Ten Little Indians

In 1939 Agatha Christie wrote her famous novel "And then there were none" and in 1945 René Clair made the first adaptation for film.

Although the adaptation by Clair was far from perfect, it was not surpassed for a long time. In my opinion the 1987 Russian adaptation by Stanislav Govorukhin was the long awaited improvement.

The Russian version is much more philosophical that that of Clair. In stead of being a "who donnit" the film treats the relationship between criminal law, ethics and (bad) conscience

With respect to the relationship between ethics and conscience there is a remarkable difference between men and women. At the end of the film (and different from the Clair adaptation) her own conscience is punishment enough for the Vera character.

The film creates a huge gap between ethics and criminal law. The assumption seems to be that criminal law only covers those instances in which a person does the wrong thing on purpose. I think in practice the difference is smaller. Criminal law also covers instances in which a person does not act although he ought to (not saving a person in mortal danger when possible) or acts not with the intention of doing harm but accepting the real possibility that harm nevertheles will happen (drunk driving).

The Agatha Christie novel upon which this film is based is an excellent read and one of her most popular titles. It has been put into film many times, but each version is far inferior to the actual novel. Except this one. There is no matching the quality of the book, but this Russian one does a very good job, because for the first time the material is not softened down. It is as dark and as grim as Agatha Christie intended her novel to be. It also keeps the original ending, which other versions have adjusted, forfeiting the deeper things that the story has to stay. The flashbacks are woven in perfectly, the sound recording is noticeably sharp, and in general there is very little to complain about this superb rendition of the novel.

A note for prospective buyers:

After some searching, I managed to order a DVD copy of this film from a Russian company via the internet. The DVD quality itself is quite good, however the English subtitles are often poorly translated and out-of-sync with who is talking. Those who have read the novel should still find it easy enough to follow - this is just a little warning. However, that is only on the DVD copy that I viewed. As for the film itself, there is very little wrong with it.

Ten people find themselves on an isolated island, and one by one they begin to die, is the killer hiding on the island, or hiding in plain sight?

For my shame I haven't watched this movie for about a decade, that's bad on my part, because it is a superb adaptation.

Who'd have thought that a Russian adaptation of Agatha Christie's incredible novel, would be the first to follow through with the original ending, it took some courage not to opt for the softer conclusion.

Great atmosphere, it's tense, suspenseful and claustrophobic, they truly captured the tone and essence of the book. Some of the earlier adaptations, films I love, but have a degree of humour, the book is a straight up thriller, it doesn't have sentiment or humour, this adaptation is bleak, as is the story.

Each of the characters look the part, Miss Brent looks exactly as I pictured the character from the book, as so The Doctor and Judge.

The music is great, the visuals are spot on, I love the property they use, it has that isolated feel.

I only wish a British made adaptation had been made along these lines, not until the later BBC series was it adapted again.

Perfect adaptation, 10/10.

I won't rehash the storyline which everyone knows but just a few comments:

Plus points: -the first film adaptation which sticks to the ending as outlined in the novel

-dialogue is very much as per the novel. If you know the book well, the subtitles are almost superfluous as you will know what the characters are saying

-the choice of location for filming was inspired. Oddly, the external shots feel more claustrophobic than those inside the house. The crucial scene at the end between Vera and Lombard is powerfully shot with the sea almost a background character on its own.

Minus points: -At times it can be difficult to distinguish Lombard from Blore. Facially, they are very alike.

-The actress playing Emily Brent is too young...equally, the character playing Anthony Marston is some 10 years too old.

-There's something lacking with the interior shots which fail, at times, to convey the cloying claustrophobia so evident in the book. It may be that there are simply too many daylight scenes.

While I prefer the 2015 BBC adaptation, this 1987 Soviet version is in second place, well ahead of any of the previous adaptations.

However, no film version will ever beat the novel itself and the imagery those words conjure up in the reader's imagination. It's still the only book I can pick up and read from start to finish without a break.

I've seen many adaptations of this story but this one is really unrivaled. From the very beginning, you can see the talent of the director. When he's filming the guests waiting to depart, you can feel the tension among them, and the culpability too. On the contrary of the other adaptations, this movie doesn't only show the action, the murder series, but also (and it seemed capital to me) what's in the victims' minds. I appreciated in particular the flashes back. Personally, I only deplore the location. The place where the movie was shot is too well known, and doesn't fit with the idea one could have of the island. To adapt such a famous book is always tricky, but not for Govorukhin ! Mankiewicz couldn't have done better.