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"Death on the Nile"
To be released in
U.S. theaters December 18, 2020 and in the UK
in October, 2020
Updated: "Death on the Nile" to premiere with 32 70mm prints, 17.
September 2021
Updated: "Death on the Nile" to premiere with 32 70mm prints, 11.
February 2022 |
Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter
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Written by: disney.com, 18. August 2020 |
Date:
20.08.2020 |
“Death
on the Nile” was shot on 65mm film and will be presented in 70mm in cinemas,
which is a very immersive form of filmmaking and one that is suited
especially for a film with a big ensemble cast.
“For me, the escapism and
the transportation are so total,” says Branagh. “It is a wonderfully
immersive, illusory experience that is very full and thick. The depth, the
detail, the chance to replicate the experience of the human eye is
absolutely at its premium.” Frame grab from the trailer. 20th
Century Studios / disney.com
Based on the 1937 novel by Agatha Christie, Twentieth Century
Studios’ “Death on the Nile” is a daring mystery-thriller directed by
Kenneth Branagh about the emotional chaos and deadly consequences triggered
by obsessive love. Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot’s Egyptian vacation aboard
a glamorous river steamer turns into a terrifying search for a murderer when
a picture-perfect couple’s idyllic honeymoon is tragically cut short. Set
against an epic landscape of sweeping desert vistas and the majestic Giza
pyramids, this tale of unbridled passion and incapacitating jealousy
features a cosmopolitan group of impeccably dressed travelers and enough
wicked twists and turns to keep audiences guessing until the final, shocking
denouement.
“Death on the Nile” reunites the filmmaking team behind the global hit
“Murder on the Orient Express,” and stars five-time Academy Award® nominee
Kenneth Branagh as the iconic detective Hercule Poirot. He is joined by an
all-star cast of suspects, including Tom Bateman, four-time Oscar® nominee
Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Gal Gadot, Armie
Hammer, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders and
Letitia Wright. With a screenplay by Michael Green adapted from Christie’s
novel, “Death on the Nile” is produced by Ridley Scott, Mark Gordon, Simon
Kinberg, Kenneth Branagh, Judy Hofflund and Kevin J. Walsh, with Matthew
Jenkins, James Prichard and Matthew Prichard serving as executive producers.
• Go to "Death on the Nile" to
photographed in Panavision System 65
• Go to The Immersive Quality of 70mm Film
• Go to "Murder on the Orient
Express" Production Information
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More in 70mm reading:
"Death on the Nile" Released in
Glorious 70mm
"Death on the Nile" to photographed
in Panavision System 65
"Murder on the Orient
Express" Production Information
Presented in 70mm with
digital DATASAT sound (Formerly DTS)
Motion
pictures photographed in Super Panavision 70 & Panavision System 65
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Setting Sail
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"Death on the Nile"
teaser poster
It was on the heels of their successful collaboration
"Murder on the Orient Express",
that director/producer Kenneth Branagh ("Hamlet", “Henry V,”
“Thor”) and screenwriter Michael Green (“Blade Runner 2049,” “Logan”) began
discussing their favorite Agatha Christie titles and which ones would work
cinematically. “We were having such a good time talking and asking if we got
to make another one, what would that be. Ken and I each laid out our
favorites, but we kept circling back to ‘Death on the Nile.’”
“The hunger for sex in Agatha Christie’s original story is very powerful,
and people are reckless in their pursuit of it. Their greed for physical
satisfaction is dangerous to a murderous degree,” says Branagh. “It is the
most unsettled of Agatha Christie’s books. She presents a veneer of
sophistication, sexiness, glamour and romance, but it is, at all times,
brittle, fragile, dangerous and disruptive.”
The filmmakers were fortunate to have two relatives of the famed author,
Matthew Prichard (“Poirot”) and James Prichard (“Murder on the Orient
Express”) of the Agatha Christie Estate, involved with the production, which
provided an invaluable resource in terms of understanding the author’s
personal attitude towards this specific book. “We were the lucky recipients
of quite a lot of the sort of human texture that is part of why her books
are so successful,” says Branagh. “She’s not merely someone who can write
clever puzzles, she writes real people.”
