1960s to the 1980s, which is immediately visible in the styling. The hair, the clothes, the overall look place it firmly in that decade. All the actors are American, including Miss Marple, who speaks with an American accent. This creates a slightly odd effect, because the character is still supposed to be from St Mary Mead. There is no attempt to reframe her as American, so the accent stands out. In terms of structure, this version stays close to the original story. The plot unfolds in a direct, almost procedural way. The key events ...

Howl’s Moving Castle is a film adaptation produced by Studio Ghibli and directed by Hayao Miyazaki . It is one of the studio’s most well known films and is often noted for its visual style and animation quality. The film runs for approximately two hours and begins with a relatively slow introduction. The early part of the story focuses on establishing the main characters, particularly Sophie and Howl, as well as the setting. Sophie is shown in her everyday life before the curse, and the audience is introduced to the moving castle . One of the strongest aspects of the film is its visual design. The world is presented with a strong steampunk influence , including airships, mechanical structures, and industrial elements integrated into the landscape. The moving castle itself is a complex, shifting structure made up of multiple parts, and it plays a central role in the film’s visual identity. The countryside, towns, and interiors are all highly detailed, and the animation consistently su...