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"Agatha Christie: Poirot" Sad Cypress (2003)


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12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Still Great but..., 18 April 2004
8/10
Author: Fat_Boy99 (fat.mobster@gmail.com) from LISBON

Poirot: Sad Cypress maintains the usual high quality that any adaptation with David Suchet has. Elinor Carlisle receives an anonymous letter advising her to visit her sick aunt or risk being cut out of the will by the enormous and negative influence someone recently acquired over the old lady. Elinor along with her fiancé Roddy although not believing the letter decide to do as it says in an attempt to discover what is really going on. By the advice of a friend they give Poirot the letter and it is clear to the Belgian detective that evil will soon take his victim. I wont say any more about the story not to ruin it for you but it has plenty of mystery as always and a few twists you wont expect. I was literally falling off the couch in the last minutes as the truth was about to be revealed as it is not easy to take a pick as to whom the killer is despite the opening shot that shows us Elinor being prosecuted for two murders and her off voice proclaiming that she has no remorse about it. We stay in doubt as to if that truly is the case or if maybe she actually is innocent. Of course that is a job for Hercule Poirot.

David Suchet is again perfect in his role. I love his work. I worship his portrayal of Poirot. Unfortunately time goes by and Suchet is not in his best shape and at times seems rather tired. Still he is the best Poirot there is and ever will be. Sad Cypress does loose a lot for not having its main character on screen much time. An hour had passed and we had seen Poirot in only a few scenes. While the story may justify this in a way it still is a disappointment to wait so long to see him in action.

The other actors all do a fantastic job with Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh taking the spotlight. She is amazingly beautiful and mysterious. What an absolutely gorgeous woman.

Sad Cypress is recommended to Agatha Christie's fans and to anyone who enjoys a good mystery. Still it is somewhat disappointing due to a little too far fetched explanation and a sometimes absent Poirot performed by an aging Suchet that while still possessing great skill is bellow his best. And of course there's no Captain Hastings, Miss Lemon or Chief Inspector Japp. Its always more fun when the whole gang is present.

A wonderful effort that could maybe be better but still proves an absolute pleasure to watch.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Congratulations Mr. Suchet, 29 August 2005
10/10
Author: hlarrauri11 from Peru

David Suchet is a wonderful actor, he represents Hercule Poirot as anybody. I love Agatha Christie's novels. I never lose a movie with David Suchet, I saw him in Henry the VIII too, as cardinal Wolsey, very good performance. I like Peter Ustinov's performances too, of Poirot I mean, but David Suchet is insuperable. I am reading now The sad cypress and is very interesting as all the work of Agatha Christie, in a Spanish version. I enjoy the novels where Hercule Poirot is the protagonist. Miss Marple is very smart too but I prefer Poirot.

Congratulations for Mr. David Suchet and I can not wait to watch on TV his last movie.

Sincerely,

Helen Larrauri

Lima,Perú

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7 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent!, 11 October 2004
8/10
Author: pterron4 from Orange County California

This movie was just shown on the Biography Channel although it was released in 2003!

I agree that Suchet is 'slowing down' a bit as Poirot and I definitely do not like his current mustache!

However, I don't agree with one commenter on the roles of Japp, Hastings & Ms. Lemon re: their interaction with Poirot.

I personally think Ms. Lemon was in love with Poirot.

Hastings was the perfect 'foil' to Poirot in that he was so very 'English' and much more relaxed to Poirot 'fussiness'! Japp is a definite 'cop' and brought the police's role into the mix full bore. Police usually take the line that the simplest reasoning is the answer so again it's a great 'foil' to Poirot's little 'gray cells' which have to ferret out the idiosyncrasies of the different characters.

The movie was excellent! I knew who was going to die but the rest of it was a 'mystery' to me! I loved the ending - Suchet did a great 'dying' scene!

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Good, quite faithful adaptation, 28 April 2008
8/10
Author: Iain-215 from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This is a beautiful looking production, wonderfully shot and - on the whole - very well acted. David Suchet's excellent Poirot enters the story somewhat earlier than in the book but that's not too surprising - the series is called 'Poirot' and fans will want to see him at the earliest opportunity. Being one of my favourite Poirot books, I had quite definite ideas of how these characters should look and feel and generally speaking I was happy with the results in the film. Elisabeth Dermott Walsh was really spot on as Elinor and Rupert Penry Jones catches Roddy's weakness very well. It was nice to see the excellent Phyllis Logan pop up as one of the nurses and Diana Quick is suitably sympathetic as the invalid Mrs Welman. Perhaps my only slight reservation is that the crucial role of Mary Gerrard is played as rather more 'knowing' than she ought to be and as a result rather less sympathetic.

Two disappointments, one very trivial and one not quite so. Much as I enjoyed the denouement, it didn't have the power of that in the book where the solution was revealed by a series of revelations within the courtroom. The film opts for a more exciting end but as a result it's less believable. The trivial disappointment is a lack of attention to detail, for the important supporting role of the Zephirine Drouhin rose is miscast - it should be bright pink and not crimson red! Seriously though, this is a very good film overall and well worth watching.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Exceptionally well-done, 30 March 2008
9/10
Author: gridoon2009

Hercule Poirot looks into the case of a woman accused for two murders: there is overwhelming evidence against her, her dislike for one of the victims - the girl who stole her fiancé's heart - is well-known, and she doesn't express any feelings of regret. Despite all that, a doctor, who is secretly in love with her, is convinced of her innocence and asks his old friend Poirot to help him prove it.

