The Bonds of Loyalty

I normally never cry when I watch dramatic movies, but Kenneth Branagh's modern adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express was an exception to the rule. Seeing the movie after Thanksgiving, as families gather all over the country, uniting to celebrate with each other was particularly poignant. There have been a number of TV and film adaptations of Christie's classic mystery over the years, but from a strictly storyline point of view, this one touched an emotional chord. Anyone who has read the story is already familiar with the ending. Earlier adaptations had an all white cast. Branagh's version utilizes the amazing talents of a stellar and diverse cast to bring the tale into the 21st century. Setting aside the aspect of political correctness, at its heart, this is a story of love, loyalty and justice.

In the 2010 movie starring David Suchet as Poirot, the detective objects to self administered vigilante justice, exclaiming, "You behave like this and we become just savages in the street...the rule of law...it must be held high, and if it falls, you pick it up and hold it even higher!" The murder of an innocent child violates a fundamental notion of right and wrong and it is that superior principle which motivates the actions of the executioners. The earlier version concentrates on the contrast between sin and innocence and the struggle between the man made rule of law and the divinely sanctioned need for justice.

All of the characters are emotionally tied to the events leading to the murder that is the focus of Christie's tale. With the exception of the mother and sister, the rest of the characters are employees of the Armstrong family. Normally, there is an impersonal relationship between employer and employee. From Poirot's perspective the travellers on the train are simply "strangers pressed together for days with nothing in common but the need to go from one place to another and never see each other again." But each one of the individuals who participates has a deeper connection to the family, which fuels their desire to see justice done. The pain of their employer's loss is a personal injury, one that creates, as the 2010 version illustrates, a "hell on earth for those wronged."

Branagh's adaptation concentrates on the emotional bonds between the characters as an extended family and the way they protect and support each other in the implementation of a morally difficult task. The murder of Ratchett is the execution of a man who destroys a family with his cold and conscienceless act. The characters have united to commit an immorally pragmatic act for an emotionally righteous reason, a burden they will carry with them forever.   Each of us is imperfect and longs to find love and the acceptance of our imperfections in our families and when we cannot, living with that burden fractures the soul, much as the inability to seek justice did for the characters in Branagh's movie. Perhaps the critical message is that only by sharing our pain can we find healing for our wounds and acceptance of our flaws.