Ten strangers are summoned to a remote island and while they are waiting for the mysterious host to appear, a recording levels serious accusations at each of the guests. Soon they start being murdered, one by one. As the survivors try to keep their wits, they reach a disturbing conclusion: one of them must be the killer.
18 Sep And Then There Were None (1945)
Dame Agatha’s Dead
Christie has been as profoundly influential in film as Shakespeare. We can’t take too lightly how often we see the effects of her experiments in tweaking the identity of the reader/ viewer. This is one of her most interesting constructions: presented quite differently in the book.
It only works when we become engaged in the reality of the thing because the whole idea hinges on a performance within a performance. When the presentation is as heavily stylized as it is here, we cannot make that connection: play about reality about a play.
Probably, even in its time (60 years ago!) it lacked the power of the original.
There are a huge number of direct copies of this setup. The one that may be the most cinematic is “Seven”, the most intelligently folded: “Identity”.
Posted in 2005
Ted’s Evaluation — 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
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