the mysterious affair at styles david suchet

The contrast with the mostly unlikable (as they are in the novel) cast of characters at the heart of the story couldn't be greater as the gentle Hastings meets up with an old friend, John Cavendish (David Rintoul), and is invited to stop at the family home, Styles Court, for continued rest and relaxation. Some of the beautifully bucolic scenes might almost be paintings, set up as they are to illustrate a time long gone. Add, this time around, a group of Belgian refugees for some exotic flavor and we're all set. Not only is Hastings' (I adore Hugh Fraser) melancholy 'stiff upper lip' attitude charming, but so is life in a small English village, full of the sorts of things and the kinds of people we all go to Christie for. While the guns of war are still firing and men are dying across the channel, England seems a kind of lyrical haven for those on leave, left behind or recuperating. The production team of designer Rob Harris, art director Peter Wenham and cinematographer Vernon Layton does a splendid job show-casing the unspoiled English countryside at its loveliest and greenest.

I might almost say that this is a lavish production, but let's tone it down to just plain gorgeous and take it from there. This is implied in the novel but I think the additional footage in the film works very well in establishing who Hastings is and leads very nicely into the story. Take note that the storyline follows almost completely the original created by Christie (miracle of miracles), no 'improvements' or additional nonsense added except for some scenes early on of Hastings (Hugh Fraser) recovering from shell shock after enduring trench warfare in France. THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES (1990) was directed by Ross Devenish and 'dramatized' cleverly (perhaps lovingly) by Clive Exton from the novel. I'd recently bought the audio version (which was a steal on ) narrated by the wonderful Hugh Fraser and after listening to it, decided to re-watch the 'film' (actually 103 minutes made for television - Season 3, Episode 1 of Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot which originally aired on PBS) once again, having nothing but happy memories of it. According to Wikipedia, the actual writing was done during WWI, but the publication came later - 1920 or so. Christie who, I understand, wrote it in a response to a challenge from someone in her family. THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES was not only the first book featuring Hercule Poirot, it was the first book written by the young Mrs.

The mysterious affair at styles david suchet