Review of Agatha (1979) by Abel D — 22 Mar 2011

Agatha Christie had a terrible year in 1926. Her mother died, she began getting depressed and to top it all off her husband, Archie, admits that he's been having an affair. He leaves her during a brief altercation with Agatha after telling her about the affair. That very night she left. A note to her secretary mentioning that she was going to Yorkshire. She never makes it there and instead crashes into a tree after being distracted by a dog in the road.

The car is later found, but not with her in it. This begins a massive manhunt to search for Agatha that doesn't get solved until 11 days later. Many rumors spread about of her committing suicide, but her husband Archie doesn't believe so and when questioned by authorities they see a man who doesn't seem all too worried about his wife.

Wally Stanton is a newspaper reporter and an avid Agatha Christie fan. He loves her books and her as well. He becomes fascinated by Agatha's disappearance and wants to find her. She so happens to be found at a Spa, but under a different name. She uses the name of her husband's mistress, Nancy (or Teresa) Neele and plots revenge against her. The revenge, however, is more of a suicide attempt by which she tries to make Nancy out to be a murderer through an odd looking device that resembles the electric chair, but really isn't.

Now, Agatha, may or may not be pretending at this point that she is someone else. She took a bump on the head from that crash and much speculation could lead you, the viewer, to think it must be amnesia. I'm not entirely certain if she had it or she knew what she was doing. All the more it's only for dramatic effect since it's really made up to begin with. Amnesia could be the realistic case, but the way it's presented here makes you think otherwise to the ever growing speculations that revolve around her disappearance in general.

Wally is aware that it is Agatha and uses this opportunity to woo her and to grab a story out this weird situation. Agatha isn't aware of who she is and continues onward on her plot of revenge. The sappy aspects of Wally and Agatha don't really hold up well. They're romantic enough, but I always got a sneaking suspicion that Wally was involuntarily using her.

The climax of the film is shocking. I don't mean that in a surprising way. It's just how Agatha becomes to be. Wally makes it in time for her to be saved and when she is returned back the people are a bit disappointed. I was too.

It begins with a scrolling title explaining that what you're about to see is a fictional account of what might have happened when Agatha Christie disappeared. So, I guess that must mean that every thing else was made up. From Wally Stanton to Agatha being electrocuted to Agatha's revenge plot against her husband's mistress. I enjoyed the sophisticated way this film was directed. If I had to recommend this film, I'd recommended it for that and that alone. Hoffman does an okay job at being an actor playing what is obviously a fictional character parading around as a "love" interest.

Overall, a slick and well paced film that jumbles between fact and fiction. Actually, it's mostly fiction.