The Secret of Agatha Christie

Movie
German title	The Secret of Agatha Christie
Original title	Agatha
Country of production	Great Britain
original language	English
Publishing year	1979
length	104 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	Michael Apted
script	Kathleen Tynan ; Arthur Hopcraft
production	Jarvis Astaire ; Gavrik Losey
music	Johnny Almond
camera	Vittorio Storaro
cut	Jim Clark
occupation
	Dustin Hoffman : Wally Stanton; Vanessa Redgrave : Agatha Christie ; Timothy Dalton : Col. Archibald Christie; Helen Morse : Evelyn Crawley; Celia Gregory : Nancy Neele; Paul Brooke : John Foster; Carolyn Pickles : Charlotte Fisher; Timothy West : Kenward; Tony Britton : William Collins; Alan Badel : Lord Brackenbury; Robert Longden : Pettelson; Donald Nithsdale : Uncle Jones; Yvonne Gilan : Mrs. Braithwaite; Sandra Voe : therapist; Barry Hart : Supintendent. MacDonald; David Hargreaves : Sgt. Jarvis; Tim Seely : Capt. Rankin; Jill Summers : Nancy's aunt; Christopher Fairbank : Luland; Liz Smith : Flora; Peter Arne : Hotel Manager;

The Secret of Agatha Christie (Original title: Agatha ) is a British film drama from 1979 . The story interprets a true event from 1926, when the writer Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days.

action

The American reporter Wally Stanton travels to England for the book premiere of Agatha Christie's alibi . Although he is impressed with her manner, he sees how sad she is. She has good reason to be downcast. Her husband Colonel Archibald Christie is having an affair with his secretary Nancy Neele and is demanding a divorce from his wife. But Agatha does not want it and pleads with him by promising him that she will be a better wife for him. Since Archibald does not want to know anything about it, she leaves on the night of December 3, 1926. However, she had an accident while driving her car. Her car is found the next morning, with no trace of Agatha. Superintendent MacDonald takes over the investigation, assuming relatively quickly that she is dead. When Stanton hears about it, he immediately travels to the Christies to talk to the house staff. While MacDonald has Agatha's body searched in the moor and in the field, Stanton finally travels to the spa hotel in Harrogate , where Agatha is staying under the name Theresa Neele .

There she quickly befriends Evelyn Crawley and, since her husband allegedly died recently, she can be cured. The spa methods themselves inspire them to write. Stanton himself takes a room under the name Carter Schatz Junior . He follows Agatha and meets her again and again by chance, where he tries quickly and in a friendly manner to start a conversation with her. He dances with her, meets her by the swimming pool, and follows her into town. At some point he learns that she is still attached to her husband and wants him back. He admits to her how beautiful she is and is then kissed by Agatha. But the newspaper reports about Agatha's disappearance are increasing and the rumor spreads in the spa hotel that she is not Theresa Neele, but Agatha Christie. In their situation desperate and inspired by her treatments makes them later on to suicide to commit. But because Stanton spied on her and read her papers, he manages to recognize her plan and rushes to her, where he only finds a lifeless Agatha. He can successfully reanimate her and will take care of her lovingly for the next few days.

But Agatha does not reciprocate Stanton's love and care. After eleven days of disappearing without a trace, she finally reveals herself to the public and lets her husband greet her. Archibald has to face questions from the press and deny the affair with his secretary. Before Stanton leaves, he meets Agatha again and confesses his love to her. She would like to see him again, but first she must return to her husband so that she can get a divorce. After two years, the divorce finally took place and Archibald married Neele.

background

The film was released on February 9, 1979 in US cinemas. After the film opened in German cinemas on March 22, 1979, the "worth seeing tear" was broadcast for the first time on television on March 26, 1988 on ZDF . It has been available as a German DVD since May 12, 2006 .

The Canadian journalist and writer Kathleen Tynan researched the topic of the 11 missing days of Agatha Christie and published her screenplay in August 1978 under the title Agatha as a novel.

criticism

Vincent Canby told the New York Times that the film was “not a mess,” but “it doesn't have a lot of anything”. It is not a real crime film, not a whole love story and certainly not a biography. Somehow he was nevertheless "pleasantly bearable and aimless". In particular, the "surprising and beautiful" Redgrave, as well as the "originally funny" Hoffman would convince in their roles.

"The film could have worked," said renowned film critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times . In particular, Redgrave and Hoffman "show interesting representations". While Hoffman plays "very stiff", Redgrave looks "very tall and serious and a little crazy". Overall, their relationship “doesn't look real” and doesn't reach any emotional depth.

The lexicon of international films said: “The fictional plot relates to actual events in December 1926, but systematically ignores all thematic and formal opportunities. A moderately entertaining thriller. "