MovieChat Forums > And Then There Were None (2015) Discussion > If they opt for the ending of the novel....

If they opt for the ending of the novel.....

posted 9 years ago by dbdumonteil
18 replies | jump to latest

...it will be very hard to transfer it to the screen:the bottle in the sea ,a flashback?
The Soviet version(1987) already did it and managed quite well without cops and bottle (by showing glimpses of the characters' past ,notably Vera ,Cyril and Hugo ,which justifies her final decision ,Lombard in the jungle (a nightmare he has,an impressive sequence))
to people who've seen that version,do you think that one can improve it?

I wish I could be like Gladstone Gander.

[–] giannis_k21 9 years ago

First af all I am satisfied with the fact that it will have the boks ending. As to the flashbacks I think they should be shown at various points like in the book. About the revelation... I hava had a idea... it would be cool when Vera hangs herself to see a hand taking the chair away... then perhaps a flashback showing the murders one by one will the confession letter is heard aloud... what do you think?

[–] dbdumonteil 9 years ago

the hand taking the chair away ,that's really a good idea!
the biggest mistake ,in the Russian version ,is to show the murderer rising from his bed before Vera's suicide...but the rest ,IMHO ,is better than any other version,including that of my compatriot René Clair .
The first pictures of the miniseries ,all showing Vera and Lombard on the beach ,are quite intriguing

I wish I could be like Gladstone Gander.

[–] austin-pearce 9 years ago

I'm so happy the novels ending is being used.

[–] giannis_k21 9 years ago

Yes I agree! The russian version is by far the most faithful to the book. Oh boy I can't wait for this one!!!

[–] gingertom21 9 years ago

I like the idea of hearing the person playing the murderer doing a voiceover reading the confession letter.

[–] dbdumonteil 9 years ago

Yes,but provided that they use flashbacks !

I wish I could be like Gladstone Gander.

[–] philboothyogi 9 years ago

Yes,Vera's hanging pre-empted by the cord of the blind on the train being so reminiscent of a hang-man's noose!

[–] lord_zeratul86 9 years ago

You can tell by the tone that there won't be some stupid surprises around Vera and Lombard as it was with the play.

They are so...devoid of goodness and already dead Inside.

[–] philboothyogi 9 years ago

Agreed!
I always thought it was a cop-out to have the cliched "happy" ending.Probably Agatha Christie was under political pressure to do something uplifting for the stage version,due to the social and economic conditions at the time.
So far though this production has really nailed the story in my opinion!

[–] Dreamsincolour 9 years ago

If they opt for the ending of the novel.........

Is it only me who thinks the obvious and most sensible thing to do would be to produce alternative endings? Agatha Christie didn't just write the book, she wrote the play too. So there isn't just one proper ending, there are TWO! TWO bonefide Agatha Christie endings, both of which have as much integrity as the other. So why choose between them? Why not take advantage of it, and for the want of relatively little additional filming, they could be double the showing opportunities.

[–] christiefan1 9 years ago

Because the "happy" ending revolves around Vera and Lombard not actually being prior murderers, which they are in the novel. To film both would mean that either murderers got away with it and "justice" was not entirely served, or the murderer killed innocent people.

Either way, it would make for a very, very messy adaptation. I think people are looking forward to the darker ending from the novel because apart from a Russian version, we haven't seen that on screen yet, but we *have* seen no less than four versions with the play's ending.

[–] dbdumonteil 9 years ago

"Because the "happy" ending revolves around Vera and Lombard not actually being prior murderers, which they are in the novel. To film both would mean that either murderers got away with it and "justice" was not entirely served, or the murderer killed innocent people. "
i second that ! in the Russian version,Lombard's nightmare -not from the book- and Vera's memories which come back to haunt her ,mainly in the final sequences ,make sense.

I wish I could be like Gladstone Gander.

[–] fudanchu-725-268123 9 years ago

(SPOILER) In retrospect we can see that the two ending version would be impossible. Everything about Vera would have to be changed, and actually I can't see Lombard getting away with his murders either in this day.

[–] philboothyogi 9 years ago

Yes,it is only you who thinks that!

[–] ian-28-714050 9 years ago

I must be missing something...

The judges plan is to leave ten dead bodies to perplex the police.

But if the police find the record and play it... Then they will at least know that it was a set up?

I suppose it doesn't leave them any more clues though... Maybe that's the point?

I'll get me coat!

Didds

[–] CharlesTheBold 9 years ago

They could have showed Wargrave writing his confession, with voiceover, before shooting himself. But it would probably have been difficult to keep the tension high while he was doing it.

Incidentally they missed out on the interesting character quirk that Wargrave gave about himself in the novel -- that he likes tormenting people, but he must soothe his conscience by telling himself that they deserve it. Hence his profession as a judge, and his turning into a vigilante in retirement.

[–] profbrane 8 years ago

The ending they made for this show didn't make sense. Vera puts her head in the noose before she finds out the judge is still alive why? She clearly doesn't want to kill herself going by what she says to the judge when he appears. In the book the judge has to convince her to hang herself, she doesn't volunteer to do it.

Overall, this is pretty much the worst adaptation of the story I have seen. All the stuff they added to pad it out to three hours killed the suspense.

[–] CharlesTheBold 8 years ago

The ending they made for this show didn't make sense. Vera puts her head in the noose before she finds out the judge is still alive why? She clearly doesn't want to kill herself going by what she says to the judge when he appears.
=====================================

She tries to hang herself because, as the only survivor on the island, she knows she will be charged with mass murder and executed anyway. When the judge appears, she realizes that she can either blame him or enlist him as an ally; she no longer has a reason for suicide.

In the book the judge has to convince her to hang herself, she doesn't volunteer to do it.
===========================
That's the play, not the book. She does "volunteer" to do in the book (for the reasons I gave above, plus being half out of her mind at that point) and never meets the judge after he fakes his own death.