The first imported blockbuster in the Year of the Tiger, “The Tragedy on the Nile” (hereinafter referred to as “The Nile”), is the third time that Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name has been remade into a film and television drama. If you want to remake the classics on the basis of being basically faithful to the original work, the actionable changes can only be local small additions and subtractions. Whether the addition or subtraction is appropriate or not determines whether the remake can be recognized by the audience. To be fair, the new version of “The Nile” is not bad, but it is not very good at what should be added and what should be subtracted, so it has attracted a lot of criticism.
In 1978, the novel “The Nile” was put on the big screen for the first time, with a very strong cast. This translated film has become a classic in the hearts of generations of Chinese people. In 2004, ITV filmed the third episode of the ninth season of the TV series “Detective Poirot”, “The Nile”. Compared with the previous two versions of “Nile”, the new version continues the configuration of nine main supporting characters and four main characters (Detective Poirot, love triangle, two women and one man).
First look at the nine main supporting roles. First of all, the white writer mother and daughter were replaced by black female singer aunt and niece. Although they belong to the literary and artistic circles, the soul singer aunt lost the annoying character and style of female writers, not only virtue and art, but also with detective Poirot There are also emotional scenes; but this character has to take on the function of seeing the murderer and then being killed, so naturally someone else has suffered for her. Second, the must-have nurse role is given to a couple disguised as a lady and a maid.
The last addition and subtraction is the combination of the 1978 version of the kleptomaniac lady and the 2004 version of the Oedipus son, the combination of which is adapted to the role of the painter’s son, and the importance of the role has been greatly increased. He is not only the must-have stealer The person with the necklace also replaced the outsider investigation assistants who were airborne in the first two parts, and also served as the three functions of investigation assistant, criminal suspect and victim. I think the setting of this character is successful. It not only adds a layer of suspense that almost drives Poirot crazy on the basis of the original plot, but also better explains why Poirot appeared on this trip-he didn’t come On vacation, he was entrusted by the painter’s mother to investigate the details of his son’s crush.
The addition or subtraction of supporting roles does not seem to constitute a reason for the new version to be criticized. Even because of the adaptation of the role of the necklace thief, the murder case has become more complicated and suspenseful than the old version. This is not what the audience wants. Is it still chaotic when you watch the cut? Then, continue to see if there are any inappropriate additions and subtractions on the four protagonists.
Let’s compare and examine the beginning and end of the three versions of “The Nile”, which may be a little confusing. At the beginning of the 1978 edition, the car of the rich woman drove through the town, attracting workers from all walks of life to stop and watch. The dialogue between the workers showed a hatred of the rich, and at the end Poirot quoted Molière’s famous saying “Women Her greatest wish is to make people love her”; accordingly, the plot unfolds closely around money and love. The beginning and end of the 2004 version echoed the murder of the mastermind of the house and the heroine of the vase, and rendered the key role of love in this murder case.
The beginning of the new version is deeply surprising. It describes a battle of World War I, in order to explain the background of Poirot becoming a detective, and by the way, it also explains the reason why he has been single. To say that the former has something to do with the plot, then What does the girlfriend have to do with the murder? The film progresses along this line of thinking. Sure enough, Poirot has changed from a bystander to a person who is also deeply involved in the case in the new version. Not only is his emotion rich, but his emotions change in many ways. Created as a great detective who is romantically infatuated with his lover and has deep love for his friends. The end of the film, as expected, arranges for Poirot’s broken heart to be “revived” by the appearance of the female singer. But what does this have to do with murder? Overemphasizing Poirot’s protagonist role is superfluous. The most attractive thing about Poirot is not his love history, not that he also has emotions and emotions, but his wisdom when he solved the case. Emotional flooding made him less attractive. If you want to see a flood of emotions, why not get on the Titanic but on the Karnak? For a mystery film, the role of a detective can be deeply involved in the plot, but it is still set by a bystander in essence. The audience also follows the detective’s perspective to enter the story, and what they want to get is the fun of finding the truth. The “Poirot Biography”, which is full of ramifications, is really lackluster, and it also weakens the audience’s enjoyment of watching the mystery film. Therefore, the addition made by the main creator on Poirot is a big failure.
In contrast to the “plus” on Poirot is the “minus” on the victim’s rich heroine. There are three most attractive points of view in “The Nile”: the unique and mysterious Egyptian scenery, the complicated and confusing murder case, and the wonderful and profound character setting. For today’s audience, with the popularization of outbound travel and the emergence of a new psychological satisfaction mechanism of “seeing pictures instead of being present”, the Egyptian scenery is no longer as mysterious as it was in 1978; reasoning plots are killed through movies, dramas, novels and even scripts. When the carrier is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, the murder case of “The Nile” is not as confusing as when the Shanghai Film Studio first introduced the Agatha film; only the character setting is still likely to remain the same as before. Wonderful and profound, and the character setting of the protagonist of the love triangle is the most brilliant part of “Nile”.
Back in the day, readers probably didn’t expect that a cross-knife grabbing love could happen between women, a man could be a vase, and a woman could control the overall situation. The two heroines Jacqueline and Lynette in “The Nile” are wonderful characters. The three versions of Jacqueline have basically not changed much. Her resourcefulness, bravery, daring and hysteria in front of love are all interpreted by three actors from different periods. However, compared with the previous two editions, the new version of Linnett is much “weaker”, the shrewdness and ability are weakened, and the so-called female characteristics such as beauty, vulnerability, and even tolerance are relatively strengthened, and the aura of the big heroine is no longer. Linnett is not a weak person, but a strong woman who is no different from Jacqueline. Such a strong fight is the tension of the story. The subtracted character traits make the character of Lynette less attractive, just like Poirot with added content.
The reasoning film provides a kind of just-needed comfort that is difficult to achieve in daily life: sorting out the mess. Sure enough, after reading the new version of “The Nile”, although the characters are not to my liking, the sense of relief is still very strong. Agatha is still Agatha and never disappoints.Zhao Qi
Original title: The classic remake can increase or decrease whether it is appropriate or not to determine the audience’s recognition
[Editor in charge: Xu Ziming]