Agatha

Vanessa Redgrave plays renowned crime writer Agatha Christie in this account scripted by Kathleen Tynan (wife of leading British theatre critic Kenneth Tynan) based on her 1975 novel 'The Summer Aeroplane', about Christie’s 11-day disappearance in 1926.

Redgrave seems constrained by the preoccupation with the careful reproduction of the look of late Edwardian English upper crust society with little attention being given to the dramatic aspects of the story. This is no doubt more Apted's doing than Ms. Redgrave's. The climax of the best scene, that of Christie devising a method to electrocute herself largely goes to waste due to lack of emphasis in lighting, shooting or editing. Some of the scenes between her and the inappropriately-cast Dustin Hoffman, whose character of an American journalist in search of Ms. Christie provides a certain amount of ironic humour, are unfortunate because of the almost ridiculous difference in their heights. The film is elegantly presented by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro but ultimately the most interesting aspects of the film are stifled by the era typical fetishism of period detail.

FYI: according to Wikipedia several members of the cast were upset with script changes made once production had begun, with Hoffman even suing the studio for $66 million claiming breach of contract; the outcome of the lawsuit is not known.

 

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