Matthew Prichard was especially thrilled for the Agatha Christie Estate to
embark on another collaboration with Branagh. “What we like about ‘Orient
Express,’ and now with ‘Death on the Nile,’ is that the plot and the story,
and most of all, the atmosphere, of the real Agatha Christie is recreated on
the screen,” says Prichard. “For the audience, it is tremendously important
they feel that they’ve not only seen a wonderfully modern and hugely
cinematic film but have also experienced an evening of Agatha Christie.”
In making the transition from a novel rich in complexity and characters to a
screenplay, the filmmakers mined the story for the key elements to evolve
and expand upon. “The book is very well written,” says Green. “It’s got some
of Agatha Christie’s best prose in it, and it has this wonderful plot with a
wonderful solution. It’s sprawling.”
But it was the themes of romance and jealousy that the screenwriter wanted
to truly explore. “We just kept coming back to passion and love, diving into
those feelings, and making sure all of our characters really had something
to say about those emotions,” says Green.
“In an Agatha Christie novel, it works to have interesting people hanging
around who aren’t suspect,” explains Green. “As a result, there were a few
minor changes made to the script to help enhance a few of the characters and
to fold together others to make them more cinematic, as everyone needs a
potential reason to have a motive and opportunity to kill.”
“The exotic location and glamorous settings made ‘Death on the Nile’ a very
exciting prospect for Ken,” says producer Judy Hofflund (“Artemis Fowl,”
“Panic Room”). “The idea of making a big landscape version of these Agatha
Christie stories and to tell a story on a large canvas was very appealing.”
“With ‘Death on the Nile’ we have a wealthy socialite’s attraction to a man
who previously has been passionately entwined with an equally beautiful
woman, whom he rejects then embraces and weds the other,” Branagh explains.
“There is a wedding party where a group of exotic and amazing people who
claim to be their friends, surround them. Because of the karma generated
when one woman steals another woman’s man, fireworks ensue. So a human love
triangle that goes bad, is the sort of rotten fruit at the center of this
murderous holiday.”
“Michael’s first draft was a home run,” says Hofflund. “It was what we
showed to every actor, and it was the script we cast the movie on.”
“It had a more youthful approach,” agrees Branagh. “Everything about the
story is now younger and sexier, literally and aesthetically.”
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The Cast and Characters
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Kenneth Branagh stars as Hercule Poirot, one
of Agatha Christie’s most beloved and most famous creations: a brilliant,
quick-witted, charmingly self-deprecating Belgian sleuth. Chivalrous and
innately kind, obsessed with his personal grooming, he enjoys the
dispensations that come from a life spent socializing amongst the elite.
Tom Bateman (“Snatched”) is back as the handsome, charming and good-humored
Bouc, who is the aimless but lovable right-hand man to Hercule Poirot. The
actor was delighted to return as the character he played in “Murder on the
Orient Express,” especially since his character doesn’t appear in Agatha
Christie’s book, and embraced his thrilling storyline. “Poirot’s lens does
swing onto Bouc a bit…It was very interesting coming back to him,” he says.
“In ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, Bouc didn’t care about anyone but
himself, but in this film he’s learned to care and has grown up.”
Annette Bening (“Captain Marvel,” “American Beauty”) is Euphemia Bouc, a
renowned painter, and Bouc’s mother. Entitled, disdainful and extremely
protective of her son, she is in Egypt along with him to attend the wedding
of his friend, Linnet. “Euphemia is a newly created character for our
particular way of telling this story. She is very much concerned, almost
obsessed, with her son,” says Bening.
Thrilled to be a part of the ensemble cast, Bening fully embraced the
character in the context of the period in which the story is set, and her
seemingly cynical attitude towards love: “I had a lot of fun reading about
women of the period and the bohemian world at the turn of the century,” says
Bening. “Learning about painters of the period, and where Euphemia might
have trained and how that might have impacted her romantic life, was a very
important piece of understanding Euphemia.”
