Before I Wrote the Screenplay for ‘Murder on the Orient Express， ’ I Hated Agatha Christie
在創作《東方快車謀殺案》劇本前， 我痛恨愛葛莎·克利斯蒂
Michael Green 邁克爾·格林
've been asked in multiple interviews what my relationship to Agatha Christie was before writing the adaptation of “Murder on the Orient Express， ”and I've evaded the question or outright lied every time. The reason is: Because I hated her.
Not her books， but her.
The family lore goes like this:
When I was five， my father brought home a brand new VCR. The first VHS tape he rented， to our giddy admiration， was the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie's classic “Death on the Nile.”Friends and family came over for popcorn and crowded onto the couch.
The machine worked， the film played and everyone loved it. Everyone laughed and jumped at the right moments and cooed at the gorgeous stars and wardrobe — everyone except me， who did not love it， or laugh， but rather cried， utterly terrified.
I didn't blame the director， John Guillermin， or Peter Ustinov， who played the great detective Hercule Poirot， nor even Mia Farrow， whose lethal jealousy especially affected me. I blamed Christie， and I hated her for decades. I called her names I didn't entirely understand. I used the words I had learned listening to the older kids.
“Why would anyone write a story so terrible？”“Why would anyone like her stupid books？”“What the [obscenity] is wrong with her brain？”
On that fateful popcorn night， my parents had thought nothing of letting me watch the relatively tame“Death on the Nile.” I'd seen “Dawn of the Dead， ”after all， and they couldn't understand why a movie with so little blood — and it wasn't even blood， but nail polish — hit me so hard. Although I couldn't explain my reaction then， I can now.
Theoretically scarier movies with monsters were cartoonish， exaggerated， whereas Christie's characters were ordinary humans. They had human motives and limitations， and they did terrible things. The film didn't have a protective layer of genre. Perhaps if Ustinov had worn a more flamboyant mustache I would have felt at ease. But he didn't， and I didn't.
“Death on the Nile” taught me that good people could be hurt or killed on purpose by other， not-so-good people. Christie introduced me to the simple fact of murder. She made me see the world was not as benign as I had believed.
Even today， as an adult， I can handle any content in any genre except true crime. The most savage episode of “Game of Thrones” gives me endless joy; a teaser of “Law and Order: SVU”leaves me with enduring panic.
So it was surprising to me that when one of the “Murder on the Orient Express” producers asked if I was interested in writing the screenplay， I heard myself yell yes.
The part of “Murder on the Orient Express” I sought most to unpack was the ugly deformation of the soul required to take up the knife， even to kill a killer. Writing the film， internalizing Christie's ingenious structure， working through the math of motive and opportunity for 12 suspects （13， actually， counting the conductor）， I had to channel Christie's truth daily: This is something people do.
Everyone involved with our present take on “Murder on the Orient Express” hoped that， in success， there would be another Hercule Poirot film to follow， another of Christie's classics to adapt.
No one else knew for certain which it would be. I did.
Michael Green is a producer and screenwriter. His writing credits include “Logan， ” “Blade Runner 2049” and “Murder on the Orient Express.” He is currently adapting “Death on the Nile.”
在改編《東方快車謀殺案》之前， 我曾在多次採訪中被問到我與愛葛莎·克利斯蒂的關係， 而我一直回避這個問題， 或者乾脆每次都撒謊。 原因在於：我痛恨她。
不是痛恨她的書， 而是痛恨她本人。
其中的家庭淵源如下：
我五歲時， 父親帶回家一台全新的錄影機。 令我們大為讚歎的是， 他租借的第一盤錄影帶就是1978年改編自愛葛莎·克利斯蒂經典作品《尼羅河上的慘案》的電影。 朋友和家人過來一邊享用著爆米花， 一邊擠在沙發上觀看。
機器開動起來， 電影開始放映， 所有人都喜歡這部電影。 所有人都在恰當的時候縱聲大笑、歡呼雀躍， 並嘰嘰咕咕地議論那些光彩奪目的明星和服裝——這裡的“所有人”不包括我， 我不喜歡這部電影， 也沒有笑；正相反， 我哭了， 完全被嚇到了。
我不怪導演約翰·吉勒明或者扮演大偵探赫爾克裡·波洛的彼得·烏斯蒂諾夫， 甚至也不怪米亞·法羅， 她致命的嫉妒尤其令我印象深刻。 我怪罪的是克利斯蒂， 而且一直憎恨了她很多年。 我用自己還不完全明白的語言咒駡她。 我用的是從一些大孩子那裡學來的詞兒。
“為什麼會有人寫這麼恐怖的故事？”“為什麼會有人喜歡她那些愚蠢透頂的書？”“她（髒話）腦子進水了嗎？”
在那個決定性的爆米花之夜，
理論上更可怕的有怪物出現的電影都是卡通式的、誇張的， 而克利斯蒂的角色都是普通人。 他們有著人類的動機和局限， 而且他們做的事情很可怕。 這部電影沒有體裁上的保護層。 或許假如烏斯蒂諾夫長著一把更誇張的鬍子， 我會感覺更舒服一點。 但是他沒有， 因此我也沒有。
《尼羅河上的慘案》讓我知道， 好人可能被其他不是那麼好的人傷害或者殺害。 克利斯蒂讓我首次看到了謀殺的簡單真相。
即使到了今天， 作為一個成年人， 我已經能夠坦然面對任何體裁的任何內容， 唯獨難以面對真正的犯罪。 《權力的遊戲》中最野蠻的一集帶給我無盡的樂趣， 《法律與秩序：特殊受害者》的一段短短的預告片卻給我留下了揮之不去的恐慌。
所以， 當《東方快車謀殺案》的一位製片人問我是否有興趣寫這個劇本而我聽到自己高喊可以時， 我自己感到吃驚。
在《東方快車謀殺案》中， 我最想闡釋的是一個靈魂要經歷怎樣醜惡的扭曲變形才能拿起刀， 即使是去除掉一個殺人兇手。 創作這部電影、內化克利斯蒂構思巧妙的結構、為12個嫌疑人（事實上加上列車員是13個）籌畫好殺人動機和機會，
所有參與我們此次《東方快車謀殺案》創作的人都希望， 獲得成功後會有另一部赫爾克裡·波洛電影緊隨其後， 會有另一部克利斯蒂經典作品被改編。
其他人都不能肯定會是哪一部。 我知道。
注：邁克爾·格林是製片人兼編劇。 他的編劇作品包括《金剛狼3：殊死一戰》、《銀翼殺手2049》和《東方快車謀殺案》。 目前他正在改編《尼羅河上的慘案》。 （劉曉燕譯自美國《洛杉磯時報》網站12月1日文章）