Why Kenneth Branagh Has to RUIN Every POIROT Movie?

Why does Kenneth Branagh, an otherwise remarkable actor and director insist on taking Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and completely ruining it? In this video, we look into the mystery of how Branagh manages to turn some of the greatest detective stories of all time into overblown, melodramatic Hollywood superhero blockbusters.

What’s inside:
0:00 Kenneth Branagh controversy
0:53 Reinventing Character
5:32 Hollywood-ification of Poirot
10:49 Master of Disaster?

#agathachristie #herculepoirot #poirot

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Hi there, I'm Marina – a passionate art and history writer, artist, and an ever-curious mind. I am also the soul behind the art history discovery app called Smart Art - Art History Escape.

Here you will find video essays on enigmatic historical figures, mysteries, facts and legends of the past, often inspired by the [not so] fictional characters and myths from popular culture. I hope you enjoy it!

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[sergiol.m.fortuna]

In my humble opinion, David Suchet is the incarnation of the famous personage of Agatha Christie and she would certainly agree with me.

[ОльгаСергеева-зх]

I hate the fact that I now need to explain to people that Agatha Christie doesn't do action scenes

[Eva_Zark]

I'm glad to find that I am not the only one hating Brannagh's Poirot films Thanks for your videos about Agatha Christie's characters and authors

[rosmundsen]

The BBC series with David Suchet was perfect, just perfect.

[Grim]

BTW, notice how they used to be able to PERFECTLY capture the look of early 20th century, whilst these days... nothing but crummy CGI and bizarre choices...

[rogercarlson]

Instead of reimagining old characters, why don't they imagine new characters? Remember Monk? He was basically Poirot, but they made him a new character, and it was successful.

[gozerthegozarian]

Poirot is not an action hero. Agatha Christie deliberately wrote him as a figure who is NOT physically imposing in any way, who defeats his opponents not with muscle, but with his mind. Branagh turned him into an action hero who leaps out of trains and has dramatic shootouts and other such Hollywood bullshit. He did a similar thing with Hamlet, in his admittedly very impressive film of Shakespeare's play (the only film adaptation to use the full text, so credit where credit's due) when he had Hamlet kill Claudius not just by making him drink the poison while threatening him with his rapier, but also cut loose a chandelier and swing on it Tarzan-style right into Claudius. No, I am not making this up, I could never come up with something so patently ridiculous. Watch the film if you have a few hours to spare - other than the tragic, melancholic Prince of Denmark mutating into the Lord of the Jungle, it's really good.

[corringhamdepot]

Poirot was 62 years old in 1916 in "The Mysterious Affair at Styles". He was a retired detective, not a young war/action hero.

[SkepticalChris]

I'm going to be one of MANY here who will say this:

David Suchet IS the greatest Hercule Poirot!

Kenneth Branagh is the worst Poirot ever. The movie ridicules Poerot and Agathia Christy but it isn't even funny.

[ladydartz]

I'm so tired of this new obsession with famously single characters needing to have a mysterious secret past love. In "Making Poirot" Suchet makes a very interesting point on how Poirot knows he couldn't be with anyone in a romantic relationship, and how he subtly insinuates which episodes are a reflection of his thoughts about love through the brooch from "The box of chocolate"

[DeafOtter]

OK Kenneth, your Gilderoy Lockhart was brilliant and i understand you didn't want to do a similar Poirot to Suchet's Ustinov or Finney but how come these 3 actors all managed to be veray faithful to Christie's Poirot and yet play them in very distinct manner.

[Veiled_Lepidoptera]

YES! Finally I am not alone in my utter loathing of Branagh's Poirot!

[timmytwodogs]

Branagh was nothing more than a cartoon character compared to David Suchet.
Suchet brought a sophisticated and methodical detective to life while Branagh's portrayal was pompous and clumsey.
The facial hair is ridiculous as well.
I tried watching Murder on The Orient Express and ended up swearing at the TV. It was an absolute travesty.

[heatherabbott]

Suchet= Poirot, Jeremy Brett= Sherlock Holmes.

[thetalentof]

Agreed, Branagh brings no life or complexity to the character, Suchet's interpretation feels so real and authentic and that's due to his superior ability at the craft. If you watch Suchet's performances in movies like 'A World Apart, ' 'To Kill A Priest, ' 'Greystoke, ' 'The Bank Job, ' 'The Way We Live Now, ' 'American Assassin, ' 'Executive Decision, ' 'Perfect Murder' and 'Effie Gray, ' you could argue he's one of the best character actors of his generation.

[FlymanMS]

"If I keep making things more and more ridiculous it will eventually work!" - Kenneth Branagh probably.

[erikvonriese]

I agree with your final summation - the issue isn’t that these are necessarily bad films (I found them to be perfectly fine entertainments). The issue is that they’re not ~Poirot~ films, but announce themselves as such.

[AnOldFashionedWoman]

Wait, he grew moustache to cover up scarring on his face? Hair does not grow on scars, especially if they are deep. I know because I have several and so do some of my friends. You're wrong about the size of it, though, his moustache is big and flamboyant, in fact in one of the books he is described as heavily moustached.
His "interpretations" *are* arrogant - he thinks he could do better than Christie.
I agree with your opinion, you put it perfectly. And your accent is lovely!

[filipzietek]

Why does he wear shirts with turn down collars? I remember Piorot saying " turned down colalr is a sign of rotten mind" or something like that.