Russell Brand (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”) is Linus Windlesham, an
aristocratic, affable, health-obsessed doctor who was once engaged to Linnet
Ridgeway and wants to do good in the world. The actor chose to focus “on the
warmth and integrity of the character,” seeking authenticity in the role,
embracing research about 1930s medicine. In discussing Branagh he says,
“He’s very anchoring and he leads very elegantly. He creates an atmosphere
commensurate with creativity and focus, but broadly convivial and you know
you are in the hands of a serious artist.”
Born in India and educated at Oxford, Andrew Katchadourian is Linnet
Ridgeway’s suave and handsome “cousin” and childhood friend, whose law
office handles all of the Ridgeway family affairs. The role is played by Ali
Fazal (“Victoria & Abdul”), who was delighted to be a part of the ensemble
cast. “My childhood was filled with Agatha Christie books. Ken’s ‘Murder on
the Orient Express’ was so stunning and so rich.”
Linnet Ridgeway, the joyful, stylish, obscenely wealthy heiress from a
prominent and well-respected family, is played by Gal Gadot (“Wonder Woman,”
“Fast & Furious”). Gracious and self-assured, she has never known the
intoxicating and all-consuming sensation that comes from true love, and she
has made a number of enemies because of her wealth over the years. Gadot
fell in love with Linnet Ridgeway and embraced the complexity of the
character. “She’s very self-centered, but at the same time, she has so much
heart. She’s very used to having things her way but it’s lonely at the top,
so she has a great void inside.”
“Working with Ken,” says Gadot, “was an amazing experience for me. I learned
so much from his performance, as well as his direction. He’s so prepared and
organized and that leaves almost no room for any mistakes but at the same
time, he gives the actors a lot of freedom to try and do whatever we want to
do. He has this ability to make everyone feel special, and his charisma and
charm go a long way.”
According to Branagh, “Linnet Ridgeway requires an actress of extraordinary
beauty, dazzle, naughtiness and compassion, which we found in Gal. She’s
amazing in the part, and just as colorful and deep as her character.”
Unemployed, but handsome and naturally charming, Simon Doyle is in love with
Jackie de Bellefort, until she introduces him to her school friend, the
beautiful, wealthy, equally captivating Linnet Ridgeway. Armie Hammer, who
has starred in films including “Call Me by Your Name” and “The Social
Network,” plays Simon, and found the role challenging because it is someone
who spends much of the time hiding his true self. “How much can you show,
how much can slip?” he says. “You have to get the balance right; my
character has to be credible through the entire story.”
And Hammer was thrilled with the chance to work with Branagh. “As an actor,
he speaks the same language and knows how to communicate in a way that gives
you everything you need.”
Rose Leslie (“Game of Thrones”) is Louise Bourget, Linnet Ridgeway’s lady’s
maid – not her servant – who is devoted to Linnet. “Louise is very much
swept up in the extravagance of it all,” says Leslie (“Game of Thrones”),
“but that has to be a little bit painful.” Working with Branagh, they
settled on a backstory which saw Louise working for Linnet for the past two
years, continuing in her employ after her engagement to be married had come
to an end and Linnet having something to do with that. “She is enjoying the
high life, wanting to be associated with this group, wanting to be a part of
the clan,” says Leslie. “And yet there is always this little kind of twist
of the knife from Linnet in reminding Louise just where she is in the
pecking order.”
Emma Mackey (“Sex Education”) is Jacqueline De Bellefort, who is attractive,
witty and smarter than she lets on, thanks to her boarding school education.
Born into French aristocracy, but presently poor, she is head over heels in
love with Simon Doyle. “Even though she’s a strong and resilient independent
woman, she does everything for Simon,” says Mackey. “Jacqueline is driven by
her love for Simon…her whole reason for existing is Simon.”
