Readers of this blog will know that I am a great fan of Kenneth Branagh, both as an actor and director. Yes, he can do truly horrible work (e.g. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein), but most of his movies are delightful.
I have especially enjoyed his Poirot series of mysteries, bringing the Agatha Christi hero to life. Having not read her books, each movie is a delightful whodunit. The first, Murder on the Orient Express was a fantastic guessing game until the end. Death on the Nile had a lot more flaws and felt a lot more artificial, but it was still enjoyable.
This brings us to his third entry: A Haunting in Venice.
Poirot (Branagh) has become a kind of hermit living in Venice. He is weary of the world and its darkness, having looked into the minds of murderers for too long. Because of his celebrity, people keep pestering him for help, but they are kept at arms length by his bodyguard Vitale (Riccardo Scamarcio). But one day, an old friend named Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) comes calling. She is an old friend of Poirot's and is a famous mystery writer. She appeals to their friendship for her help: she wants to debunk a psychic named Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh), but she hasn't been able to find her trick. She begs Poirot to come to a seance on Halloween night and spot the fake at a house that is said to be haunted.
Our hero agrees. At the home we have a mix of colorful characters:
-Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly): the owner of the home who calls for the seance to contact her deceased daughter
-Dr. Leslie Ferrier (Jamie Dornan): a doctor with severe PTSD who was personal physician to Rowena's daughter.
-Olga Seminoff (Camille Cottin): the devoutly Catholic maid to Rowena.
-Leopold Ferrier (Jude Hill): Leslie's young son who is precocious and serious about the ghosts in the house.
-Max Gerard (Kyle Allen): Rowena's former chef and former fiancé to her deceased daughter.
The story begins as a curious bit of sleuthing as Poirot confronts Reynolds as a fake, but she calmly professes her powers. However, things take a turn when there is a murder. Poirot locks everyone into the house and uses every ounce of his deductive power to find the killer, even when he sees and hears things he knows cannot be real.
As a murder mystery, the story is a great deal of fun. I always think that a good detective story is one where the clues are laid out, but not obvious. If you really work at it, you can figure out the killer. It should be too easy or too impossible. A Haunting in Venice, skirts just the right line. I remember I picked up on a big clue early on, but I couldn't figure out what it meant. As the story began to unfold, the pieces fell into place.
What separates this movie from the previous two is the Branagh films this much more like a classic horror movie than an Agatha Christi mystery. Jumps scares abound through the film. The constant looming shadows and creepy corners give the movie a wonderfully claustrophobic feeling that injects something fresh into the series. Also, his last Poirot movie, Death on the Nile, was hindered by an abundance of CGI. In this movie, Venice feels very tangible, like you stepped out of a time machine and the city is displayed in all of its beauty and horror.
Branagh loves pulling together an eclectic cast for his movies and he tends to get excellent performances. As Poirot, Branagh is once again fantastic. He shows us how the detective is worn down by the world and how his powers of deduction can almost be a hindrance. His constant exposure to lies and untruth have robbed him of his faith in God and humanity.
I think Tina Fey was born a few decades too late. I recognize her talent, but I'm generally not a fan of hers. But she is pitch perfect for the post-WWII era "His Girl Friday" type roll. Dornan does a good job portraying the haunted look of a someone who witnessed the atrocities of war. Hill is wonderfully endearing and creepy, portraying both childlike devotion and inscrutability. Cottin's Olga could have been a one-note religious fanatic, but her fervor comes from a place of real humanity. Even the foppish Allen brings dimension to his character. Both Reilly and Yeoh play their parts well. And there is something percolating under Scarmarcio's calm demeanor. All of this leads to a cauldron of tension that boils over.
An added grace of the movie is that it explores the mystery of spirits and the afterlife. Every one of the characters comes at the question from a different angle and so you get some wonderfully contrary perspectives that push the personalities and conflicts forward. The movie isn't about "mystery," its about "Mystery." This has to be deftly handled and not too heavy-handed. Branagh does a good job with the balance, letting every character have their say and letting the audience decide for themselves who is in the right. But this also makes the movie not just a hunt for a killer, but a question of Poirot's soul: will he find faith again?
Bottom line, if you enjoyed the last two entries in this series, you will enjoy A Haunting in Venice. It is better than the last film and is a satisfying thriller.
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