We may be seeing Branaugh's masterpiece-will anyone take notice?

Rating: 10/10 (24 November 2017)

I have always been a Kenneth Branaugh fan, and in this film he goes beyond anything he has ever put on the screen. I have to wonder, though, why his best work is done as a murder mystery? Nevertheless, it is a true masterpiece. Almost like watching Da Vinci, Picasso, and van Gogh all paint on the same canvass at the same time. Just like any artist, Branaugh paints his film onto the screen, taking the time to make sure every stroke is just right, the colors are true, and the scapes brilliant and alive.
The cinematography is exquisite. From the ever moving camera shooting exteriors from high above, to way below, from rotating around the moving train to fluidly moving and circulating among and around the characters in the cramped space of the train's interior. The magnificent long shots of the train traveling great distances in the dark and snow, to the extreme closeups showing every pour and flaw in the actors' skin (including and especially in the extreme self-aware closeups of Branaugh, himself). The camera sets the tone.
The production design is glorious. The cramped reality of the train's finely finished carved wood interior; the uncomfortable dress and style of the period; the dual images of characters as the camera passes behind the beautifully framed leaded cut glass windows, the dirty and greasy exterior of the train, and the rickety wood trestles it travels over. Even the period Godiva chocolate (can you say "product placement?") was convincing. It is the production design that adds the stark reality of the period, both of its beauty and its ugliness.
The script is so strong and characters are so well cast and well developed that Branaugh really did not need the cinematography, production design, costumes, and makeup to carry the film. He could have directed them on a bare stage and still had a great film. The strength of the story and acting added the depth of light and shadow that only a master artist is able to achieve. The actors were directed with the awareness that only an actor's director can bring to the story. The brushstrokes of a master artist.
In fairness, I will also say that sometimes Branaugh's greatest strength is his greatest weakness. The constantly moving camera gave the film a self-awareness that is actually distracting at times. Most directors are not even aware that the camera can be another character in the film, while others just try to avoid camera movement. Banaugh clearly made it an integral part of the film. I had to work hard to look past that, but once I lost the awareness I was fine.
It is a very beautiful film. And it is just a murder mystery. Why was his greatest film to date a murder mystery? That goes to the heart of why the film will probably not win any awards and will get very little recognition.
It was just a murder mystery. And I can't wait to see the sequel.