Teresa Reviews Murder on the Orient Express (2015)

Teresa reviews Murder on the Orient Express (2015) and found the second episode a worthy addition to the Christie canon

(c)2025 by Teresa Peschel

(Oriento Kyuukou Satsujin Jiken)

How acquired: DVD version from Japan from a friend.

Fidelity to text: 4 knives

The first episode of the two-part TV movie follows the text closely, other than being set in ’30s Japan. The second episode forges into bold new territory yet meshes seamlessly with the text.

Quality of film: 4 knives

While the first episode is adequate, the second, detailing the murder plot, is wonderful.

Read more of Teresa’s Agatha Christie movie reviews at Peschel Press.

Also, follow Teresa’s discussion of these movie on her podcast.

Mansai Nomura has made three TV films to date as Poirot, renamed Takeru Suguro. The other two (Kuroido Goroshi (2018) and Shi to no Yakusoku (2021)) are wonderful and take place in postwar Japan in the ’50s. This film was his first outing, and it’s set in the early ’30s, when Japan was a very different country.

Perhaps because this was his first attempt at Poirot, he ladles on the tics and odd behavior compared to his later films. I’m making a point of this because we did not — due to the vagaries of getting films with English subtitles — watch Nomura’s films in order. It’s possible there was advance planning. The production company wanted his prewar and postwar interpretations to be different, to better reflect how WWII changed Japan. Maybe?

If you watch his films in order, you may be put off by Nomura’s interpretation of Poirot in Orient Express. Don’t be. He improves and the second part of this two-film arc is not-to-be-missed. It takes Agatha in a new direction, explaining how the gang on the train exacted revenge while coping with two unexpected events: the master detective’s unexpected presence plus an avalanche.

The first episode sticks to the text other than minor rewrites required for the new setting. What is unusual is the first episode echoes the 1974 version of Orient with Albert Finney. It’s not a shot for shot remake, but it felt similar in ways that the other four adaptations don’t. Other than Nomura’s tics and the Japanese setting, you’ll know you’re watching a faithful film.

What the movie and novel didn’t cover is how this mismatched group conceived a complex scheme to book every compartment on an expensive train, get Makuuchi (Hector McQueen) hired as Todo’s (Ratchett) secretary to capture valuable information, entice Todo to hire Masuda (Edward Masterman) as his manservant, involve the conductor who must be in on the plot for it to succeed, and expect to walk away after murdering Todo.

I’ve seen five other versions, read the book several times, and never wondered how they devised their plan. Baba Maiko (Mary Debenham) and Hatori Noriko (Mrs. Hubbard) are, as always, the driving force but I didn’t consider the logistics involved. The planning and strength of will driving the plan are even more noticeable because the women onscreen don’t seem to be forces of nature as they are in other versions. Mrs. Hatori isn’t as pushy as other Mrs. Hubbards. Ms. Baba, while well-organized, isn’t a dominating woman either.

None of these people are criminal masterminds. They’re figuring it out on the fly as time passes, emotions cool after the kidnapping from white-hot grief and rage to a dull ache, and consciences interfere. If they murder Todo, destroying his family, are they any better? Fortunately for the group, Todo doesn’t have a family, sneering at those energy-sucking wastes of time. He’s more villainous than other versions of Ratchett. He’s not just got underworld connections. He used the ransom money to set up a factory manufacturing opium while pretending to make caramels.

The first episode ends as you expect. Suguro conducted interviews, made logical deductions based on the wealth of clues, and assembled everyone in the dining car so he can unmask the killer and fulfill his sense of justice and order.

Then, the second episode begins. Mrs. Hatori tells the complicated story. Her daughter dead, her granddaughter murdered, her new grandbaby stillborn, her son-in-law a suicide. She wants revenge. Her best friend and godmother to her daughter, the Marchioness Todoroki (Princess Dragomiroff) wants revenge. So does her other daughter (Countess Andrenyi) and her daughter’s husband, the count.

Ms. Baba involves Col. Noto (Col. Arbuthnot). But he doesn’t believe they have enough people to pull it off. Worse, Noto will only agree if he concludes Todo is truly at fault. He and Baba disguise themselves as reporters and interview Todo. Alarmed by their questions, Todo has his secretary in the next room check their nonexistent credentials at the newspaper. To their relief, they pass!

They learn why after the interview when they’re approached by the secretary. He’s Makuuchi, a friend of Mrs. Goriki (Sonia Armstrong). He’s desperate for revenge but until now he had no idea anyone else was working to unmask Todo. He joins forces with Baba, Mrs. Hatori, and the others. They discover, while spying on Todo, that the household servants were planning their own revenge. The group grows larger, satisfying Col. Noto’s desire for a good team.

Bit by bit, the plot comes together. Todo learns his manservant had been selling information about him to one of his many enemies. With that man gone, he relies on his secretary, Makuuchi, to find a new valet. Naturally, the new valet is Masuda (Edward Masterman). But Todo also has an ever-present bodyguard who must be dealt with.

Kureta (Greta Ohlsson) is found at a mission. She’s reluctant to participate but eventually agrees. Hazama (Cyrus Hardman) is investigating on his own and when his searches intersect with Baba’s and Noto’s, they invite him in. When the group grows to twelve, Noto approves. It’s a good sign: They have enough for a jury.

But when they board the train and delay the bodyguard, their carefully laid plans go wrong. The last empty compartment is given to Suguro by Baku (Bouc), a senior member of the railway. Conductor Miki (Pierre Michel) can’t gainsay his supervisor, but he can warn everyone. This leads to many scenes of everyone crowded into one compartment arguing over what to do next. They must improvise. You can sense their panic. Mistakes are made. People step outside their assigned roles to drop extra clues over the accidental ones to incriminate themselves. The gang can’t get Suguro to drink a drugged night-cap, so they bang doors and interrupt him constantly so when the murder is finally committed, he’ll be asleep from exhaustion. They carry out their revenge and still they fail. They are found out by Suguro. When he hears their story, he helps them get away with it, because justice has been done after all.

For more information, visit the movie’s page on the Agatha Christie wiki.