The murder on the orient express, originally written as a book by Agatha Christie is a very intricately constructed movie that had a good story line but personally I found it very hard to follow and I was not fully captivated by it the whole time. I think this movie is aimed towards a slightly older audience because of the time period it is set in and where it is set. Soon into watching the movie, I formed quite strong opinions about certain characters and felt like I was a part of the movie, solving the crime. The movie, murder on the orient express is a crime and detective movie which lends itself perfectly to portraying the theme of justice. Where there is a crime there is also a need for this crime to be resolved and a culprit to be named, bringing justice to the case.
Hercule Poirot is the private detective and retired police officer who happens to be on the orient express when Ratchett is mysteriously murdered after the train is stopped by an avalanche on the tracks. Poirot knows as soon as he hops on the train that there is something odd about some of the passengers onboard. For example Mary Debenham and Colonel Arbuthnot act as though they are complete strangers but certain behaviour suggests this is not actually the case from the way they act. Aboard the train is the most unusual assortment of guests where after the train comes to a stop and the murder has occurred, the true personalities of the characters are revealed.
Poirot is one of the worlds best detectors who sees things as it should be, sees things that other people don’t. He brings justice to the truth and makes it his job to uncover the culprit behind every crime he comes across. The murder that occurs on the orient express is unlike any he has seen before, where finding the criminal is a lot easier said than done. Ratchett was described as an evil character who had committed a monstrous crime himself, where the justice system had failed and he had gotten away. His gang and him kidnapped Daisy Armstrong, a three year old girl, where they collected the ransom from the wealthy family and then killed the girl anyway. He was most definitely guilty but was acquitted on some technical inaccuracy, leaving him to go free and not paying for what he did. Because of such a disregard to the traditional justice system and Ratchett walking free, he no doubt had many enemies that wanted him dead. The clues Poirot finds just don’t quite add up, something is different about this murder. He soon reveals the true identities behind some of the passengers and comes to two possible conclusions- either a stranger entered the train at Vincovci and killed Ratchett or that all of the passengers aboard the Orient Express were involved with the murder. Mrs Hubbard who is actually the grandma of Daisy Armstrong reveals that the second conclusion is correct. At this moment I was able to get a better understanding of the movie as a whole and made a very strong connection between the movie and the theme of justice.
Justice comes in many shapes and forms and in Murder on the Orient Express the certainty of guilt that Ratchett has is just one precondition for justice. When Poirot was revealing the results of his investigation he stated “A jury is composed of twelve people, there were twelve passengers, Ratchett was stabbed twelve times. Later on it was also revealed by Mrs Hubbard that “Colonel Arbuthnot was very keen on having twelve of us”. This was done strategically to give the murder the appearance of justice. The ordinary course of justice works by spreading out the punishment of guilt over multiple people, where a jury composed of multiple people ensures that not one person carries a burden to heavy for sitting in judgement over another person. When each member stabbed Ratchett, guilt was diffused in a similar way, where the spreading out of the crime allowed the burden to not be dropped on only one person. Mrs Hubbard (Linda Arden) said “Society had condemned him, we were only carrying out the sentence”. This suggests that he was already sentenced and dead to society, and that they just carried out what society aimed but failed to do. Ratchett was also drugged before the stabbings begun so they themselves would never know which blow actually killed him. From this, it brings it back to the act of an impersonal judgement from society where he is killed by everyone, but no-one individually.
The movie concludes with Poirot settling on the first outcome- the story or a murderer who got away. Even though Poirot is a detective, his choice not to incriminate the passengers acknowledges that justice has the same principles whether it is pursued inside or outside of the courtroom. For me, this movie is completely centred around the theme of justice as all of the passengers onboard the Orient Express get justice for Daisy Armstrong and the family, as well as Poirot solving the case. This shows to me how people band together when it really matters. They all shared some sort of connection to Daisy Armstrong and joined forces in order to bring justice to the little girl.
NOT ACHIEVED