The actress worked closely with Branagh to develop the character, creating
an elaborate backstory to help inform her behavior. “She’s heartbroken and
in a great deal of pain, but we also wanted her to be full of life, energy
and warmth and to be sexy and confident as well as show her vulnerable and
heartbroken side,” says Mackey.
“Jackie is broken-hearted at the betrayal by a friend, and it makes her
vulnerable and sad, but it also makes her incredibly attractive…and
dangerous,” says Branagh. “Emma nails her humor, her darkness, her
vulnerability and her kindness. It’s a complex character that she brings
huge subtlety to.”
Sophie Okonedo (“Hotel Rwanda”) is Salome Otterbourne, the sultry and
magnetic American singer hired to perform at Simon Doyle’s Egyptian wedding.
“This is a woman who just loves life,” says Okonedo. “She’s very confident
in herself and her body,”
As a dynamic jazz singer who channels Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the role called
for the actress to sing and play the guitar, and Okonedo was drawn to the
challenge, actually learning the skills to help her find the character.
“Never picked up a musical instrument in my entire life, never sang a song
in my entire life, but I’m always looking for parts that push me.”
Salome Otterbourne’s niece, Rosalie, who manages her aunt’s singing career,
is played by Letitia Wright (“Black Panther”). Well educated and world
travelled, she is sophisticated, witty and ambitious. The actress was drawn
to the role of Rosalie, because of her drive and determination. “She is
young and yet really motivated and diligent,” says Wright. “It is very
interesting to bring a level-headed character like this into the story, and
see certain situations that knock that confidence.”
Like her co-stars, she worked hard with Branagh developing the character.
She reveals he gave her a beautiful book about the Harlem renaissance as a
helpful step in understanding Rosalie. “It was a beautiful book that
captured that time and that period of African American artists, being
celebrated in literature, in art, in culture, in fashion, and also in
travelling to Europe and having massive success there.”
Jennifer Saunders (“Absolutely Fabulous”) is Linnet Ridgeway’s godmother,
Marie Van Schuyler, a feisty, yet frail woman, who denounced her wealth to
become a communist. “It’s an interesting character,” says Saunders. “Many
people of means in that era became communist after the Crash as they felt
very guilty about having money when so many people had lost large amounts,
the workforce had been decimated, and people had lost their jobs and their
livelihoods.”
Dawn French (“Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey”) is Bowers, Marie Van
Schuyler’s nurse and constant companion. Her family’s fortune was decimated
by the stock market crash, but she still yearns for the finer things in
life. “She’s an educated person but quite an innocent in many ways,” says
French. “She’s in awe at everything that happens in this story. She’s a
comfort to Marie, and they adore each other although they’re quite spiky
with each other every now and again.”
The duo, who starred together in the popular British sketch comedy series
“French and Saunders,” are playing roles that belonged to Bette Davis and
Maggie Smith in the 1978 film. “I think we were asked as a pair, because the
characters are very closely connected, and they’re a real partnership in
lots of ways,” says French. “The legacy of Jennifer and I being a couple, in
showbiz, is handy for these characters, who are very rarely separated.”
“Jennifer plays her with a sort of knowing self-awareness and humor in the
character that is delicious to behold, and she can throw away a gag in an
effortless way that lands the punchline for the audience but doesn’t make
the character self-conscious,” says Branagh. “Bowers is the expressive part
of the double act that they almost are in the piece. I talk about Marie and
Bowers, not Jennifer and Dawn, and once again, as with Jennifer Saunders,
Dawn French can deliver a gag as well as anyone on the planet, and better
than the vast majority of them, but she also delivers a performance of real
pathos and tenderness.”
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The Production
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Principal photography on “Death on the Nile”
commenced in September 2019 and took place on the stages and backlots at
Longcross Studios outside London, as well as at several exterior locations
in the U.K. The film was shot chronologically in story order with production
shooting a five-day week and director/producer Kenneth Branagh rehearsing
privately with the cast on Saturdays. Filming wrapped in December 2019.
