"ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER" (2013) Review
"ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER" (2013) Review
It is believed by many that the 1976 novel, "Curtain", was the last one written by Agatha Christie that featured Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Not quite. "Curtain", which Christie wrote during World War II, was the last Poirot novel to be published. The 1972 novel, "Elephants Can Remember" proved to be the last Poirot novel written by the author.
Forty-one years following its publication, "Elephants Can Remember" was adapted as an 89-minute television movie for the last season of ITV's "AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT". Although the movie's screenwriter, Nick Dear, retained a great deal of Christie's novel; he embellished the story by adding a present day murder. He also either deleted or merged some supporting characters.
"ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER" begins with Adriande Oliver attending a literary luncheon in London, when a middle-aged woman named Mrs. Burton-Cox approaches her. Knowing that Mrs. Oliver is the godmother of her son Desmond's fiancée, Celia Ravenscroft, Mrs. Burton-Cox wants to know if the young woman's parents had died via a murder-suicide or a double suicide. Some ten or fifteen years earlier, the bodies of Mrs. Oliver's close friend Margaret Ravenscroft and General Alistair Ravenscroft were found near their manor house in Overcliffe. The original police investigation revealed that both had bullet wounds and that a revolver found between their bodies bore the fingerprints of the married couple. This made it impossible for the police to prove whether The Ravenscrofts' deaths were a case of double suicide or if it was a murder-suicide. Following her encounter with Mrs. Burton-Cox, Mrs. Oliver contacts Celia Ravenscroft, who asks her to look into the case.
Mrs. Oliver seeks the help of Hercule Poirot, but he has his own case to solve. The latter is requested by an old friend, a psychiatrist named Dr. Willoughby, to investigate the murder of his father, who operated the Willoughby Institute for psychologically troubled patients. While investigating the elder Dr. Willoughby's death, Poirot discovers a connection between his case and the Ravenscrofts' case. Apparently, Mrs. Ravenscroft's sister, Dorothy Jarrow, had been a patient of Dr. Willoughby senior before the couple's deaths. Following this discovery, he decides to help Mrs. Oliver with her mystery as well.
Cold cases have featured in some of the most interesting novels that Agatha Christie had written throughout her career. Four of her most interesting novels about cold cases were "Five Little Pigs" (1942), "Ordeal by Innocence" (1958), "Hallowe'en Party" (1969), "Nemesis" (1971) and "Sleeping Murder" (1976). I wish I could say the same about "Elephants Can Remember". But if I must be brutally honest, I have never read the novel. But thanks to this 2013 television adaptation of the novel and the Wikipedia website, I found myself familiar with its plot. As for the production itself . . . well, it seemed pretty solid to me.
I know what you are thinking. Pretty solid? Why not first-rate or excellent? To be perfectly honest, "ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER" did not exactly blow my mind. My problem with the film is I feel that Nick Dear's additions to Christie's story may have slightly undermined its dramatic impact. "ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER" had the potential to be a poignant mystery about the past. However, by adding both a murder and attempted murder to the story may have undermined this poignancy.
As I have earlier pointed out, "ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER" was not the first "cold case" mystery written by Christie. And to be perfectly honest, three of those "cold case" mysteries like "Ordeal by Innocence", "Nemesis" and "Sleeping Murder" did feature additional "present-day" murders to their narratives. But those murders were all about the killers' attempts to prevent from being exposed after a period of time. In the case of "Hallowe'en Party", it featured a good number of additional murders - both past and present - that were all about preventing the exposure of the murderer. I thought the addition of another murder and attempted murder in "ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER" had taken away some of the emotional impact of the Ravenscrofts' deaths. This addition also made the plot a bit more confusing than necessary.
Despite Nick Dear's major change in Christie's story, I still managed to enjoy "ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER". The story managed to remain somewhat intriguing. But there were other aspects of the television movie that I enjoyed. Thanks to Jeff Tessler's production designs and Miranda Cull's art direction, "ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER" proved to be a very attractive looking production. Gavin Finney's cinematography also added to the production's attractive look. But there were times when his photography looked slightly fuzzy and ended up irritating me.
"ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER" also featured some first-rate performances. David Suchet and Zoë Wanamaker were wonderful, as always, as Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and mystery writer Mrs. Ariadne Oliver. There were three other performances that also impressed me. Iain Glen gave a very interesting performance as Poirot's charming, yet adulterous friend, Dr. Willoughby. Greta Scacchi was marvelous as always as the snobbish, yet mercenary Mrs. Burton-Cox. I was also impressed by Alexandra Dowling's complicated performance as the mysterious secretary, Marie McDermott, who was having an affair with Dr. Willoughby. The movie also featured solid performances from the likes of Vanessa Kirby, Elsa Mollien, Adrian Lukis, Ferdinand Kingsley, Claire Cox, Caroline Blakiston and Vincent Regan.
Yes, I had a few quibbles about "ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER". My quibbles mainly focused on some of the additions that screenwriter Nick Dear made to Agatha Christie's plot. But despite it, I still managed to enjoy the teleplay, thanks to John Strickland's direction and a solid cast led by David Suchet and Zoë Wanamaker.