Let me put it simply: the story, direction, performances, music, and set design of "Sad Cypress" are of higher quality than approximately 90% of what is available out there. Dropping the (highly entertaining, it must be said) sidekicks, changing the tone to almost completely serious, and reducing Poirot's screen time in favor of the other characters (in fact, it could be argued that the beautiful Elisabeth Dermot Walsh is the central figure here) are all bold moves, and they pay off brilliantly, in this case at least. Up to this point in the series, and without having seen "Five Little Pigs" yet, the only episodes I would rank above this one are "Wasps' Nest" and "Lord Edgeware Dies".

A must-see if you love good cinema, even when it's made for TV. (***1/2)

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Another excellent movie from the pages of Agatha Christie, 24 September 2004
Author: gee-15 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I was pleasantly surprised to come across the adaptation of another Agatha Christie novel starring the inimitable David Suchet. He really IS the definitive Hercule Poirot.

While pleasantly surprised, I was mildly dismayed to realize that it was an adaptation of "Sad Cypress", one of Christie's "minor" Poirot mysteries and certainly not her best. However, I couldn't have been more wrong. This has to be one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book. In the book, much of the action is discussed within the context of Elinor's trial, making it come across as a sort of Britishized Perry Mason mystery. The movie, while narratively framed by the trial, wisely jettisons most of it to focus on the characters and, of course, Poirot.

The actors are all very good with special kudos to actress Elizabeth Dermot-Walsh as the wrongly accused (or is she?) Elinor Carlisle. Her performance is heart-breaking. And it doesn't hurt that she's one of the most interesting-looking women I've seen in a long time.

The only weakness comes in the middle of movie as the shift of Roddy's affections from Elinor to Mary seem to be rather rushed and not well-explained. But overall, the movie is time well-spent.

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8 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Moderately well done and entertaining, 1 March 2005
7/10
Author: notmicro from Seattle

Another one of those "as suggested by the novel" types of productions. After watching it, I went back and read the book. This version is kind of like what you'd get if you dropped the book in a blender, then started picking out bits and stringing them together. Although it strays considerably from the original, it begins and ends in pretty much the same place, and the arc of the original story stays generally intact. Plus since the book isn't one of Christie's better novels, it doesn't much matter. The production is done in a relentlessly dark and moody style that works OK, although why they made such a big deal out of the elevator in the house I don't know; its one of the things not in the original at all, and its an expensive prop that didn't add anything for me.

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Stunning adaptation and even heart-rending in places, 24 October 2009
9/10
Author: Bethany_Cox25 from United Kingdom

Sad Cypress is one of my favourite Poirot episodes, along with Five Little Pigs and Peril At End House everything about this adaptation was stunning. I do admit I did cry two or three times. It is faithful to the book, apart from a slight misjudgement about the rose. The plot is quite a complex one, but it is very well constructed here. The look of Sad Cypress was absolutely exquisite- you can never go wrong with dazzling photography, splendid scenery and lovely costumes- this adaptation had all three of those things. The music was gorgeous, haunting yet tragic, and I think it was this that reduced me to tears. The script is very good, beautifully written, and does have a hint of faithfulness about it. The acting was exceptional, although he looked tired, David Suchet turned in an impeccable performance as Poirot. I do consider Suchet the definitive of the Poirots, like Jeremy Brett was the definitive Sherlock Holmes. Elizabeth Dermott Walsh was beautiful beyond words as Elinor Carlisle, just perfect for the role, and Rupert Penry Jones perfectly conveys his flawed character. Diana Quick and Phyllis Logan are fine actresses, and they were superb in their roles. The final solution was very well done, not quite as good in construction as the one in the book, but still effective. All in all, highly recommended. 9/10 Bethany Cox

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1 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Please someone! Tell me who the murderer was!, 5 May 2007
Author: sasha99

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW!!

I just watched this on TV, and at precisely 10 before the hour when Poirot was about to explain all, some movers came to my door to pick up some stuff and I had to leave the room! When I came back, Elinor was being let out of jail and got in the car with the doctor. It looked like something was going on between them. So could someone please (with plenty of spoiler warnings) tell me who did it, how, and why. I left right when Poirot was saying that EVERYONE had lied to him. If Elinor didn't do it, why did she say she had no remorse? Was Mary really the daughter? What happened while Mary was away in Europe.

If you don't want to post here, email me at eve0000z at yahoo. Thanks!

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3 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
a fine addition to the Suchet canon!, 22 September 2004
8/10
Author: Ed from New York, NY

A quite engrossing if, as usual, contrived mystery. I do agree that David Suchet is the ultimate Hercule even if he's losing much of his energy. In fact, I think that "Curtain" would be the ideal Hercule for him to do at this or a little later point.

I disagree with a review that said that it was more fun with Japp, Hastings and Lemon. I thought they were brought into the earlier productions by the short hairs and not convincingly all the time.

I do agree that the Suchet "Death on the Nile" was disappointing but I'd recently seen the Ustinov again (I didn't really like him in the part.) and was only too familiar with the story so I gave up early on.

I thought the acting was generally good and everyone was well-cast.

8 out of 10.

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