The film served as a reunion for Branagh and many of the talented creative
team with whom he collaborated on “Murder on the Orient Express.” They
include director of photography Haris Zambarloukos (“Artemis Fowl,”
“Cinderella”); production designer Jim Clay (“Children of Men,” “Love
Actually”); composer Patrick Doyle (“Thor: Ragnarok,” “Macbeth”); special
effects supervisor David Watkins (“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,”
“World War Z”); and VFX supervisor George Murphy (“Forrest Gump”). Costume
designer Paco Delgado (“Les Miserables,” “The Danish Girl”) joined the team,
along with editor Una Ni Dhonghaile (“Stan & Ollie,” “The Crown”).
From day one, the filmmakers realized it was an enormous privilege to be
able to take cinematic audiences to exotic places through the imagination of
Agatha Christie, and never took for granted the fact that they needed to
create that energy and excitement on screen. As a result, the film was shot
on 65mm film and will be presented in 70mm in cinemas, which is a very
immersive form of filmmaking and one that is suited especially for a film
with a big ensemble cast.
“For me, the escapism and the transportation are so total,” says Branagh.
“It is a wonderfully immersive, illusory experience that is very full and
thick. The depth, the detail, the chance to replicate the experience of the
human eye is absolutely at its premium.”
Branagh continues, “And it is a very unusual and unique opportunity
(especially in the wake of what we’ve all been through recently) to share
the experience of community in the telling of a story in a socially
distanced, smaller audience-auditorium with a massive wall of communication
and picture and sensory stimulation. Cinema has never been more attractive,
cinema has never been more vital and cinema has never been more thrilling,
than it has a chance to be, coming out of lockdown and coming into stories
like ‘Death on the Nile.’”
Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos was thrilled to revisit the 65mm format,
and says, “The thing that got us most excited about using this format for
this film, and in particular, for this kind of Agatha Christie set-up, is
the fact that we have an ensemble cast,” he explains. “There are many, many
great actors in the film, and we wanted to have the opportunity to shoot
them all in a single shot, and often; to put them in a space and really feel
their presence without the need of extreme close-ups.”
Production designer Jim Clay set out to ground the story, as much as
possible, with physical sets. Filming began at the Cotswolds’ water park,
where an Egyptian spice market was created with the Cleveland Lakes filling
in for the Nile River. From there, the production moved to Longcross Studios
and Stage 1, where portions of Aswan’s Cataract Hotel had been recreated.
Located in the Nubian Desert on the banks of the Nile River, it is here
where Agatha Christie began to write “Death on the Nile.” Filmmakers had
visited the actual hotel early on in pre-production, and worked tirelessly
to design the enormous set to convey all the faded grandeur and glamour
necessary for such a significant setting.
While the original hotel has been greatly modernized over the years, an
element of first-hand research helped inform Clay’s design. “I used an
amalgamation of various styles of architecture from Egypt in the 1930s, and
we built our own composite set specifically for the script requirements
(Simon and Linnet’s wedding, the wedding party, the arrivals in Egypt).”
The set included the lobby, wide, open halls, marble floors, wonderful
archways, a grand balcony and staircase, as well as an external patio and
jetty area. Using timber flattage with decorative plaster finishes, the
construction department assembled prefabrications in the workshops before
erecting the structures on the stage, spending a total of 13 weeks.
Recreating the great temple of Abu Simbel, the four ancient statues of
Ramses the Great which still stand to this day in Aswan, Egypt, was another
project involving a substantial amount of construction. Abu Simbel is one of
the locations visited by the wedding party as it winds its way down the Nile
River. The enormous dual temples were recreated by Clay and his team on a
backlot at Longcross Studios. The filmmakers had visited the original temple
when scouting locations in Egypt and Morocco, taking measurements and
countless photos, which they used to create a digital scan to effectively
establish its scale.
From there, the sculptors took the drawings and began the arduous task of
carving the figures from blocks of polystyrene and plaster, a massive
undertaking that took 16 weeks. It was built to the exact dimensions of the
original temple, 70-feet high and 100-feet wide, with the surrounding area
landscaped and covered in sand.
