The Witness for the Prosecution (2016)

Had it been an original story, not based on an Agatha Christie novel, I would rate it 10/10. It's a beautifully executed drama of a man who loses everything with a top performance by Toby Jones. It's well written, well acted and follows the highly popular although slightly annoying slow-cinema-inspired pace (plus adequately blurry vision that sometimes is really troubling because you can't see what's actually happening on sreen, but hey - that's what critics love, don't they?).Sadly, the film also follows a now already well domesticated trend on television to mix Agatha Christie with kitchen-sink drama. This means you can't watch Agatha Christie with entire family anymore because you get at least two sex scenes and some explicit language (the sex scene between John Mayhew, the leading character, and his wife is particularly kitchen-sink, and pretty awful to be honest). Now, why on earth do such a thing? Christie created a unique universe of her own, a world that never was but was ideally escapistic and therefore we'd immediately embraced it. Why not follow the pattern so many love and expect? There's place for both - I love a good Mike Leigh drama as much as I love classic Christie, but not when the two are mixed. Will we every get an old school Christie again? I hope so, a very much hope so.

The Charles Laughton/Tyrone Powers/Marlene Dietrich/Billy Wilder 1957 film of "Witness for the Prosecution" has been one of my favorite films since I was in high school. So, watching this Toby Jones version--that follows Agatha Christie's original short story--comes as quite a surprise. Mostly the same characters, but with a decidedly different take on the story of love & guilt. The two "Witness" films are like watching the Kurosawa film "Rashomon"--the guilt lands on different characters.That said, and because I'm a student of film, I liked the Toby Jones version, too; and don't feel like it's inferior to the Billy Wilder film. The photography and set designs are all shadows, fog and smoke; just the right mood for a story that is does not reveal itself and fools the eyes. The acting is all excellent, which is in keeping with all British productions. And, the pacing of the narrative is accomplished with no tech or CGI--which is refreshing in this age of SuperHero films.Bottom line: if approached without bias, this film of Agatha Christie's "first draft" of Witness for the Prosecution is rewarding on it's on merits.

Seeing a number of fine adaptations on stage in 2015,I was disappointed in missing out on a new mini-series version of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.Planning to catch up on films during the Christmas/New Year holiday,I was intrigued to find that a new mini-series of a lesser-known Christie was being shown,which led to me taking a seat in the witness box.The plot:Returning from WWI after joining the army with his son (who died in battle) solicitor John Mayhew goes round the prisons offering to work on cases at a low fee. Sticking his hands out of the bars, Leonard Vole cries for help. Struggling to cover costs with his wife Romaine Heilger,Vole becomes a "paid lover" for heiress Emily French,who has been found murdered. Seeing his son in Vole,Mayhew takes on a case where he will be judged by a prosecution on what he left behind.View on the mini-series:Coughed up in the aftermath of WWI, director Julian Jarrold lines the first ep and the outdoor scenes of the second in a thick green tint,which whilst subtly expressing the green with envy hidden in some and offering a touch of BBC Victorian Costume Drama atmosphere, drowns out all that try to rise above it. Playing on how people are perceived, Jarrold's green smog blocks out much of the facial details of the cast and the scope of the setting. Bringing a focus as Mayhew lays out the case,Jarrold peels away the green for a stylish gold which shines on the wealth that blinds Mayhew from the decayed envy retained underneath.Sending this adaptation to post-WWI,the screenplay by Sarah Phelps brilliantly dips into Film Noir pessimism,as Mayhew's battle to bring justice to this world can't stop him being wrapped with the shadows of failure from the past. Keeping Christie's original ruthless ending sharp,Phelps wonderfully lays out the entangled relationships between Mayhew,Vole & Heilger,which are deliciously twisted into a final that recalls the Giallo sub-genre corrupt bourgeoisie.Joined by a glamorous Kim Cattrall taking the Sex and the City socialites to a brutal death as French,the elegant Andrea Riseborough gives a fantastic performance as Heilger,whose brittle dialogue Riseborough smartly uses to carry an ambiguity with the character. Unable to free himself from the horrors of WWI, Toby Jones gives an excellent performance as Noir loner Mayhew,via Jones giving any sign of hope in Mayhew's life a harsh,isolated bitterness,as Mayhew becomes a witness to the wrong prosecution.

In many parts it is 9/10, but in others 2/10.I haven't read the book and, though I'm sure I have, I don't remember seeing other versions. Firstly and primarily this very very slow and plodding. The story is there, watchable and interesting but the scenes are so overly stretched out that they've gone beyond art and into boredom. So, if you like slow moving stories steeped with brilliantly astute and deep vignettes on life, garnished with an excellent but dark period drama, you will love this.The acting is generally very good as is the period feel. The cold reality of life, especially due to the war, imparts the darkness. The twists and turns of the plot are very good, except the final twist of the crime story, which leaves you feeling the whole rest of the story was just 'camera tricks' (as in magic shows) to mislead us. It felt like a big con. The whodunnit part is maintained well throughout.The poignant imprints of war on life are genius, especially the generational statement at the end, but the time spent on them turns parts of this more into an Alan Bennett play than a crime thriller.