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DVD REVIEW ARCHIVE
DEATH ON THE NILE (1978)
Universal DVD (region 4)
d. John Guillermin; pr. Richard Goodwin, John Brabourne; scr. Anthony Shaffer; novel. Agatha Christie; ph. Jack Cardiff; m. Nino Rota; ed. Malcolm Cooke; cast. Peter Ustinov, David Niven, Mia Farrow, Jane Birkin, Lois Chiles, Bette Davis, Jon Finch, Olivia Hussey, George Kennedy, Angela Lansbury, Simon MacKorkindale, Maggie Smith, Jack Warden, Harry Andrews (140 mins)

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Peter Ustinov joins the Burgeoning Agatha Christie All-Star Cast Movie Adaptation Cycle

The cycle of Agatha Christie adaptations got a boost with the international success of Murder on the Orient Express. 

Indeed, that film’s producers were so impressed with the popularity of that Christie tale that they set about to imitate the formula for another smash hit.  The formula was ready-made: a variety of name actors are assembled in an exotic but confined locale and are all suspects when one of their number is murdered.  Of course on board happens to be a famed sleuth: in the case of Murder on the Orient Express and the sequel Death on the Nile that detective is none other than Agatha Christie’s most famous character, the Belgian Hercule Poirot.  Poirot was first created in 1916 and his first case was published in 1920.  He subsequently appeared in some 33 novels and 65 short stories.  Poirot would eventually become one of the most beloved characters for fans of the so-called “whodunit” school of mystery writing pioneered by Agatha Christie.  Strangely, it was not until the mid-1970s that the screen Poirot took hold in the form firstly of Albert Finney.  Although the critics were fond of Finney’s interpretation of the character, he did not return for Death on the Nile.  However, his replacement would prove for many the distinctive Poirot and indeed actor Peter Ustinov would return to play the character many times over the subsequent decade on film and television.

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Synopsis (contains spoilers)

The plot of Death on the Nile centers on a wealthy woman (Lois Chiles) and her friend (Mia Farrow).  When Chiles marries Farrow’s intended, Farrow is pathologically jealous and pursues the couple relentlessly.  When they go to Egypt for a honeymoon cruise along the Nile, Farrow follows and the couple try to ditch her, in the process attracting the curious attention of another passenger, Poirot (Ustinov).  It seems that everyone on the cruise has some reason to resent Chiles (all to do with the power, privilege and adornments she has as an independent woman of means).  Ustinov and an old friend (David Niven) think that it is just a matter of time before something happens – Ustinov in particular is full of foreboding but never lets on about his suspicions.  Indeed, when Chiles is murdered there are numerous suspects all with motive and opportunity.  Thus Ustinov and Niven begin to investigate the matter and eliminate possible suspects as suspicion falls on each person in turn.  By the end of the film, all suspects are assembled in the one room where the detective lays out his theory of what happened, exposing the full depth of the matter.  As Ustinov confronts the suspects in turn, he must weigh up his quest for the truth against his own personal safety.  The formula is, as mentioned, very familiar and this film sticks to it religiously, delivering the expected payoff with accomplished style and entertainment value.

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Disaster Movie Maestro & International Journeyman Director Perfects the Brit Whodunit

The thrill of Death on the Nile lies with the gradual revelation of danger during the cruise; and the cleverness of the unfolding mystery as the various motivations are laid bare. 

Thus, the film profiles all the characters before the journey takes place, establishing them as individuals as it sets the scene for a disastrous and tragic collision of interests and ambitions.  Director John Guillermin (a veteran journeyman director of such hits as The Towering Inferno and the remake of King Kong), however, has a gently self-mocking humour evident in his better works and being slyly aware of the nature of screen artifice treats this high-class hokum with a sometimes stylized tongue-in-cheek edge.  He manages a slyly ironic humour, even poking gentle fun at the figure of Poirot, which Ustinov seizes upon well in his first scene with Niven.  Perhaps if there is a theme in this whodunit it is the nature of truth in storytelling: and Guillermin interjects numerous flashbacks and speculations to constantly elaborate on a simple appearance of events, planting clues (some subtle and some less so) for the clever in the audience to play detective themselves.  Guillermin knows that this particular form of whodunit is almost an interactive experience to some degree and so seeks to provide as much fun into the lavish production values as possible: his emphasis is solely on providing a competent entertainment package.