But of all the extraordinary sets, the most majestic build was undoubtedly
the S.S. Karnak, the enormous luxury side-wheeler paddleboat steamer with
Levantine touches and exquisite interiors, constructed on Longcross’ Skidpad.
Branagh wanted the boat to look threatening and shark-like as it sailed on
the dangerous waters of the Nile. Clay and his team researched the Thomas
Cook fleet, which had three or four boats working at the time, and took
elements of each and then designed their own.
“In Jim’s hands it became sleeker, more dangerous, slimmer, more elegant and
more deadly…a kind of floating palace,” says Branagh. “It is a palace, but
it is deadly, and he brings scale, style, suspense, danger and magnificence
to it.”
Branagh is a fan of fluid, long-tracking Steadicam shots, so the boat was
built in a composite way to help best facilitate. While most paddle steamers
have 40 or 50 cabins, this boat was designed to take full advantage of all
the space, with far fewer cabins to maximize the scope and size of the
boat’s interiors, while making it more camera-friendly at the same time. “We
opted to build a couple of cabins just for the ease of shooting more
intimate scenes, but essentially everything takes place on that composite
boat set,” explains Clay.
Structurally, the boat was a huge challenge. It is 236-feet long, 48-feet
wide, 42-feet high, weighing 225 tons. Steel fabrication began at the end of
June 2018, which included manufacturing the basic subframe that was built on
the railroad tracks and a large part of the timberwork. All in all, it took
a total of 30 weeks to build.
For the interior of the boat, Clay was again guided by Branagh’s vision. He
wanted something different from the dark tones and rich woods which
distinguished ‘Murder on the Orient Express,” so this time the filmmakers
went for brighter, sunnier tones and chalky blues, whites and greys for the
color palette. “We went for a Gustavian Swedish, 18th century feel for the
furniture, as well as in the tones of the woods and the finishes of the
walls and ceilings and floors,” Clay explains.
The result on screen is a light and airy contemporary 1930’s feel. “We
didn’t want to be wrong in terms of the period, but we didn’t want to be
shackled and bound by it either,” says Clay. On making the look his own, he
incorporated a great deal of glass into the design, which provided depth
into the shots so that something happening beyond the frame can be seen, as
well as to assist with Branagh’s evolving shots. “Ken loved to shoot through
the beveled glass, which then refracts the image and doubles it, and it’s
quite useful in these real Agatha Christie interrogation moments.”
The filmmakers originally planned to build the paddle steamer for real and
float it on a lake big enough and wide enough to resemble the Nile, but
ultimately decided to build a special structure to house the boat. With the
structure, the boat could travel in and out for different shots, while at
the same time, allowed for digital creation of water. The large, modular
stage, which came to be known the “super structure,” was built at the end of
a railway track (the same railway track used for “Murder on the Orient
Express”). The stage, which was 380-feet by 157-feet wide, was built by
Serious Stages, the company behind the Glastonbury Festival stages.
Designed with Zambarloukos’ lighting requirements in mind, the super stage
had a customized lighting grid and backlit screens which lined the perimeter
of the set and provided ambient sunlight to represent the Egyptian sunshine,
but also the ability to quickly transition to blue screen whenever needed,
all with the touch of an iPad. “The fact that we didn’t have any water
surrounding the boat meant we could get to work much easier every day,”
laughs Clay.
The boat was so massive in size and so breathtakingly beautiful in design
that Branagh wanted to get the cast’s reaction to seeing the boat for the
first time on film. The arrival of the cast happens in one particularly big
scene, which is actually part of the narrative as well, and the production
went to great lengths to reveal the boat to the actors at their actual point
of arrival.
“We had 12 actors on a little launch in real water in real sunshine as they
went to board the Karnak, and on their faces you can see all the excitement
and thrill of being on a wondrous holiday in the most extraordinary and
mysterious and ancient place,” says Branagh. “When you see this cast of
characters getting onto the boat, it is with a child-like joy…a Christmas
morning kind of joy and wonder at the scale of it.”
