《東方快車謀殺案》：大偵探波洛的探案巔峰

Murder on the Orient Express： A Hercule Poirot Masterpiece

In the whole of Poirot’s career， there was one story above all that seems to have captured the public’s imagination.

（Soundbite from “Agatha Christie’s Poirot”）

Hercule Poirot： And if you would be so kind as to book for me a passage tonight on the Orient Express？

I knew that even after 20 years of playing Poirot， this would be one of the most challenging performances of my career. Murder on the Orient Express was almost， for me， an untouchable. Obviously because it was such a famous film with 1）Albert Finney， and it won Oscars. So I had quite a lot to live up to.

In 2008， I set out to make Murder on the Orient Express， a story about a very brutal murder， and I wanted Poirot to be as faithful to Agatha Christie’s novel as possible. I think the story has become legendary because to have 12 murderers—judge， jury and executioners—was an extraordinary invention of hers. In the story， the train becomes 2）stationary because of an 3）avalanche. To be stuck inside this narrow tube made it very 4）claustrophobic. That was the brilliance of her story.

David Suchet： So…the guilty 12.

Where I am now is where the big summing-up took place， and this is where he makes his big reveal that not one person among them was the murderer， but they were all guilty of putting in the knife.

（Soundbite from “Agatha Christie’s Poirot”）

Hercule： No， no， no. No， you behave like this and we become just 5）savages in the street！ The juries and executioners that…they elect themselves！ No， it is medieval！ The rule of law， it must be held high. And if it falls， you pick it up and hold it even higher！

He is thrown into deep 6）anguish and thought and prayer as to what should he do. Even though he may sympathise with the crime， is it his right to let them go？ Or should he do what he knows his faith would tell him to do？

In the 70 films I’ve played Poirot， Murder on the Orient Express was the one which showed him in a 7）turmoil of conscience we’ve never seen before. Torn and tormented over what to do about this murder. In the end， he chooses to let them go. On the human level， he did the right thing. But as far as his faith is concerned and what it did to him， it really cost.

Poirot understands the 8）frailty of people—their passions， their hopes and their dreams. It’s a characteristic which， I think， is recognised and admired by viewers the world over.

在波洛的整個職業生涯中，有一個故事可以說最能激起人們的無限想象。

（《大偵探波洛》片段）

赫爾克里·波洛：能麻煩您給我訂一張今晚東方快車的票嗎？

我知道，即使我已經扮演波洛這個角色長達二十年，這也會是演藝生涯中最有挑戰性的一次演出。對我來說，《東方快車謀殺案》幾乎是一個難以達到的高度。顯然，因為它是一部非常有名的電影，由阿爾伯特·芬尼主演，并且獲得了奧斯卡獎。所以我有很多事要做，必須不負眾望。

2008年，我著手拍攝《東方快車謀殺案》。這是一樁非常殘忍的謀殺案，我想讓波洛這個角色盡可能忠實于阿加莎·克里斯蒂的原著。我想，這個故事之所以成為經典，是因為其中有12名殺人犯——他們包攬了法官、陪審團和行刑者之職，這正是阿加莎的非凡創意。在故事中，一場雪崩讓列車動彈不得。人們被困在這個狹長的車廂里，感覺格外幽深恐怖。這正是故事的精彩之處。

大衛·蘇切特：那么……敬那12名罪人。

我現在所在的餐車就是當時進行結案陳詞的地方，波洛就是在這里揭開了謎底：兇手并不是他們當中的某一個人——他們所有人都是參與捅刀的罪犯。

（《大偵探波洛》片段）

赫爾克里：不不不，不，你們要是這樣，我們就成了無序世界的野蠻人！陪審團和行刑者……全都是自行任命的！不，這簡直成了中世紀！我們必須高舉法治的旗幟，如果它倒了，你們應該將它撿起來，舉得更高！

如何處置罪人的問題給波洛帶來了巨大的痛苦，他不斷地苦思冥想，虔誠禱告。