SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 1 Hour, 31 Min.
The French translation of the series title is les petis meurtres d’Agatha Christie. First airing in France on September 11, 2009, this episode loosely adapts Agatha Christie’s 1948 Miss Marple novel, The Moving Finger. Produced by Escazal Films, Eric Woreth directed this installment entitled “La plume empoisonnée.”
Set in 1930’s Northern France (in proximity to Lille), Police Superintendent Larosière (Duléry) is stunned by his chief assistant’s near-death in a fatal shootout. Blaming himself, he escorts the critically-injured Inspector Lampion (Colucci) to a low-key village in the countryside to begin his convalescence.
Secretly rife with gossip, the village has become inundated with anonymous poison pen letters viciously taunting locals for their suspected past sins. A sympathetic Larosière is intrigued by the teenage Louise’s (Demoustier) introverted demeanor. No one realizes that mousy Louise has been secretly befriended by the ethereal Clara (Pasquier) – a beautiful drowning victim from years before.
Three increasingly vile homicides pit Larosière and a still-injured Lampion against an ever-elusive culprit. Larosière senses the long-reaching shadow of Clara’s death is the crux of this dangerous enigma. More so, the Superintendent and Lampion recognize that there may well be multiple killers on the loose.
The episode’s language is French with easy-to-follow English subtitles.
Superintendent Jean Larosière: Antoine Duléry
Inspector Émile Lampion: Marius Colucci
Ménard: Serge Dubois
Louise Simonet: Anaïs Demoustier
Emilie Dubreuil: Françoise Bertin
Angélique: Corinne Masiero
Mathilde: Julie Ravix
Clara: Sara Pasquier
Père Hector: Cyrille Touvenin
Dr. Jean Villiers: Frédèric Pierrot
Rose Villiers: Laurence Côte
Monsieur Kochenko: Christophe Alévêque
Henriette Simonet: Catherine Wilkening
André Simonet: Olivier Rabourdin
Guite: Fanny Chevalier
Clémence: Cassandre Vittu de Kerraoul
Lucien: Franckie Defonte
Jeanjean: Maxime Lecluyse
Louise’s Brothers: Uncredited
Lampion’s Doctor: Uncredited
Larosière’s Girlfriend/Lunch Date: Uncredited
Lille Shop Clerk: Uncredited
Villagers: Uncredited
REVIEW:
For the most part, it is a high-caliber pendulum effectively balancing classic suspense and risqué, practically absurdist humor. Ironically, this wily French effort surpasses the more faithful Agatha Christie’s Marple TV series, in terms of making the most of Christie’s premise. Not only do headliners Antoine Duléry and Marius Colucci shine, the same applies to their exemplary supporting cast. For instance, young Anaïs Demoustier shines conveying the evolution of her complex ‘Louise,’ as the Superintendent’s temporary protégé.
Most significantly, this ensemble’s appeal easily surpasses sporadic logic gaffes – i.e., the reality of a deteriorating corpse’s impossible-to-miss stench is ignored until the dramatic moment finally preceding the corpse’s discovery. The same applies to a hilarious yet utterly nonsensical gag about sharing a bed with a corpse – let alone then a subsequent swapping of bedrooms to accommodate this same corpse.
Trying to analyze this outrageous sequence further is pointless vs. merely enjoying its inspired and decidedly macabre wit. Either way, a subsequent sight gag is hilariously predictable. Also, given the episode’s undercurrent of gay and lesbian themes, its clever in-plot mockery of close-minded bigotry-meets-hypocrisy becomes unmistakable.
Provided one is not easily offended (including spurts of coarse language and a scene depicting fully-clothed intercourse), this almost-anything-goes take on “The Moving Finger” is eminently entertaining.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 8½ Stars
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