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The Costumes
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The dazzling costumes in “Death on the Nile”
were created by Oscar® nominee Paco Delgado, in his first collaboration with
director/producer Kenneth Branagh. The costume designer was immediately
drawn to Branagh’s desire to bring a sense of modernity to the period. “Ken
wanted a very stylish, more contemporary approach to the period, as opposed
to just a reproduction,” says Delgado.
For Delgado, it was not about establishing the social hierarchy of the
1930s…he wants audiences to feel as though these characters are much closer
reflections of themselves. The costume designer researched the time period,
identifying shapes and designs, colors, patterns and ideas, all with
Branagh’s vision in mind. “It’s not that we have tried to make a
contemporary movie, but we looked at the elements which were the most
appealing in a contemporary context,” he explains.
It was crucial that the clothing convey a great deal of heat, because of the
story’s Egyptian setting, but also to play up the sexual attraction between
Simon Doyle and Linnet Ridgeway. “There is a triangle of passion, love and
sex between Jacqueline de Bellefort and Simon and Linnet,” explains Delgado.
“Linnet is a person who was somehow loved and hated at the same time, which
made it much more complex in terms of who could kill her.”
“Our goal was to make our audience sweat a little with them, but also to
want to be right there, to want to feel that need, that passion, that lust,
that appetite, that relish, that delight, that wanting to consume another
person. It’s not necessarily good, but it can be unbelievably thrilling,”
says Branagh. “In that central love triangle between Gal and Armie and
Emma’s characters, there is a feeling of electricity between them, and in
all three cases they were able to convey passion and intensity, but without
becoming overdone or grand. You know, they, these are people who can act and
speak and be very naturalistic.”
The wardrobe reflects the color palette of summer and the lightness of
summertime fabrics, which is consistent with the color palette for the
cabins on the boat. “If you are working for example, with scenes that take
place outside, the colors are already determined, like the yellowy-brownish
colors of the earth and the blue sky is blue…it’s when you come inside where
you can manipulate the color palette of the walls and the furniture or the
tablecloth, all those sorts of things,” says Delgado.
“With Paco, the costumes are clothes and they are very bespoke…they’re very
much a marriage between his imagination, flair for color and texture and his
desire to hunt for original items,” says Branagh. “He loves clothes and the
playfulness of the period and he’s able to encourage the actors to find joy
in the colors and textures and to love their clothes.”
Approximately 92 percent of the costumes were created by hand by Delgado and
his talented team of artists. There were approximately 150 costumes in
total. “We had to reflect the year 1937 and assumed that in World War II
most of the clothes didn’t survive,” Delgado explains. “And because we are
talking about a certain type of people, we wanted that jet-set crowd style
to be reflected in shapes and garments, meaning it was much more difficult
to find things already made.”
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In Theatres
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Amazingly enough, 2020 is the 100th
anniversary of the first published novel of Agatha Christie. As one of the
greatest entertainers in literature, Christie can combine a twisting,
turning plot and access to primal human emotions, compassion and soulfulness
with a tremendous sense of fun and the ability to thrill and scare an
audience.
According to director/producer Kenneth Branagh, this “Death on the Nile” has
taken Christie’s high-end concept and re-humanized the stories so that the
audience gets the action, the travelogue and the aspirational trip. “In
these difficult times we’ve been living in over the past year, a trip down
the Nile to jump into the ancient majestic splendor of Egypt, is going to be
something that people will enjoy,” says Branagh. “And it’s always more fun
if you have a twisting, turning plot and a story that will thrill and scare
you, but with wisdom, human emotions, compassion and a sense of soulfulness
that everyone can relate to.”
“Death on the Nile” opens in U.S. theaters December 18, 2020. Moved to 10.
February 2022.
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Go: back - top - back issues - news index Updated
28-07-24 |
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