Guillermin and perhaps Christie to some extent find considerable fault in human nature: especially in its petty jealousies, resentments and pathological, possibly instinctive (though decidedly uncivilized) drive for vengeance.

Poirot is an ideal character in that he serves to remedy the dysfunctions of human nature and to expose the monstrousness of which it is capable.  However, he seems almost aware of the tragic potential of such emotions and is forever suspicious, analysing people for what threat they may pose to others.  He is thus always observing the people and situations around him – a compulsive stickybeak.  The director considers this human nature to be somewhat grotesque in its petty arrogance and regularly uses looming close-ups of the characters when they are at their worst emotionally, to suggest the distorted personalities hidden behind surfaces.  At times Guillermin lingers on people as they muse and is quite adept at mixing the sly humour with a truly palpable malevolence.  He finds truth to be equally enigmatic and allies his plight to that of Poirot – arranging the details of a puzzle into a coherent form.  Thus, he is able to visualize the process of deduction and give film form to Christie’s rather stagy material.  The result is a well-crafted and entertaining diversion, clever and engaging while it lasts as a lighter view of the tragic resentment in the human condition.

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Visualizing Christie's Poirot in Egypt

The visual transfer on this DVD is extremely clear for much of the film’s long duration. 

Indeed, as the film favours daylight and recreates natural light conditions quite effectively, it is a very brightly lit movie throughout and the elaborate period reconstructions are vibrant and illuminated consistently.  Thus, there are some dazzling interior sequences, with a white bedroom full of mirrors adding an almost surreal aspect to the elegant and elaborate production design.  Indeed, production values are at the forefront of this film, nicely preserved in this transfer and it is a sophisticated movie, captured intact in its light entertainment – it is almost pristine in many scenes, despite the age of the film.  The film has a great sense of the contrast between the naturally English overcast conditions in vivid contrast to the desert heat of life in Egypt.  The film’s lush scenic values are a major attraction and the intercutting of location and set work is seamless.  Guillermin also makes good use of moments where primary colours threaten to intrude on the bright white lighting of the scene, making for a curious use of hot and cold colours throughout.  In addition there are some striking and disorienting point-of-view shots.  All details, from lighting to costume and makeup, are neatly preserved in this transfer.  There are only minor blemishes on the source print, these being some minor white flecks.

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Sounding Out a Suspenseful Whodunit

The sound transfer on this DVD is a crisp Dolby stereo, as it is for many of the Agatha Christie adaptations finding their way onto DVD release, although much of it feels well-centred. 

The capable score by veteran Italian composer Nino Rota, most noted for his work for director Federico Fellini, is never as entrancing as intended in this transfer although full enough within the limits of the source material.  There are effective suspense-building and contemplative silences but what is most effective (if all too briefly employed) is a sense of aural stylization wherein sounds are slightly accentuated for effect – thus there is a telling use of footsteps and breathing for suspense.  This slightly heightened perception of minor audio details adds to the tongue in cheek comedy of the movie as it stresses the deliberate artifice of the movie just as it manipulates the same.  The realistic build-up to the murder is effective and ambient sounds of the journey along the Nile (birds, water, etc) are always crisp but subdued, making for a fine if understated sense of changing place.  At times there is a good sense of voices speaking in the distance and the sound makes for a nice compliment to the contrast between open and closed spaces that Guillermin develops earnestly.  However, much of the film feels limited to voices and a theatrical score and often feels flat in contrast to the best of DVD audio transfers.

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Bonus Features for DVD Enthusiasts

Special features are few.  There is an original trailer followed by a brief “Making Of” documentary taken from a very worn publicity print.  This featurette (made at the time of the movie’s original release) offers behind the scenes footage, the producer’s view of adapting Agatha Christie, the difference between Finney’s and Ustinov’s interpretations of the character and how the cycle of Agatha Christie films meant a revival of the whodunit formula as opposed to the thriller.  It also talks of the Christie formula, night shooting, reconstructing the Nile banks in Pinewood Studios and allows Ustinov and Niven to give their takes on the film and the director.  This adds a valuable context.  Released alongside Death on the Nile is the Miss Marple movie The Mirror Crack’d.

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